|| *Comments on the 2011 Showtime Southern 500:* View the most recent comment <#243> | Post a comment <#post> 1. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First off, awesome job and way to go REGAN SMITH. YEAH! What the heck was that with Harvick's car on pit road at the end? Did Kyle shove it? Good job by Dave Blaney getting another top-25 finish with the new sponsorship. My quick back-of-the-envelope calculations say that Robby Gordon's team has fallen out of the top 35 in owners' points now (but should be locked in at Dover since, IIRC, the 21 is skipping that race). 2. Neal posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats to Regan. That kid is driving his tail off. I never figured that team would ever win a race. I'll take my crow batter-fried with onion rings. Memo to Pansy...err Rowdy, tucking tail and running off when confronted makes you look like a weenie. If you can't take it you'd better not dish it out. 3. Rotor77 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Replays showed that Kyle indeed pushed Kevin's car into the pit wall. Not a smart choice IMO. All that aside, major props to Regan for holding off Carl. Job well done. 4. Christian posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) WAY TO GO REGAN SMITH!!! 5. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I seem to remember Loudon 2008 when Montoya turned Kyle at much slower speeds they acted like Montoya was commiting bloody murder. If you want to see the 18 car in the wall, then Dover is the place to go because just ask Hamlin, Harvick doesnt screw around. 6. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And yes, great job Regan Smith. 7. potatosalad48 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can't say enough for Regan Smith. No one can take this one from him, although BK2 helped him on that restart. And as for the Busch/Harvick situation: OH BOY! 8. irony posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats Regan on YOUR 2nd CAREER WIN! Kyle not so much. What a fail by Carl. Fresher tires, Regan taps the wall, and you still don't pass him? 9. RaceFanX posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:24 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Regan Smith finally gets his first official Cup win. It's also his first top-5! Smith and the Furniture Row team stayed out on a late caution to jump to the front and then held off a hard-charging Carl Edwards to give himself and the boys from Denver their first NASCAR victory. And yeah, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch let their tempers get the better of them on pit road and when Happy hopped out of his car Rowdy gunned the throttle in his and shoved the #29 Chevy out of his way causing the unoccupied black Budweiser car to crash into the pit wall. Both were called to the truck by NASCAR after the race. 10. DaleJrFan19 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Awesome job for Regan to get his SECOND carrer win! Now to the other issue... WTF Kyle Busch, you want everyone to give you room huh? You think every spot is for you? You got to race for them spots, this is not Nationwide where you lead 200 laps every race. You expect Kevin Harvick to give you room? This isn't the Nationwide series Kyle, this is Sprint Cup, where you got to fight for the wins, SO STOP BEING A F***ING PUSSY BY BLATANTLY WRECKING TWO DRIVERS BECAUSE "I got a bump" WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! Did anybody see what Kyle Busch did on pitlane? He pushed Harvick's car unmanned car out of the way on pit road. Now that's bullshit. That could've killed someone. And of course, he runs away like a little bitch after it. If you can't talk the talk, then don't walk the walk. If I was NASCAR, I would park Kyle's sorry ass for a few races, because that was extremely dangerous what he did. Wrecking someone on the track is one thing, but pushing an unmanned car with the steering wheel detached with pit crew members around is a cardinal sin. Something needs to be done about it, but of course, nothing will since he done since nothing will be done until someone gets hurt. Too long; don't read: Kyle Busch is a talentless prick who shouldn't exist. 11. Eric posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I saw the replays also and Kyle indeed pushed Kevin's car into the pit wall. Kevin shouldn't have left his car a first place where he had it a first place. I think Kevin and Kyle need to be suspended for a couple races. I am happy Ragan Smith won after what happened a couple years to him. 12. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #50 sponsor: Bandit Chippers. 13. dirtfan9628 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Hahahahahah, go Busch! He somehow managed to take the high road and make Harvick look like the guy with the immature, childish temper. The whole situation looked like a big misunderstanding, with two guys misinterpreting accidental contact as intentional. But Busch clearly wasn't looking for a fight after the race, maybe he's growing up after all. Harvick put his own crew in danger by turning off that car and blocking in Busch. Oh yeah, and it's pretty cool that Regan Smith won. That's karma right there. 14. nascarfreak99 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gotta give a big HELL YEAH to Regan Smith and that whole organization. Well deserved win for both. #1, yes Kyle shoved the car when Kevin was walking to him. Speaking of, Kyle Busch's immaturity shows comes up again as he pulls a Carl Edwards. I hope the same punishments are given, as it was the same situation. Great runs for BK, Candy Kahne, and Big Mac. And a very well deserved run for the 56. Overcame that bad luck earlier on in the race. Congrats do Blaney as well. Kids are gonna eat free sometime soon. 15. Eric posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I meant to type Regan Smith instead of Ragan Smith. 16. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Too long; don't read: Kyle Busch is a talentless prick who shouldn't exist." Kyle Busch is a talentless prick who shouldn't exist. Kyle Busch is a talentless prick Kyle Busch is talentless" BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 17. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle did shove Harvick's car out of the way. It would've been too funny if it did that all on its own. The incident overshadowed Kyle's great comeback from pitting with a loose wheel, the second time this year that there have been lug stud issues on pit stops for the 18 team. Obviously what a great drive by Regan Smith. He was running sixth when that last caution came out, so it wasn't a totally lucky win. Kasey Kahne dominated the race for the most part but hit the wall and then just couldn't stick with Carl Edwards at the end. Edwards had the race won before Jeff Burton blew up and in parts of the race was running lower on the track than I've ever seen at Darlington. RCR suffered a lot in the last 15 laps of the race. Burton blew up with 10 laps to go and Jeff still doesn't have a top 10 this year, then Bowyer crashed and Kyle blatantly hooked Harvick, and Paul Menard blew up at the white flag, taking what was potentially a great night for RCR and sending it down the crapper fast. I liked what Jeff Hammond said when Chris Myers asked who was a cleaner driver between Kyle and Kevin and he said they were both bulls in a china shop and were equal. Marcos Ambrose ruined a great run by Bobby Labonte and just drove straight through Bobby on the last lap. 18. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hopefully Regan Smith will get the credit thats due. That's the story of the race. Not the idiots playing bumper cars. Now I was going to say something bad about "Mr. Doublemint" but I said I was never ever going to talk about him ever again and I'll stay true to my word. I'll let the other educated members take this one. I love Darlington. They need to be here twice a year. I don't care if I have to buy all the tickets, its damn worth it. Now I'll let the arguing and driver bashing commence. As one idiot said... "Get your popcorn ready" 19. RaceFanX posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Former Roush Racing Truck series driver T.J. Bell makes his Sprint Cup debut, albeit in a start-and-park effort. His #50 Toyota was fielded by Joe Falk, marking Falk's return to NASCAR Cup series ownership after an 11-year absence. 20. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Did anybody see what Kyle Busch did on pitlane? He pushed Harvick's car unmanned car out of the way on pit road. Now that's bullshit. That could've killed someone. And of course, he runs away like a little bitch after it. If you can't talk the talk, then don't walk the walk." You're an idiot. Harvick shouldn't have gotten out of his car. Harvick shouldn't gone after Busch in his car. Harvick shouldn't left his car on. Harvick's team shouldn't have been running down the pit lane while cars were still running looking for a fight. The only people that put in danger there were because of Harvick himself, through Harvick's own actions. 21. TonyB4886 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) REGAN SMITH-Got a long overdue win tonight. Congratulations to you. I guarantee Furniture Row Racing will acquire another Associate Sponsor for that car which means more money, better equipment and another win!!! I knew he had what it takes he's been running very well all season and his finishes are not indicative of how he has been running, he just has bad luck well tonight he has good luck. I loved his comment that only legends are supposed to win at Darlington and that he couldn't believe it. Well believe it kid, you're a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner, Only 178 other men can make a claim like that!! 2 one win wonders this early in the season very interesting! 22. Lugnut18 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #10 STFU, Harvick drove kyle down to the apron on the backstretch then ran into the back of him into 3. That combined with Kevin intentionally wrecking him at homestead lead to kyle dumping harvick. I bet you were cheering for harvick when he dumped kyle at homestead. As far as what happened at the end of the race, I guess kevin shouldn't have parked his car infront of bush, then wait like a puss for a crewman to come back him up, and the puss even kept his helmet on. A car moving at 10mph ain't gonna kill someone. Stop overreacting. 23. