I can't remember when I saw a more flagrant cheap shot than the one Rusty Turbush took at our driver last night. Without any warning at all, he deliberately right-turned the #44 into the wall just past the exit gate in Turn 3. That's bush-league.
And so was the response of the officials, who left the green up until the #44 came to a stop near the entry gate. In a post-race discussion, the officials told us that they put the yellow out right away. That's baloney. As the #44 bounced off the wall, I glanced over to my right and saw the green light still displayed on the frontstretch. I then looked back at the car, which was still rolling toward a stop near the gate. Only then did the caution come out.
The officials took away Tommy Walkowiak's points last week for a lot less than what happened in the Charger race last night. Their excuse for penalizing Tommy was "rough driving." What Turbush did last night went way beyond "rough driving." And, after a low-rent dirty move like he pulled, what was Rusty's punishment? They stopped him in the "bad-boy square" and sent him to the back of the field. Wow! And that was after the SECOND incident he was involved in.
There is NO EXCUSE for the officials to allow the deliberate wrecking of a driver. The Chief Steward told me after the race, "In NEXTEL Cup, they wreck each other all the time." SO WHAT? Sure they do, that's what they do for a living. The top guys in NASCAR are insured for millions of dollars, and they're racing for other millions, not for $225.00 and a plastic trophy. Thanks to corporate sponsorship, a NEXTEL Cup driver's family isn't going to go hungry if something happens to him. Our drivers aren't so lucky. Most or all of them all have to hold down jobs to support their families and racing programs, and every one of them puts their life on the line whenever they strap in to the cars. What happens to them and their families if they are injured (or, God forbid) worse, some idiot gets his panties in a twist and decides to take out the guy outside of him by deliberately right-turning him into a concrete wall? They deserve better than officials who proclaim that what happens on the track is "between the drivers."
In a discussion after the race, the officials blamed the nonsense in the Charger Division on the "mix of experienced drivers and inexperienced drivers." Well, last night, the inexperienced drivers weren't to blame. The guy who turned the race into a travesty is one of the most experienced drivers in the history of the division and the raceway.
The officials also asked for understanding of the fact that there's always so much going on that they can't see everything. Yeah, well this one happened right in front of the tower! I know a little about being a sports official; I was a hockey referee for 18 years. And, as I told the Chief Steward last night, in ONE PERIOD of a typical game, I made more calls than he does in a whole night--on the spot, with nobody else's help, and while I was on the move in the rink, not up in the stands.
When I officiated, I took into consideration that the players I worked for, like our drivers, were not pros. If they were high-school kids, they had their whole lives ahead if them. If they were adults playing in a recreational league, they had families to support, mortgages to pay, and jobs to go to. In all the years I officiated, only one player got seriously injured, and that was because he lost his balance on his own, fell into the boards, and cracked his kneecap.
Out of respect for the players and the game, I always called if firm BUT FAIR, without FEAR or FAVOR.
Can the Chief Steward say the same?
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