Anger Management Failure
Tony Stewart had some highly publicized incidents a couple of years ago during his Championship winning season but really hadn't had any issues lately. Bristol got the best of him on Sunday though after he came up on the short end of a chain-reaction crash.
Ricky Craven had the car get away from him just a little and he got on the brakes in the middle of the corner. With no time to react Scott Wimmer got hard on the brakes but still got into Craven's back bumper a little. Tony Stewart also got caught up in the incident and got into the back of Wimmer. That would be just regular Bristol racing except Stewart lost his cool and decided to take his frustration out on Scott Wimmer under caution.
Tony must feel pretty foolish today after he had a chance to watch the replay and see what really caused his incident. Clearly that was just a racing accident that neither him nor Wimmer could have done anything about but Tony's temper cost him a lap and a shot at a top ten finish.
Turnabout Isn't Fair?
Jamie McMurray isn't the type of driver that normally loses his cool but Bristol got the better of him near the end of the race. Apparently there was some beating and banging that didn't make it into the television coverage before the big incident at the end but it was the post race interview that really sounded foolish to me.
Jamie McMurray admitted that he got into Matt Kenseth and moved him up the race track to get by him but "that's just the way you pass here." But when Matt returned the favor Jamie went ballistic. After the race was over Jamie sideswiped Matt's car, pulled in front of him and brake-checked him, and then when Matt missed him Jamie caught him and spun him out.
NASCAR hasn't announced the penalties for this incident yet but I think it's safe to say that NASCAR frowns upon these post-race incidents and that Jamie will have to write a check this week to cover his temper.
Bristol Baby!
Add all of this excitement to the Busch race fireworks on Saturday and now you know why Bristol is one of the toughest tickets in all of sports to get. Bristol is the most exciting racing in NASCAR as the tight track, high speeds and narrow groove makes contact a must. Tempers are guaranteed to run high.
Attention future track builders. Enough with the 1.5 mile triovals! What more proof do you need that high-banked short-tracks are what NASCAR needs more of?