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #78 sponsor: Furniture Row/Denver Mattress. And RCR did seem to have a "masters of disaster" night, didn't they? The 31 blew up, the 27 blew up at the end, and the 33 was threatening to blow up before getting wrecked. 24. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick should have just waited until Dover. Simple as that, or beat his ass in the paddock area. The pit road thing was just stupid and he should have known Kyle was going to try and run away. 25. Unser1 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is Smith's first victory not only in Cup but in any high-level NASCAR touring series. 26. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) epicccc 27. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alright I can't do it...I can't resist... How about the "NEW" Kyle Busch. Kyle Busch version 2.0 is now worse than ever before. More dumb, more dangerous, more idiotic, and more annoying. I knew he couldn't last more than 10 races. Man I can't wait until DaleSRFanForever gets here. 28. DaleJrFan19 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Exactly, Cooper. "He's totally matured since last year" my ass. 29. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #19: The #50 didn't strictly S&P - they were slow and in and out of the garage several times. Sometimes these days it's hard to tell genuine problems from a S&P effort. Speaking of S&P, what the heck happened to the #66? They said they were going to run the whole race - did turning the #60 really mess them up that bad? 30. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Atta Boy Regan Smith, he took maximum advantage of the clean air and held off Carl who was on way fresher tires.The Furniture Row Team has be getting better but I'd never thought they'd pull of a win...Big Congratulations to those guys!!! Kurt Busch chews his team(and Penske Racing as a whole) several new assholes, gets a great car for Darlington only to crash it in practice, be forced to a backup and has another miserable race.Meanwhile Brad K kept his cool despite last week being his team's most embarrassing performance to date, goes a lap down early but after getting the lucky dog the crew gradually makes the car better and after staying out along with the #78 on the second to last caution held on for a 3rd place finish.Hmm.....Karma perhaps? I'll leave Shrub vs. Happy to the other commenters here. 31. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) -Brad Keselowski's best finish since his win at Talladega in April 2009. 32. TheTruthā?¢ posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Harvick drove kyle down to the apron on the backstretch" What happened out of T2 before that? Kyle slid up the track into Harvick. So after getting into Harvick out of 2, Harvick bumped him back in T3, then Busch felt that he had to be leading the intentional contact tally and turned him in front of the entire field after the caution was already out. "Hahahahahah, go Busch! He somehow managed to take the high road and make Harvick look like the guy with the immature, childish temper." Brother, Busch didn't take the high road in ANY WAY tonight. Harvick also didn't take the high ride after the race until he took it to the NASCAR trailer, but Busch made Harvick look like a saint (again). I just wish Kyle would've shot the car into reverse instead of shoving an unmanned car out of the way. Everybody's on pit road after these races, someone easily could've gotten hurt. 33. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bowyer got his race ruined by sticking his nose three wide with Kyle and Kevin who were already going at it. He should've let them wreck each other and then made the pass. 34. TonyB4886 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) oh and to DaleJrFan19 stop being ignorant it is his first win. Rule violations do not constitute a win, just get over it and be happy for the kid as he celebrates his FIRST career victory!! It was no big deal to 95% of NASCAR when he LOST to Tony Stewart because those 95% knew he had what it takes to get a win someday and we were right, but to that 5% that just wants to hold grudges, you're probably the same people that buy a 60-150 dollar ticket just to get drunk and pass out and miss half the race, or leave with little precious(#88) wrecks(EVERY RACE)! You 5% are wat I call nonfans you're not there to watch the race your there to buy a seat get drunk and pass out and only remember the national anthem, therefore your opinion does not matter!!! 35. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #32- Obviously you didn't watch the footage from Harvick's in car that Kyle did not hit Harvick out of turn 2 and Harvick turned to the left, then tapped Kyle, so Kyle thought he needed to pay back Harvick and wrecked him, which was dumb. Both Kyle and Kevin showed that they are still very immature. 36. Dion posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) wow how to describe that race... Way to go Regan! Gotta love it when the little guy beats Hendrick or Gibbs or Roush, just a small 1 car team doing the job with a driver "who hadn't even had a top 5 before" to quote Regan. Congrats TJ Bell on making his cup debut! and the 18/29 fiasco was priceless...this is entertainment and drama at its best...I wonder if KB gets the infamous "Probation until Dec. 31st" 37. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To be fair, Kyle might have assumed Harvick was trying to wreck him when Bowyer came up and rammed the 29 into the 18 out of turn 4. That doesn't excuse subsequent actions, but it might well explain them. 38. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought Kyle Busch showed tremendous maturity. He didn't look for a fight after the race, he was all smiles in his interview, and seemed more than willing to go talk with NASCAR. The people in here gloating, "hahah, Kryle still immature, lolololol I'm so genius!" are morons. Harvick started it on the track, Busch finished it on the track. And Busch didn't want to get into some pissing match after the race. Grow up, Harvick. 39. Mike posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The thing I wonder about ... I don't think Kyle could have hit Harvick's car hard enough to make it take off like it did, 'cause that thing just bolted. I wonder if Harvick left it running in neutral and it fell back into gear, whether from the bumps from Kyle or from something else. Also, @ irony (#8): I almost wonder if Smith hitting the wall actually helped him. It shot him down the track, right into the lane Edwards would have used to pass him. Essentially, the wall forced him into the perfect block down the backstretch. 40. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cooper's interesting fact of the race: --Regan Smith wins from the 23rd position, the lowest starting position to win at Darlington since Ricky Craven started 31st in 2003. You don't have to look this up because I already did. 41. Bronco posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First win by a single car team at a non drafting track since Ricky Craven also won at Darlington in 2003. Ironically, Regan's first win and first top 5 come in a race where he recorded his worst qualifying effort of the year. I never would have expected a win at Darlington of all places from Regan or Furniture Row, but its always cool to witness upsets in NASCAR. This time, Regan isn't going to get screwed by any yellow line BS. I would be shocked if both Kyle and Kevin don't get monetary and points fines on Tuesday for their actions. Pit crews need to learn to stay away from each other and stop instigating fights. Dale Jr screwed himself out of a top 10 finish when he hit the pit road entrance cone while coming in from the 6th position, he lost a lap for a pass through penalty but got the lucky dog, took advantage of some late race chaos to finish 14th. 42. TheTruthā?¢ posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Harvick started it on the track, Busch finished it on the track. And Busch didn't want to get into some pissing match after the race." Um, did you miss the pit road deal? That was truly mature. Typical weekly anonymous Kyle Busch fan. 43. Rotor77 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dalejrfanxx (xx=years) has been an idiot forever. What makes you think he would change? 44. nascarfreak99 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not gonna say Kevin didn't do anything wrong. But how do you turn someone into oncoming traffic and then turn his car again on a busy pit road? Kyle pulled a MAJOR Carl Edwards, David Gilliland, or whatever you want to call it. 45. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #42: The deal where Harvick kept maneuvering to get in the way of Kyle off of turn 4 when Kyle was obviously just trying to get away, then blocked Kyle on pit road? Kyle shouldn't have hit the 29 after Harvick got out, but Harvick put his car there - and I agree with #39, there's no way just tapping the car made it hook that hard left and drive off by itself. 46. Pepsibottle1 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great drive by Regan, deserved that and was a long time coming. Gotta love your Darlington racing 47. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith Nuff said Ok, I have more to say. To me, both Kyle and Kevin come out of this looking bad. Kyle moreso. The "unmanned car" debacle was both of their faults. When you incite crap like that on pit road, bad things happen. That is two guys with no regard. But Kyle is a Grade A P****. And he intentionally turned Kevin on the straightaway which is unacceptable. And it is clear, once and for all, the New Kyle is a load of shit. Overall two guys with the talent to win multiple titles who have allowed their careers to be sidetracked by this childish garbage. Given both of their pasts, I'd like to see nascar park them both next week, but it will never happen. Hope they both have fun watching 5 time become 6 time in November. Seriously, do you ever see JJ get into crap like this? Do you think he's gonna risk anything by going after JPM? Of course not. He won't get sidetracked. 48. Pepsibottle1 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great drive by Regan, deserved that and was a long time coming. Gotta love your Darlington racing 49. Bartman97 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You's are retarded who think Kyle Busch has gained maturity. He has had no sense of maturity since IDK how f**king long ago. That is all I'm going to say, go troll me. 50. DaleJrFan19 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Personal attacks ftl. I honestly don't care what you think about me, and I will forever stand by my opinion that Kyle was being typical Kyle at the end there. 51. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Um, did you miss the pit road deal? That was truly mature." You mean when he did everything he could to avoid getting into some phony fight with Harvick and his crew members running down pit lane when they weren't supposed to? Yeah, you're right, it WAS truly mature. Not his fault Harvick boxed him in and left his car running. 52. irony posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ No doubt Mike. And dear TonyB, getting forced below the line is not a rule violation, as explained both before and after Dale Jr won the same way without penalty. Congrats Regan on YOUR 2nd CAREER WIN! 53. Ryan posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch wanted no part of Kevin Harvick. I'd love to see Kyle in a real fight with someone. He would get dominated. I've never seen him drive consistently good for five races. It's like the guy who can throw real fast off the mound, but can never throw three strikes out of seven pitches. 54. Jimbeam posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I've never seen him drive consistently good for five races." Then maybe you should actually watch the races. Oh wait, it's Ryan. Nevermind, your opinion doesn't count anyway. My grandma knows more about racing than you. 55. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't see how anyone can argue either Kyle or Kevin being in the right...both of 'em showed their asses tonight especially on pit road after the race.I hope NASCAR throws the book at them and fines 'em both a big amount of points. 56. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan, in actuality nobody should want any part of Kevin Harvick in a fight because he would dominate anybody. They both acted totally wrong and like five year olds and I don't see how you can say who was more wrong as Harvick had no reason to hit Kyle twice, Kyle had no reason to intentionally hook Harvick in front of the field, Harvick had no reason to stop his car there and get out, and Kyle had no reason to shove Harvick's car into the wall. I think there was equal acts of immaturity and there should be equal points penalties, fines, and probations. 57. roygbiv posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Homestead last year, that's all I have to say. 58. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never had much respect for Joe Gibbs, and it's completely gone now. Kinda sad when everyone who drives for you is a douche-bag. Shrub is the most worthless POS that's ever driven in NASCAR. Period. He's nothing more than a Davey Allison caliber crybaby and minor league bully. 59. TimmyH posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You's are retarded who think Kyle Busch has gained maturity." I hope this was said ironically. Also I love how everyone here feels so smug about confirming their self-fulfilling prophecies about Kyle Busch. Haha, I told you he wasn't perfect, haha! Yeah, get over yourselves. You're whining about nothing. Looked to me like Busch just wanted to "rattle his (Harvick's) cage". Mission Accomplished. Busch doesn't bother waiting for some melodramatic, BS grand-standing after a race, if you hit him, he bites back immediately. 60. Timmy Quivy posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Biggest. Upset. Ever. Bigger than Derrike Cope. Bigger than Trevor Bayne. Bigger than Lake Speed. Biggest. Upset. Ever. 61. Schroeder51 posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Holy shit. What a race. This ranks right up there with the '03 finish here between Craven and Busch. I saw two of the best NASCAR races ever live. Highlights included: J. J. Yeley blowing an engine in front of me, Joey Logano crashing in front of me, Jimmie Johnson spinning out in front of me, the Bowyer/Harvick/Busch situation (also in front of me), Paul Menard blowing his engine on the last lap in front of me, and the Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick fight in front of me. Didn't stay long enough to see the pit crew fight or hear Regan Smith's interview, but I did get to see him do some donuts and pull it into victory lane. Congratulations Regan! Now nobody can ever doubt you won a race. Kyle Busch made one of the dumbest mistakes I've ever seen in dumping Kevin Harvick. That was NOT a good idea. 62. Schroeder51 posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And to be fair, Regan Smith was running pretty good before he stayed out. He was running, I believe, in 5th place when Jeff Burton's engine blew. And I am very disappointed in T. J. Bell S&Ping in his debut. And Robby Gordon as well. Why the hell did Robby Gordon S&P? He came in and out of the garage a bunch of times, he was like 150 laps down. I thought he wasn't part of the S&P brigade? 63. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #58 - I don't think Bell or Gordon S&P'd, I think they had genuine issues. 64. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Owner standings by team (counting each team's highest-finishing car in each race): 1. Roush, 413 2. Gibbs, 400 3. Childress, 398 -. Hendrick, 398 5. Stewart-Haas, 350 6. Petty, 340 7. Penske, 330 8. Earnhardt-Ganassi, 321 9. Red Bull, 304 10. Waltrip, 277 11. JTG-Daughtery, 225 12. Furniture Row, 216 13. Front Row, 190 14. Phoenix, 171 15. Baldwin, 156 16. FAS Lane, 149 17. Germain, 147 18. Robby Gordon, 144 19. Wood Brothers, 136 20. TRG, 132 21. Max Q, 92 22. Whitney, 50 23. HP, 30 24. NEMCO, 26 25. Rusty Wallace, 24 26. Inception, 13 27. K-Automotive, 9 28. Leavine-Fenton, 6 --. LTD Powersports, 6 65. TheTruthā?¢ posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "there's no way just tapping the car made it hook that hard left and drive off by itself." Luckily for us, Harvick had a camera on his rear bumper which clearly displayed that Kyle SHOVED Kevin's car up to that speed. He didn't just "tap it". Evidence was clear as day. The car hooked hard left because Kyle was cutting to the right, the steering wheel wasn't even hooked up on the 29, and it didn't drive off by itself. 66. Watto posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Awesome to see Regan Smith and Furniture Row accomplish the unthinkable at DARLINGTON! Also great top 5 for a struggling Penske and Brad Keselowski (who was running I believe 11th before staying out on the final caution). 67. Schroeder51 posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #59-Bell perhaps, but I think Gordon did S&P, he pulled it into the garage as soon as he got the Lucky Dog when Yeley blew up, and did things similar to other S&Pers (pulling it into the garage, coming back out after several laps, running a few more laps, pulling it back in, pull it back out to gain a position, pull it back into the garage and retire it). Bell actually did this too. It could be he did have a genuine problem and ultimately decided to park it, though. 68. Ryan posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Biggest. Upset. Ever. Bigger than Derrike Cope. Bigger than Trevor Bayne. Bigger than Lake Speed. Biggest. Upset. Ever." No, No, No, Yes, and No 69. CFob posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan, Brad and Truex all in the top ten makes me very happy. Well deserved win for Regan. 70. Schroeder51 posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #56-I wouldn't exactly call Lake Speed's win an upset. Lake was actually a pretty good driver and contended for wins several other times besides his Darlington win in '88. He just never had a really good ride. Probably the best rides he had were the #75 RahMoc car in '85, the #28 Yates Ford he drove for a few races in '93, and the #15 Bud Moore Ford he drove in '94. 71. Ryan posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ryan, in actuality nobody should want any part of Kevin Harvick in a fight because he would dominate anybody. They both acted totally wrong and like five year olds and I don't see how you can say who was more wrong as Harvick had no reason to hit Kyle twice, Kyle had no reason to intentionally hook Harvick in front of the field, Harvick had no reason to stop his car there and get out, and Kyle had no reason to shove Harvick's car into the wall. I think there was equal acts of immaturity and there should be equal points penalties, fines, and probations." I agree with guy that said Kyle thinks people should move out of his way. This isn't the Busch series. Busch ran Kevin up into the wall coming off turn 2 and then Kevin nudged him a little bit letting him know he didn't like that, and then three wide happens with Bowyer, then wreck, and then Busch takes Harvick and himself out of contention for top 10 finishes. Then Busch nudges Harvick's car into the inside pit wall. What if someone had jumped over the wall at that very point to try and stop them from getting into it and that car had hit he or she? Busch is an ass. He can't be consistent for nothing. 72. TimmyH posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Luckily for us, Harvick had a camera on his rear bumper which clearly displayed that Kyle SHOVED Kevin's car up to that speed." And this, children, is someone who didn't do so well in High School physics class. What you describe is physically impossible. Congratulations, you've made an idiot out of yourself on the internet. "Kyle Busch made one of the dumbest mistakes I've ever seen in dumping Kevin Harvick. That was NOT a good idea." Busch owed Harvick for Homestead last year. What goes around comes around. 73. Matt G posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I would like to thank Jeff Burton's team for blowing that thing up with 10 laps to go instead of bringing it down pit road to get more water in it and try to milk it to the end. Without that move, none of this ever happens. Instead, Edwards would have pulled away and won easy, Regan Smith would've had a nice run that's forgotten about, and we never would've gotten to see all the Harvick/Busch fireworks at the end. Too bad we only go to Darlington once a year now because it seems like this track almost never disappoints. 