ESPN’s Dr. Jerry Punch:

"Twice a year, the best in Winston Cup subject themselves to a
high-risk, high-bank conflict known as the Battle of Bristol.  And
it’s a five hundred lap slug-fest in the mountains of Tennessee. It
is not for the faint of heart or the weak of bumper.  It is full-contact
car racing, confined to a three-story-high concrete cage and
surrounded by a sea of screaming fans…"

I’d say that constitutes a full and fair warning to viewers.

Ron Hickman

Just saw a report on Jayski, via Pitnow, that Nascar’s Polled the owners on
their feelings about running the stupid things at *all* the tracks. I
realize that it’s not April 1st, so what is it with this joke? I’m gonna say
it again, if Nascar wants to slow ‘em down, switch to smaller carbs (or
lower the compression limit). I guess it must be a safety issue, so making
them run in packs of 20 cars or so thirtysome times a year will really help.
<g> If there’s any truth to this rumor, and the rule change actually
happens, *then* you can look for the serious injuries and fatalities that
Nascar always claims it’s trying to avoid. I bet the drivers would just
*love* this idea. Maybe the drivers can operate the cars via remote control,
that’s about how much input they’ll have on the outcome of the race. If
they’re just gonna be along for the ride, why bother? There *is* a lot of
talent required at the superspeedways, even with the plates, but restrictor
plates at Martinsville, Bristol, Richmond, or Sears Point? They’re freakin
nuts! Chain racing anyone?

Didn’t Terry Labonte win a night race at Richmond about two years ago by
bumping Dale Jarret out of the way on the last lap?  If I remember
correctly, DJ was pissed and accused Terry of unsportsman like driving.
Eventhough he didn’t spin out DJ, the move was very similar to what DE put
on him.  Anyway, with new tires he should have never let DE get to his
bumper.

Let’s all face it…..either you love or you hate DE.  There just doesn’t
seem to be any middle ground in this case.  But there’s another point to
consider–love him or hate him, he was one of the drivers that helped make
NASCAR into the sport it is today.  Bristol’s finish on Saturday night will
be debated over and over (as have so many other controversial finishes),
but I don’t think anyone will ever debate Dale Earnhardt’s contribution to
NASCAR.

Enough is enough ! What`s next rules and regs of etiquette ? Nascar will
endure . They hype Bristol as being a slam and bang shootem out racetrack
and when something happens the b*#~^en starts . Jimmy Spencer of all people
. Remember a few years back I think at N. Wilksboro Labonte tried to go into
the pits and good old Jimmy rode him back out on the track . You don`t think
he would have put Terry in the wall to win ? Maybe Nascar should come out
and say that they made a mistake blackflagging Nadeau because the 88 was out
of the race and he was just going thru the motions to get  those "points".
I have not heard one comment on that subject . Rusty puts Jeff in the wall ,
Jeff puts Rusty in the wall , Dale puts Terry in the wall , Irwin will put
anyone in his way in the wall , I won`t even mention Irvan . It`s going to
happen . Automobile racing is like football it`s a contact sport . There is
a lot of money at stake and people will do anything they can to get more .
Let`s leave it alone and move on to Darlington and see what happens !

Fred Seifts

aka "the ribman"

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 30, 1999)
The following statement has been issued by Mike Helton, NASCAR’s Chief
Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, regarding the finish of
Saturday night’s Goody’s Headache Powder 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
The conclusion of the race was marked by a collision in the second turn of
the .533-mile concrete oval on the last lap in which race winner Dale
Earnhardt’s GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet collided with the rear of
leader Terry Labonte’s Kellogg’s Chevrolet. Labonte spun and collected the
cars of Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin.

Earnhardt dodged Labonte’s spinning car and beat Jimmy Spencer’s Team
Winston No Bull Ford back to the start/finish line to record his 73rd NASCAR
Winston Cup Series victory and his second this season.

Helton said no change would be made to the finishing order and no penalties
would be assessed.

"After reviewing the tapes of the last lap at Bristol, NASCAR will let the
finish order stand," Helton said. "In this case, our review of the tapes was
inconclusive. You need to be 100 percent certain when making a decision as
to whether or not you take a race win away from someone for something that
happens on the race track."

The sanctioning body was questioned about its reaction to the finish of the
race versus a situation earlier in the event in which a two-lap penalty was
assessed Jerry Nadeau for spinning Dale Jarrett. Reportedly, Nadeau was
warned for several laps by observers that Jarrett’s car was proceeding on
the bottom of the race track at a slightly reduced rate of speed.

"The incident with Nadeau was conclusive," Helton said.

So because Jerry knew Dale was slow, he was penalized for
accidentally hitting him.  ???  I don’t think Jerry would have hit
DJ that hard just trying to bring out a caution.  He was racing
hard to stay in front of the leader, and it looked like DJ stayed
up a little bit out of the turn (but with plenty of room for leaders
to get by).  It looked like a case of Jerry not judging the closing
speed correctly to me.  But if it was conclusive in NASCAR’s
eyes………

I don’t think so, this was short track racing. I t happens week in and week
out at hundreds of short tracks across the country every Fri. & Sat. night.
TL accused DW of wrecking him, TL checked up & DW had nowhere to go, sorry
Terry it was not intentional. As for the last lap it’s every man for
himself. The contact was minimal and thats why we race every lap, so quit
whining & go get’em next week.

Alan

Everyone wants to complain about DE spinning Labonte, how come no one
says anything about Spencer running into DE twice after the race was
over?  Talk about dirty!

I’ve never been a Dale Earnhardt fan, but wasn’t it fun watching him
give the poster boy another lesson in driving a race car. Then again I
never liked John Elway until he got old. It looks like the old boy just
needs something to drive and he can still get the job done. There will,
of course, be more than one opinion on this.

Today’s race was the first where I heard NASCAR now uses THEIR discretion at
who gets a lap back and who does not when racing back to the line (when caution
comes out).

While I certainly believe the lead driver can play favorites and allow someone
to pass them to get a lap back…I must say I would rather see this rather than
have NASCAR dictate who they want to give a lap back to and who they do not.

My understanding is the cars trying to get a lap back need to have been racing
(contact) along with the lead driver…but I think this is going to open NASCAR
up to controversial calls.

Keith

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