Chauvinism in Car Racing...or...A Lesson in Class
Justin Labonte proved that all the confidence shown in his ability was founded in cold hard fact...or at least that his great potential is leading to a rise in ego that is ugly as hell.
In Saturday's Busch race, he wrecked Erin Crocker.
Why did he wreck Erin Crocker?
He said in an interview later that he had been trying to pass her for 5 laps and just couldn't make the pass. You caught that right, her.
That sounds like she had a faster car and was outdriving him. Yes...I said she.
In the first practice for the race, she had her #6 Everham Motors Hellmans Mayonnaise Dodge running 43rd speed-wise which was no guarantee of position in the race. Yes, that's Everham, as in Ray Everham, former championship crew chief for Jeff Gordon and, now, NEXTEL Cup car owner of the #9(Kasey Kahne) and #19(Jeremy Mayfield). His teams are Dodge's flagship teams in NEXTEL Cup. They lead the manufacturer back into major American stock car racing just a few years ago.
During the second practice, they figured a lot out. She jumped up to 11th quickest.
Then, in qualifying, she juiced that car up to 9th, which is where she started the race, 9th on the grid, inside of row 5. This put her ahead of such names as Matt Kennseth, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Burton.
Going into the first corner, she got freight trained a little, but she stayed to the outside and let the guys who were ready to run go. She kept her fenders clean and clear and settled in to race her race. No race is won on the first lap after all, which is something that some others should have remembered. Matt Kennseth in the Rousch #17 Waste Management Ford got spun on the first lap. Before the spinning had stopped, both, he and Michael Waltrip were done for the day. Thanks to Paul Menard, #11, again, like Labonte, a lot of talent, but little to no damned control or patience.
When the race went green again, Erin Crocker raced with Labonte for a couple of laps and was starting to work over the next car in line, Kevin LePage in the #72. She was trying to pass him on the outside, when Labonte in the #44 Coast Guard Chevy saw his chance to make that pass or to move her out of the way so he didn't have to worry about passing her.
If he had been more experienced..., or at least as good as he thinks he is, he could have probably tapped her just enough to wreck her and leave him clear to go on by. But no, it just wasn't in the cards. He tagged her. She spun. He hit the wall. She hit the wall and spun down through the track to go nose first into the inside wall where she got t-boned in the driver's side. In the melee that followed, a number of cars were collected into the wreck.
Before all was said and done, his not being able to handle the fact that this woman is more talented than he is and had a faster car ended up with a price tag in the $2.5 to 3 million dollar range. Figure that includes sponsors, crews, drivers, cars, trucks, trailers, gas, tires...all because he couldn't handle getting beat by a girl. Who he may have been able to pass later on, if he had shown the least little bit of patience. Heck, they were only on lap 11 of 200. A lot can happen in 189 laps.
She didn't get out and throw her helmet at him when he came by the next time(Robbie Gordon). Or flip him off when she exited her car(Martin Truex Jr.). Or rush to his pit box to scream in his crew chief's face(Kurt Busch).
She showed more class than we've seen in awhile. She got out of her car, did her interview with the media when she came out of the infield care center, made it clear she was mad and upset that this had happened...not to her, but to her sponsors and her team, and walked away to compete another day.
Class! The so-called "Young Guns" in NASCAR's Busch and NEXTEL divisions could take some lessons.
Read the article here.
In Saturday's Busch race, he wrecked Erin Crocker.
Why did he wreck Erin Crocker?
He said in an interview later that he had been trying to pass her for 5 laps and just couldn't make the pass. You caught that right, her.
That sounds like she had a faster car and was outdriving him. Yes...I said she.
In the first practice for the race, she had her #6 Everham Motors Hellmans Mayonnaise Dodge running 43rd speed-wise which was no guarantee of position in the race. Yes, that's Everham, as in Ray Everham, former championship crew chief for Jeff Gordon and, now, NEXTEL Cup car owner of the #9(Kasey Kahne) and #19(Jeremy Mayfield). His teams are Dodge's flagship teams in NEXTEL Cup. They lead the manufacturer back into major American stock car racing just a few years ago.
During the second practice, they figured a lot out. She jumped up to 11th quickest.
Then, in qualifying, she juiced that car up to 9th, which is where she started the race, 9th on the grid, inside of row 5. This put her ahead of such names as Matt Kennseth, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Burton.
Going into the first corner, she got freight trained a little, but she stayed to the outside and let the guys who were ready to run go. She kept her fenders clean and clear and settled in to race her race. No race is won on the first lap after all, which is something that some others should have remembered. Matt Kennseth in the Rousch #17 Waste Management Ford got spun on the first lap. Before the spinning had stopped, both, he and Michael Waltrip were done for the day. Thanks to Paul Menard, #11, again, like Labonte, a lot of talent, but little to no damned control or patience.
When the race went green again, Erin Crocker raced with Labonte for a couple of laps and was starting to work over the next car in line, Kevin LePage in the #72. She was trying to pass him on the outside, when Labonte in the #44 Coast Guard Chevy saw his chance to make that pass or to move her out of the way so he didn't have to worry about passing her.
If he had been more experienced..., or at least as good as he thinks he is, he could have probably tapped her just enough to wreck her and leave him clear to go on by. But no, it just wasn't in the cards. He tagged her. She spun. He hit the wall. She hit the wall and spun down through the track to go nose first into the inside wall where she got t-boned in the driver's side. In the melee that followed, a number of cars were collected into the wreck.
Before all was said and done, his not being able to handle the fact that this woman is more talented than he is and had a faster car ended up with a price tag in the $2.5 to 3 million dollar range. Figure that includes sponsors, crews, drivers, cars, trucks, trailers, gas, tires...all because he couldn't handle getting beat by a girl. Who he may have been able to pass later on, if he had shown the least little bit of patience. Heck, they were only on lap 11 of 200. A lot can happen in 189 laps.
She didn't get out and throw her helmet at him when he came by the next time(Robbie Gordon). Or flip him off when she exited her car(Martin Truex Jr.). Or rush to his pit box to scream in his crew chief's face(Kurt Busch).
She showed more class than we've seen in awhile. She got out of her car, did her interview with the media when she came out of the infield care center, made it clear she was mad and upset that this had happened...not to her, but to her sponsors and her team, and walked away to compete another day.
Class! The so-called "Young Guns" in NASCAR's Busch and NEXTEL divisions could take some lessons.
Read the article here.
posted by Mark "Puff" Anderson | 12:59 PM
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