74. irony posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Robby was late to practice Friday before the rain or just didn't plan on practicing. So it does sound like a S&P. 75. Rusty posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larry Mac kept going on and on during qualyifing about how McDowell wasn't going to S&P this week and he ends up parking after 7 laps. Great job making him look even dumber. Pretty awesome to get another suprising first time winner with a underfunded team. 76. irony posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) When a race comes on air at the top of the hour it should start by 15 after. It should come on air with the command to start engines. If you're going to have a 45 minute pre-race show then advertise as such. No wonder ratings are declining. I mean damn, I know to expect that and even I get frustrated just waiting for the race to start. I left at about 10 after, walked a mile, and they hadn't even cranked up. 77. 00andJoe posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #70 - I check the listing on racefantv, since it lists the prerace show and actual race broadcast seperately. 78. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Busch is an ass. He can't be consistent for nothing. " I find it very amusing that Ryan totally ignores last week's race thread, yet he'll stay up late into the night to complain about Kyle in this one. Is your life really that pathetic? You didn't have the guts to show up last week to say something, but it's cool and fun when you can be part of the lynch mob, is that it? There's no safety like the safety that comes from saying whatever you need to say to be part of the majority! How could Busch possibly be running so high at the end of this race, his equipment must have been so worn out, right? Here's an idea: cry some more about Kyle. Because the dopey whining from people like you sustains Busch's fans. I hope his smiling sarcastic post race interview drove you mad. Harvick wrecked Busch at Homestead last year, costing him 2 or 3 spots in the final standings. Busch should punt Harvick 2 or 3 more times to make up for that. But for now, let's just say they're even, and leave it at that. If Harvick thinks he can push Busch around on the track, he's sadly mistaken. If you bite Busch, he bites back. *Keselowski, Edwards, and many others nod in agreement* 79. DNoon posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For Anonymous Comment #55: I take offense to calling Davey Allison a "caliber crybaby and minor league bully." I take it that you have not followed NASCAR for more than a millisecond! Get your head out of your A**, and take a NASCAR history lesson! I've been following NASCAR since 1988, and I have never seen observed Davey Allison being a crybaby! Learn to respect those who can no longer compete in this great sport! R.I.P. Davey Allison! 80. JimmieJohnsonsNeatlyTrimmedBeard posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love it! You have to hand it to Kyle, the kid is not afraid to mix it up. Harvick should be weary though, I know it's fashionable to have a vendetta against Busch, but that's not an enemy you want to have out on the track. He's unpredictable, short tempered, and worst of all, GOOD. Meaning you usually have to get around him to find the lead. And for Harvick, this bad blood can stretch down through all 3 series, affecting multiple teams he owns. Do you want to doubt that Busch will wreck Hornaday, or Sadler to win a race in a lower series, just to indirectly stick it to you? Seriously Harvick, back off of Busch, you can't win this game. Busch is the auto racing equivalent to an internet troll. Somehow, they draw out the worse in you, and then they make you look worse than them when you try to retaliate. Because everyone knows they are a troll, it's expected for them to act like a dick, but you should know better. 81. joey2448 posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch is a punk-ass driver who had it coming tonight. He's such a talented racer, and I am all for seeing drivers being aggressive and taking chances, but he's such a dick. Good to see Kevin (attempt) a punch. I thought that Kevin was gonna ram Kyle's car when they were on the frontstretch after the race. I thought for sure that Regan was toast on that final restart alongside Carl. I thought Carl would be leading by turn two, but Regan held him off all the way! What an upset, and it couldn't have gone to a nicer driver. I've been following Regan this year, and he's been qualifying fantastic, but hasn't been getting the finishes. Good to see him finally get a win. He (and his team) deserves it. Also good for Brad to hold on to a top-five. Junior and Burton both had good runs spoiled for the second consecutive week. Damn! Pretty strange to see a cars side ripped off (Vickers). Overall, great race! Always look forward to Darlington, it has good, old-school racing. 82. joey2448 posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, Carl has finished second to both "upsets" this year... 83. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race is a perfect example of why I love Darlington. I know people get upset when there are not that many passes, I like the fact that there is only 1 real groove and passes require skill and thinking not just going to the high side and making a pass like at the cookie cutters, plus tempers flaring, even though my favorite driver acted like a prick at the end of the race I enjoyed watching the race. Both races at Dover last year were interesting with Kyle and Jimmie trading the lead in the spring and the prospect of AJ Allmendinger dominating the first half of the fall race. Hopefully this week's race can be like those, because I don't think it will top the 2008 fall race with Biffle, Kenseth, Edwards, and Johnson all fighting for the win. Who will be the next combo with some past history to have their rivalry ignite? Maybe Kurt Busch vs. Jimmie Johnson. Anyways, on to Dover and then Charlotte, which means the end of FOX's coverage! 84. JP88 posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow...congrats to Regan Smith...that was just awesome to watch...well minus Kyle's boneheaded decision that could of hurt someone 85. Watto posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I take offense to calling Davey Allison a "caliber crybaby and minor league bully." I believe that he was just calling Kyle "Davey Allison caliber" when it comes to talent. The crybaby and minor league bully part was strictly about Kyle, and not about Davey in any way. I may be wrong, though. 86. Dodge posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I gained a little more respect for Kyle. Some people last week disagreed when I said Juan should of been suspended for what he did. Same thing except Harvick was TOO DUMB TO DO 2 THINGS......1) WAIT TILL NEXT WEEK TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS and 2) PUT THE CAR IN PARK. If he put his car into Park, the car would NEVER of been able to be "pushed" out of the way. As several said last week, Have at it boys......Harvick showed he has 0 class whatsoever I think Harvick does deserve a suspension, just considering his past history which is worse than Busch's. 87. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I would like to thank Jeff Burton's team for blowing that thing up with 10 laps to go instead of bringing it down pit road to get more water in it and try to milk it to the end. Without that move, none of this ever happens." Don't blame the #31, blame NASCAR. A caution isn't necessary when a car blows up like that, especially when they don't even wait to see if there really is any fluid on the track. Same goes for a single car spin, a car bouncing off the wall and continuing on, or debris on the apron. But NASCAR will throw a caution for each of those situations so that we can get some "excitement". Looks like everything went to plan and I doubt they'll ever change their shonky ways. 88. beau posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) i will finally put 2008 talladega behind me. 89. Austin posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith's first "offical" victory 90. Evan posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) * First win for car numbered 78. * Regan Smith got a well-deserved win finally after the 2008 UAW Ford 500 fiasco. * "New Kyle Busch" hahahahahaha! Makes me laugh! * Very nice win and Carl took two tires instead of 4 which could have probably won him the race but he would not have been able to catch the front 4. Regan got a good enough start and beat Edwards back. * Kasey Kahne finished 4th and matched his car number. 91. Rusty posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Both Harvick and Kyle were wrong, but Kyle was even more wrong. He flat out intentionally wrecked Harvick after Bowyer's wreck and then wrecked his unmanned car in the pits, which is an incredibly stupid thing to do. What if there was some media people standing there? Harvick obviously shouldn't have left his car like that, but that doesn't make Kyle right. It's too bad Harvick didn't get a chance to punch his teeth in, someone needs to already. 92. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "2) PUT THE CAR IN PARK." hahahahaha Oh wait....I forget that pretty much all of America only drives automatics. 93. NazRacePhan posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #90: * First win for car numbered 78.---NOPE 4/5/1953 Charlotte Dick Passwater 78 Oldsmobile 3/27/1955 Hillsboro Jim Paschal 78 Helzafire Oldsmobile 7/9/1955 Columbia Jim Paschal 78 Helzafire Oldsmobile 8/5/1955 Charlotte Jim Paschal 78 Helzafire Oldsmobile 5/7/2011 Darlington Regan Smith 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 94. John Royal posted: 05.08.2011 - 8:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Most of the Kyle haters here are just as immature than Harvick and Busch at the track (or off track). Great race, great finish in means of Smith and driver feud. Harvick should have put that car in reverse, or was the motor running? I don't know... Here are more of these ****************************** for you immature commentators to use. 95. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 8:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Harvick should have put that car in reverse, or was the motor running? I don't know..." You being serious there? 96. John Royal posted: 05.08.2011 - 8:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sure, in reverse it would have been harder for Kyle to push away. 97. Wikus van de Merwe posted: 05.08.2011 - 9:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Regan Smith wins the trophy... and this time he GETS TO KEEP IT!!!!" - Mike Joy 98. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 9:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DaleSrFanForever- The voice of reason: "Given both of their pasts, I'd like to see nascar park them both next week, but it will never happen. Hope they both have fun watching 5 time become 6 time in November." That is the point. Given this bad blood which has the potential to spread down through the Nationwide and Truck Series, this is one time I wish NASCAR would sit out two competitors for one week. Will it happen? Nope. Someone needs to hit the reset button, retool and refocus these drivers. This "show" has overshadowed a surprising win by Regan Smith. It is all smoke and mirrors, because Mr. 5 time, although he didn't have the best of nights, will ultimately triumph in November. In short, why do we focus our collective attention on these 'sideshows' when they will eventually fade into the background? This is Exhibit A for people who wonder why Jimmie Johnson has won the last 5 championships... mentally unstable basketcases who can't get it together. Again, this is all background noise that is not worth the back and forth, name-calling, etc. on Racing Reference boards. 99. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 10:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous Post 87, any catastrophic engine failure ALWAYS merits a caution. You can't wait two laps to get the drivers opinions on whether the track is good or not. NASCAR has a responsbility to ensure the safety of racecars and to ensure the track is safe. I'm not sure if you watched NASCAR in 04, but check out the Dover spring race. Kasey Kahne had the race in hand and another competitor laid oil down causing many cars to wreck including the leader Kasey. NASCAR faced a lot of backlash for not throwing the caution, they are doind a great job this year of throwing deserved cautions. 100. soupclan posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous is just an idiot plain and simple so none of his posts have any merit. congrats to Regan Smith on a shocking win. so were halfway through the sports big 4 races and theres been an upset in both races. can't wait to see who wins the 600 and Brickyard. Carl still has not won any of the Big 4 races. only a matter of time though....finished 2nd in the 1st 2. Kyle got into harvick first.....whether it was intentional or not it doesn't matter.....harvick gave him a little tap just to say hey i didn't appreciate that. no harm no foul....everybody does that. now Kyle blatently takes out Harvick. real good job of the NEW Kyle BUSCH....haha.....he has matured so much hasn't he. Harvick was going to spin him on pit road like what others have done in the past. think stewart-gordon many moons ago. again nothing wrong with that.others have done the same thing. kyle went back which could have been real badhad he went more forward into a celebrating regan smith. thankfully he had some judgement there and put it in reverse. then we have the pit road fiasco. i love the peiople that think harvicks car was left on...lol!!!!!! kyle ran like the little pussy he is but to push a 3400 pound car on pitroad with other people on pit road into the wall is pure retardedness. Harvick did nothing to warrent a suspension....fine and points deducted....maybe......most likely probation. but Kyle Busch put peoples safety in jepordy. that warrents a suspension. I also have lost some respect for Joe Gibbs for keeping this asshole in his car. 101. jabber1990 posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) only one other person mentioned this, David Ragan spun on the frontstretch and then smacked Brian Vickers right behind the tire and ripped off his door. foam and all but didnt Martin Truex Jr. in '04 or '05 at martinsville end up in the same boat and Greg Biffle (?) spun and ripped his door off? 102. indono59 posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congratulations to Regan Smith on his "first" Sprint Cup Series win! Sponsors: 50-T.J. Bell-Bandit Chippers/Little Joe's Autos (photo here:http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/09uH8McamX2rd/575x459.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000) 78-Regan Smith-Furniture Row/Denver Mattress (has been all season, actually) 103. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Iā??m going to try to put all personal grudges aside and focus on the real issue at hand that currently resides in NASCAR. Usually I make quick posts that get to the point and involve some sort of driver bias but I believe this issue goes further than driver vs. driver. After a night of sleep, Iā??ve gotten a new perspective of the actions that took place last night. I warn you this comment will be long but hopefully someone reads this and can add a different perspective. When NASCAR announced the ā??Boys Have At Itā? policy I didnā??t think it would change a damn thing that drivers do on and off the racetrack but obviously I was incorrect. In the last two years we have seen more rivalries than the previous ten years combined. And thatā??s great. The ability to see raw emotion from the competitors is what true sport is all about. Itā??s seeing the best of the best pour 110% of their heart into the three hours of racing every week. When the ā??Boys Have At Itā? policy was created it gave the drivers something more than just freedom, it gave them responsibility. And that is where the problem lies. This isnā??t no stick and ball sport. This isnā??t hockey where you skate around for forty seconds and then head to the bench. This isnā??t football where you run a five second play and stand around for a minute. This isnā??t basketball where the slightest tap of the wrist causes a foul, and this especially isnā??t baseball when you stand in the outfield chewing bubblegum. This is forty three cars that go 180MPH, and weigh over 3400 pounds. There is a lot more responsibility needed by stock car drivers than any other professional athlete. And the current field of drivers have not realized that. And the reason why drivers have lost the sense of responsibility can contribute to a lot of things but the main factor is safety. If we flashback just eleven years ago, at the start of the new millennium change was definitely on the horizon. We witnessed the fatal crashes of a lot of our favourite competitors and heroes. Kenny Irwin, Adam Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Blaise Alexander, and Eric Martin. All within a two year span. Safety was very weak in the sport and fortunately with the design of the car of tomorrow the danger has subsided to its lowest levels ever. Safety though has had its drawbacks. Drivers are currently feeling invincible. And that is the most dangerous thing in racing. No one is invincible and eventually something bad will happen. Always has and always will. But this issue goes deeper than responsibility and invincibility. This ā??somethingā? that most of these drivers do not have is one simple thingā?¦.RESPECT. Being a stock car driver used to be something that everyone was proud of. In the olden days of NASCAR, drivers cared about each other. They new each other. They were proud of each other. These drivers who struggled week in and week out to support their families, finally made it to a point in their lives where stock car racing became more than just a hobby it became a career. Many race car drivers in the past didnā??t have back up cars. They didnā??t have multimillion dollar garages where teams build cars every week. Most drivers today know, that if they wreck there will just be another toy getting ready for next week and the week after that. So who cares if we wreck each other? Nothing bad will come of it. Just a slap on the wrist by the officials. Drivers today lack responsibility, they feel invincible and they have no respect for each other on the racetrack. So Iā??m not surprised that every week, we see intentional wrecking, fighting, whining and complaining, but yesterday was the tipping point for me. Because not only did the drivers get their race cars involved they did it on pit road. Pit road is place where hundreds and hundreds of men and women work to support their families. Their not rich superstars that can do what they please without any disregard. These guys bust their ass every week to perform at a high level just like race car drivers. The difference is they canā??t pick fights with other teams because of a simple thing like race car drivers do. Yesterday when Kevin got out of his race car, we had an unmanned race car dive towards the wall where many pit crew members could of have been working. They couldā??ve been crushed by the race car. People have died by rolling vehicles in real life. If this had occurred on live television NASCAR would be dealing with an issue more important than two rich guys fighting, theyā??d be dealing with a lost life. I donā??t care if drivers are displeased with each other. They should be. NASCAR is a competitive sport where emotions will boil over. But in the days of Earnhardt, Wallace, Waltrip and Rudd if there was a problem they settled it with each other off the racetrack, not on the racetrack and thatā??s what I wanted ā??Boys Have At Itā? to be. And I can honestly say as a fan of Brad Keselowski, Iā??d rather of had him get his ass kicked by Carl Edwards in a fight, then being flipped upside down at a 190MPH. Because honestly when that happened, I was worried. It was more than just race car driver inside that crushed race car. It was a son, a brother and a human being. NASCAR has had a lot of close calls in the recent years and I donā??t want to witness the same things that fans had to witness about a decade ago. In conclusion it was embarrassing watching two drivers playing cat and mouse with each other with their race cars. All we needed was the Benny Hill music and we wouldā??ve had our own live comedy show. This is supposed to be the highest level of motor sports in the Western world, but yesterday two drivers did not show this, rather they showed it as two idiots playing bumper cars. So how do we fix this issue? Itā??s simple. We need a couple of drivers to stand up and talk to all the drivers in the garage area about everything going on. We need Jeff Gordon, and other veterans to do the same thing that veteran drivers did for them. Drivers are more willing to listen to fellow competitors than officials in suits and ties. Always has and they always will. The recent outbursts of driver retaliation has been entertaining as hell, but their was a line that was crossed yesterday night and hopefully that line will never be crossed again. 104. Frank posted: 05.08.2011 - 12:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Get a life Cooper, it's not that important? Way to go Regan Smith! 105. RLB posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I bought a 1/64 scale Kyle Petty 1995 Great Pumpkin car outside of the track across the street from the Joe Weatherly museum for $10.00!(car is rare) and then I get to see Regan Smith get his first Cup win! 106. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #100, Harvick blatantly turned left into Kyle and forced him down low after Kyle came up and got into him a little bit, Kyle still passed Kevin, then Kevin tapped him, which was totally fine, but it opened the door for Bowyer, which essentially caused the Kyle-Harvick wreck because I don't think Kyle would've done that had Bowyer not crashed and brought out a caution. These guys both seriously overreacted to the situation, almost entirely putting the Ryan Newman-Juan Pablo Montoya fight on Friday where Newman allegedly punched Montoya. 107. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^on the backburner, I pressed enter too early. 108. dirtfan9628 posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think it's pretty pathetic that Harvick was waiting for his pit crew to run down the pit lane and back him up in case of a fight. Remember when he wrecked Logano last year, and Harvick hid behind his crew members after the race like a little wuss? As if 19 year old, twig-boy Logano is sooooo scary. Or how about when he wrecked Hamlin in practice? He didn't get out of his car until his crew had swarmed an angry Denny Hamlin in the garage, and even when he did get out to talk he left his helmet on until it was apparent Hamlin wasn't going to throw a punch. And then Harvick wrecked Busch at Homestead last year, for no good reason at all. It cost Busch at least a few points positions in the final standings, and probably a few hundred thousand dollars in prize money. Harvick had this coming. Him and his crew are a bunch of pansies who only want a confrontation when they outnumber the other guys. You mess with Busch near the end of a race, he fights back. To his credit, I think Busch handled his post-race interview exactly the way he should have. Gibbs is turning around off-track Kyle Busch. But you still don't push on-track Kyle Busch around. And Harvick should have just waited until they both parked in the garage to start his fight. Their haulers were right next to each other, it would been really easy. That would have been the logical, and safe thing to do. So why didn't he? Because his crew wouldn't have been there to back him up, and he's too much of a sissy to talk to Kyle Busch face to face, one on one. He's like the bully at school, who when you challenge him to a fight because you're tired of being picked on, he waits to start the fight until some adults are around so they'll break it up before he gets his nose punched in. Harvick should learn a lesson here, and because of all the crap he got into last year. Don't f*** with the Gibbs drivers, because they don't get pushed around. 109. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wait so let me get this striaght Frank.....You think it's okay to do the following: ---spin racecars out at 190MPH ---spin racecars out because someone races you hard ---have no respect for fellow drivers ---have no respect for people on pit road ---have no respect for safety in general ---a certain driver run away because he doesn't want to fight like a man It's people like you that piss me off, I have no respect for people like you. You need to be ashamed. This is a big deal. This is huge. Maybe I'll spin you off the road into a guardrail because you cut me off. You'd be fine with that right... I try to say something serious and factual, and all I get is "Get a Life". You need to look in the mirror Frank...I feel bad for your family to be related to you. 110. Smokefan05 posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "i will finally put 2008 talladega behind me." Sadly others haven't, cuz they hold a vendeta against NASCAR for "screwing" Regan out his *first* win. When in reality he hosed himself and so did Tony. Cuz Paul Menard won the race: FACT!!!!!!! (btw anyone here can call me whatever they want and i don't care, cuz that is what I BELIEVE) Anyway congrats on winning Regan. I said that the #78 bunch would need a better driver to win, boy am i eating crow right now. And the crow is burned like a hockey puck (shaped like it too). Congrats on Brad getting his first top 5 since winning Tally in 2009. I'm leaving the rest of the well "immaturity" to the rest of the discussioners on here. 111. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well put Cooper. "Boys have at it" has led to irrational, irresponsible behavior in the pits and on the track. Its not the policy, its the Harvick/Busch generation and the mentality of said/similar drivers' irresponsible reaction to the policy. The veterans definitely need to assume the mantle of leadership on this issue. 112. Schroeder51 posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #87-Are you trying to say this race was rigged? 113. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm glad BK justifies my opinions...via twitter --"Intentional wrecking = not cool NASCAR equivalent of a late hit in NFL. Takes no skill and no talent! #disturbing #needs2bestopped --Racing is safe(R) buy not safe Can't turn r backs on that for these kids games @BrandonJ49 doubt anyone will get hurt. Fans r in more danger --the line to me is, when u make blatant intentional/unavoidable contact with the intent of severe carnage. --So door slams, Bump'n runs r all cool from the intentional side. Hooking a rear quarter down the straits, not cool. --Yes, 3 of the last 4 driver fatalities in the sport were caused by a hook of the rr quarter panel like we saw last night (cont). Tony roper, dale Sr. And Blaise Alexander." Wow, who would've thought Frank, a professional racecar that shares the exact same worries and opinions as me. Your an idiot Frank, hopefully someone smacks some sense into you. I know I'm looking like a complete A-Hole, but you seriously pissed me off. I'm fuming right now... 114. Eric posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is the first time since 2001 that more more than 1 single car team won a cup race in a year. 115. Kelly posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It's people like you that piss me off, I have no respect for people like you. You need to be ashamed. This is a big deal." We'll see how big of a deal this is when NASCAR hands out just a few weeks probation. Why? Because it's not a big deal. Things happen in the heat of a race. NASCAR has already said they had no problem with what happened during the race, only with what happened afterward. And when a driver like Harvick acts childish and stupid on pit road, he puts others in danger. Busch wanted nothing to do with Harvick, but Harvick's immaturity, and neglecting to turn his car off, put others in danger. Kyle Busch didn't intend for it shoot off like a rocket into the wall, that was merely an accident, one that could have been avoided had Harvick followed protocol and waited until they were in the garage to have a confrontation. You're the same kind of idiot that called for Edwards to put under arrest after wrecking Keselowski last year, as if he intended for the car to get airborne and land on it's roof. Rubbing is racing, and racing is dangerous. Sometimes accidents happen. You'll get over it, but first you should get over yourself. 116. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^my last comment is "a professional racecar driver" 117. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm glad BK justifies my opinions...via twitter" You're using Keselowski as some sort of vanguard on what is and isn't acceptable behavior in NASCAR? Excuse me one second.... aahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Hahahahhahahahah...heheheh....wooooom boy, that was a good laugh. Thanks Coop, I needed that. 118. Schroeder51 posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Feel I should also mention that T. J. Bell's team was using a hauler and a pit box from Justin Lofton's Truck Series team. And David Stremme was using a pit box from Steve Wallace's NNS team. 119. Red posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is a true Cinderalla story. Even bigger than the Wood Brothers winning the Daytona 500. I live just outside of Denver, so Iā??ve probably followed this team more than most. The first few seasons were horrific, almost embarassingly bad. In 2006 with Kenny Wallace, they DNQā??d 19 times. In 2007 and 2008, they were moderately competitive at plate tracks, but still hopelessly slow everywhere else. Of course I wanted to see my hometown underdog succeed, but honestly I didnā??t think the #78 would ever become a viable Cup team. However, the 2009 partial season appears in hindsight to be the turning point. They had the opportunity to build experience and fine tune their setups without the strain of running every week, and during that half season this team showed a glimmer of hope for the first time since its inception. In 2010 they went back to full-time, and continued their slow, steady rise toward respectability. This year, the partnership with ECR engines has given them the speed they had always been lacking, and it paid dividends right from the start. The #78 may have been the best car in the Daytona 500, and still finished 7th with a wrecked race car. But seeing Furniture Row Racing in victory lane at the Southern 500? Un-freaking-believable. I couldnā??t be more proud of Regan Smith, Barney Visser, and the crew. About five years ago, I remember seeing Barney race his #78 modified at our local short track, and never in my wildest dreams did I think I was watching a future Sprint Cup series winning owner. Simply awesome. 120. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) lmao @ the fanboi Kyle Busch fans trying to stick up for his immature actions haha. He started it with Harvick and couldn't handle the consequences. Hes a little schoolboy nerd who runs away from every fight. Hes a pussy, straight up. I bet you Kyle Busch fans had never even heard of the before 2008. He turned a guy head on in to the wall at 165 mph, in front of on coming cars. Thats cowardly action #1, #2 was running like a BITCH from Harvick. He used his car to fight his battle, instead of getting out and fighting like a real man would. Hes a damn pussy, I bet you Busch fans are big Miami Heat fans to aren't ya. Hes a nerdy puss. 121. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick and Busch acted like a couple of 5-year olds last night, and I'm just gonna leave it at that. For some reason I'd actually been feeling neutral about them as a race fan this year, but last night reminded me why both of them are in my top 5 on my dislike list. Although I will say, Harvick had an incident like this coming after he and his crew banged up Ricky Rudd's car on pit road at Richmond in '03, and dumped Logano twice and dumped Busch at Homestead last year simply because he didn't like the way they were racing him. On a classier note, congrats to Regan Smith. As far as I'm concerned he has two wins, but it was good to see him get one that NASCAR will officially count. He got congrats from Edwards, Kez and Biffle on the win. Speaking of Brad K, even though he had to stay out to get this 3rd place finish, I'm glad to see him FINALLY get a single-digit finish with Penske Racing! This is his first top 5 since he won Talladega two years ago. 122. dUDE gUY posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Frank, I doubt you'd be saying that if a crew member had tripped or stumbled trying to get out of the car's way, and ended up being pinned in between a 3400 pound car and a concrete wall. If that happened, the crew member or official could have had his bones broken, organs crushed, or worse, but I guess that possibility is just "not that important" to you. Thankfully nothing serious resulted from Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick's lack of concern for those who were on pit road at the time. Anyways, enough doom and gloom. What a run by Regan Smith! I don't know what to say about it that hasn't already been said, but I'll say it anyways. He had an awesome car last night, running sixth before his crew chief decided to leave him on the track during the last round of pit stops. Sure, a little luck may have helped Regan get the win, but he still had to drive his butt off to stay ahead of Carl, who had the car to beat late in the race, and a brand new set of right sides to boot. Great finish by Keselowski as well, who used the same strategy as Regan to snag just his second Cup top five, and his first since winning at Talladega two years ago. Truex also gets a good finish, which comes a week after having a potential top 10 ruined by a broken wheel stud. Newman gets his fourth top five of the year, tying his top 5 out put from all of last year. Oddly, Newmans' top fives have all been 5th place finishes so far. This was Kahne's fourth pole at Darlington, but has yet to win. This was his third top ten finish at The Track Too Tough To Tame, all top fives. And one last odd stat to finish my post: All four Hendrick cars finished in the top 20 last night, but none finished in the top 10. 123. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "This "show" has overshadowed a surprising win by Regan Smith. It is all smoke and mirrors, because Mr. 5 time, although he didn't have the best of nights, will ultimately triumph in November." I know. What an outstanding win by Regan, a quiet, unassuming race car driver that has made the most of what he has had. From the debacle of his DEI tenure (basically being Mark's replacement driver when he didn't feel like racing and having to drive Mark's cars, then spending a year in a barely sponsored 4th car for an organization that was circling the drains before Ganassi rescued them), to these last few years with a severly underfunded team, he has come up through the ranks the hard way. Now he has won the Southern 500. I think he has finally got his feet under him in Cup. Like I've been saying on Brad K's page, ever since 2007, it has taken drivers several years in Cup before they start making consistent noise. I think Regan is ready now. Congrats to him for never giving up and always keeping a positive face on. 124. Red posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joey Logano has become the new David Ragan. After 2+ years driving great equipment with a big name sponsor, Joey has shown very little improvement, and continues to get badly outrun by his teammates. I know he's had some bad luck this year, but it's not like he's been that fast, either. In this race he just wrecked himself. How long are Joe Gibbs and Home Depot going to put up with his underachieving? In 85 starts he's only led 91 laps, and has never seriously contended for a victory (no, his NH win doesn't count as contending). All the "Sliced Bread" nonsense was born from Joey driving the fastest car on the track throughout his entire childhood, giving onlookers the illusion that he was the best thing ever. But it's obvious now that without the major equipment advantage Little Joey just can't get it done. 125. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Thankfully nothing serious resulted from Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick's lack of concern for those who were on pit road at the time." Exactly. This is where NASCAR needs to be proactive instead of reactive. Will they do it? Absolutely not because NASCAR never does anything until something blows up in their face (rubber fuel cells, window nets, better roll bars, pit road rules, HANS devices and SAFER barriers). They should send a message that pit road antics like that won't be tolerated. Nobody got hurt, but somebody could have been. Instead of waiting for somebody to get hurt or worse, they need to stop this now. But they won't. Not until somebody goes the way of Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Tiny Lund, Mike Rich (Bill's tire changer in 1990), Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Tony Roper, and Dale Earnhardt. "Harvick and Busch acted like a couple of 5-year olds last night, and I'm just gonna leave it at that. For some reason I'd actually been feeling neutral about them as a race fan this year, but last night reminded me why both of them are in my top 5 on my dislike list. Although I will say, Harvick had an incident like this coming after he and his crew banged up Ricky Rudd's car on pit road at Richmond in '03, and dumped Logano twice and dumped Busch at Homestead last year simply because he didn't like the way they were racing him." Couldn't have said it better. ""Boys have at it" has led to irrational, irresponsible behavior in the pits and on the track. Its not the policy, its the Harvick/Busch generation and the mentality of said/similar drivers' irresponsible reaction to the policy." Unfortunately, you are absolutely correct. Most drivers nowadays have their heads so far up their own asses, they don't think about the consequences because they assume the world revolves around them. "And I can honestly say as a fan of Brad Keselowski, Iā??d rather of had him get his ass kicked by Carl Edwards in a fight, then being flipped upside down at a 190MPH. Because honestly when that happened, I was worried. It was more than just race car driver inside that crushed race car. It was a son, a brother and a human being. NASCAR has had a lot of close calls in the recent years and I donā??t want to witness the same things that fans had to witness about a decade ago." I agree 100%. Unfortuntly I was there for the millenium tragedies. I'll never forget that awful feeling that would just engulf me when I'd hear about a driver or crew member fatality. I'd think about how important they were to their families and friends, and how they are all devastated beyond belief. And then anytime there was a serious wreck, it was just a sick feeling until the driver crawled out, or was dragged out and gave a thumbs up. It sucks, and until NASCAR pulls the reins back on these guys, we are going to experience that again. "In conclusion it was embarrassing watching two drivers playing cat and mouse with each other with their race cars. All we needed was the Benny Hill music and we wouldā??ve had our own live comedy show. This is supposed to be the highest level of motor sports in the Western world, but yesterday two drivers did not show this, rather they showed it as two idiots playing bumper cars." Amen. 126. Eric posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've been sayin he had a win coming for over 2 years now. Congrats Regan Smith! Hopefully now he can get more opportunities in the future. 127. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @120-I have been thinking the exact same thing all year. Since he joined Cup in 2009, Denny Hamlin has won 12 races, Kyle Busch has won 9, and both have contended for many more wins, while Joey had the one good stretch at the end of last year but other than that has been a midpacker. 128. Ryan posted: 05.08.2011 - 3:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Busch owed Harvick for Homestead last year. What goes around comes around." It was easy to see that Busch was blocking Harvick last year because Busch's teammate was running for the championship against Harvick. It wasn't the first time Busch and Hamlin looked out for each other. In the Spring 2008 race at Richmond, Hamlin had dominated all night until the end where him, Busch, and Jr. were racing hard for the win. Earnhardt got ahead of both of them and it appeared he had the win, until Hamlin mysteriously started to slow down and practically stopped on the race track to cause a caution so Busch could catch up with Jr. Then we know what happened next. "I find it very amusing that Ryan totally ignores last week's race thread, yet he'll stay up late into the night to complain about Kyle in this one." I was in a car accident late Friday night, a drunk driver ran a stop sign at an intersection in Surfside Beach, SC while I was on Spring Break with my baseball team and T-boned me and three other players is why I wasn't able to say a whole lot last week. Busch always runs well at Richmond, he just can't be consistent for four-five races in a row. "Is your life really that pathetic? You didn't have the guts to show up last week to say something, but it's cool and fun when you can be part of the lynch mob, is that it? There's no safety like the safety that comes from saying whatever you need to say to be part of the majority! How could Busch possibly be running so high at the end of this race, his equipment must have been so worn out, right?" He's a weapon out there. About like Pablo. "Here's an idea: cry some more about Kyle. Because the dopey whining from people like you sustains Busch's fans. I hope his smiling sarcastic post race interview drove you mad." To see his smiling sarcastic post race interview be wiped off when they told him he had to go to the Nascar trailer was pretty neat. That and his "1st place car" finish 11th. "Harvick wrecked Busch at Homestead last year, costing him 2 or 3 spots in the final standings. Busch should punt Harvick 2 or 3 more times to make up for that. But for now, let's just say they're even, and leave it at that. If Harvick thinks he can push Busch around on the track, he's sadly mistaken. If you bite Busch, he bites back. *Keselowski, Edwards, and many others nod in agreement*" Edwards owned him at Bristol a few years ago and Edwards still owes him one, and now Harvick owes him one. Kyle is too emotional. He has created too many enemies and he lets people and things get to him too easy. Johnson has really never had any problems with drivers besides Kurt. Oh yeah, it's really hard to take you serious since you still havnen't came out of your closet, Anonymous. 129. Rusty posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, I would like to say that this is NOT the Southern 500. Just because they slapped the name on there doesn't make it the legit Southern 500. NASCAR got rid of the race for severeal years and then just put the name back there and act like it's the same thing that used to be a crown jewel race? Please. The last REAL Southern 500 was won by Terry Labonte back in 2003. NASCAR ruined a great tradition by moving it to November in 2004 then just getting rid of it all together for several years. 130. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I was in a car accident late Friday night, a drunk driver ran a stop sign at an intersection in Surfside Beach, SC while I was on Spring Break with my baseball team and T-boned me and three other players is why I wasn't able to say a whole lot last week. Busch always runs well at Richmond, he just can't be consistent for four-five races in a row." Yeah right. I guess you were in a car accident after the Bristol race too, because you didn't have the guts to show your face in that one either. And what, you were in the hospital all week? You had plenty of time to show up in the Richmond thread and spout your stupid BS, but you didn't, because you can't stand when Kyle proves you wrong. "Oh yeah, it's really hard to take you serious since you still havnen't came out of your closet, Anonymous." When you post your full name, address, and phone number, I'll post mine. Until then, you're just as anonymous as everyone else. 131. 18fan posted: 05.08.2011 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan, I hope you realize that his first place car finished 11th mainly because his pit crew did not get all the lug nuts tight and had a wheel come loose and he couldn't get back to the front because clean air was so important and Darlington is a hard track to pass on. That's the only reason he was back with Kevin where they could wreck. 132. RLB posted: 05.08.2011 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Laps led in 2011 after Darlington Kyle Busch 794 Jimmie Johnson 265 Tony Stewart 251 Clint Bowyer 224 Matt Kenseth 198 Jeff Gordon 192 Carl Edwards 190 Denny Hamlin 158 Kasey Kahne 155 Kurt Busch 120 133. Cooper posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 129. Rusty posted: 05.08.11 - 4:08 pm "Also, I would like to say that this is NOT the Southern 500. Just because they slapped the name on there doesn't make it the legit Southern 500. NASCAR got rid of the race for severeal years and then just put the name back there and act like it's the same thing that used to be a crown jewel race? Please." Agree 100%. Until they move it back to Labor day, this is not the Southern 500. Nonetheless its still a pretty cool race to win. 134. JP88 posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) damn just think if Blaney could of pulled it off at Talladega...what a year were having in the Cup Series...it's too bad the Nationwide Series can't provide this with the Cup guys stealing the show The question is who else will score an upset and get their 1st win this year: Menard? Dinger? or maybe even a Road Course Ringer? 135. RLB posted: 05.08.2011 - 6:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They didn't get rid of the race, they just changed the name,moved the race to Mother's Day weekend and held it on saturday night. I beleive they opted out of calling it the Southern 500 from 2005-08 because of it's history on Labor Day and the sensativity of the name "Southern" but decided for whatever reason to rename the event The Southern 500 again in 2009. Facts: still 500 miles still Darlington It was a Crown Jewel from 1950-2003,2004's race maybe,2005-08 are all Crown races especially considering it's the only event at Darlington now, and renaming the event for 2009-present The Southern 500 doesn't make it the same as the great Labor Day race but it's still one of the best races to win. 136. Watto posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Harvick had this coming. Him and his crew are a bunch of pansies who only want a confrontation when they outnumber the other guys." I could only see you making that statement if you haven't watched NASCAR prior to this season. Harvick has been in a number of situations where he's outnumbered or it's 1 on 1 and he hasn't cared. Now, I'm not a Harvick fan. I think he's a hothead and not my style of driver. That being said, I could easily say what you said about Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing just the same because of their track record. IMO, NASCAR needs to take control over the things that matter because intentional wrecking has absolutely zero place in this sport unless they want to completely delegitimize it compared to other professional sports. There are some things that cross the line, and blatantly taking someone out in front of the entire field after the caution comes out is one of them. 137. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Agree with post #99. Another incident regarding oil on the track directly affecting the outcome of a race occurred in the 1980 Southern 500 when, on the next-to-last lap, David Pearson, Dale Earhnardt, and Benny Parsons ran into oil in what was then turn 1, and all three hit the wall. Of them, only Pearons was able to continue, but the damage on his car allowed Neil Bonnett, who was one lap down and Bobby Allison, who was two laps down to pass Pearson. More significantly, it allowed Terry Labonte, who was running a distant fourth, to catch Pearson at the start-finish line at the yellow flag and beat Pearson by a foot to, effectively, win his first cup race, the 1980 Southern 500. Incidentally, Smith's win was the first first-time victory in the Southern 500 since Labonte's 1980 win, as Smith joined Labonte (1980), Larry Frank (1962), Nelson Stacy (1961), and Johnny Mantz (1950) as first-time winners in the Southern 500. For Mantz and Frank, it was their only win, while Stacy would only score three more victories, including the 1962 World 600. Only Labonte among those that scored their first cup win in the Southern 500 had anything close to a successful career. Also, Carl Edwards seems to becoming the new Rusty Wallace, as he, for some reason, can not come up big in the sport's biggest events. This marks's Edwards' third runner-up finish in this race (the others being in 2004 and 2008). He has also finished secind in the Daytona 500 in 2011, the Coca-Cola 600 in 2006, and both the Brickyard 400 and Firecraker 400 in 2008, and got himself wrecked at the end of the 2009 Talladega Spring race. Wallace did manage to win one Coca-Cola 600 in 1990, but also finished second in that race four times (1988, '94, '97-'98), finished second in the Brickyard 400 three times (1995, 2000, 2002) without ever winning, finished second in the Southern 500 twice (1987-'88), and was second in the 2002 Firecracker 400. 138. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I want to make a correction on the second paragraph on my last comment. Edwards only finished second in the Southern 500 twice, but not in 2004. Sorry for my mistake. 139. Bronco posted: 05.08.2011 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "He has also finished secind in the Daytona 500 in 2011, the Coca-Cola 600 in 2006, and both the Brickyard 400 and Firecraker 400 in 2008, and got himself wrecked at the end of the 2009 Talladega Spring race." Carl actually finished 3rd in the 2006 Coke 600. Despite being a Carl fan, I was rooting for everything to go Regan's way the last two laps, I was hoping for a caution once he had taken the white to secure the win for him, but Regan managed to hold off Carl anyways. Regan definitely caught a break when the #33 wrecked since that reduced the number of laps that he had to hold off Carl for, but he did a great job nonetheless. Dale Jr seems to have become the classic points racer. Qualifies in the back, works through traffic and dials in his car for a top 10 at the end of the day without ever leading many laps. I don't mind that strategy too much since that's what has him 4th in points, but I wish his team could figure out how to qualify better in order to break his winless streak. 140. RLB posted: 05.08.2011 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All-time winningest Crown Jewel drivers list The 8 race's: Both Daytona event's,Darlington's Southern 500 both labor day 1950-2003 and Mother's day 2005-present,Talladega's Spring event,Brickyard 400,Bristol Night race(1978-present),The 600 at Charlotte,Watkins Glen and Sonoma. The great 8 is what you can call them. Top 7 1. Jeff Gordon 33 2. Dale Earnhardt 18 3. Cale Yarborough 17 4. Darrell Waltrip 16 5. David Pearson 15 6. Richard Petty 14 7. Jimmie Johnson 11 winningest in each event Daytona 500: Richard Petty 7 Firecracker 400: David Pearson 5 Southern 500(both combined): Jeff Gordon 6 Brickyard 400: Jeff Gordon 4 Spring Talladega: Jeff Gordon 4 Sonoma/Sears Point/Infineon: Jeff Gordon 5 Bristol Night race: Darrell Waltrip 6 Watkins Glen: Tony Stewart 5 World/Coke 600: Darrell Waltrip 5 141. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.08.2011 - 8:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Joey Logano has become the new David Ragan. After 2+ years driving great equipment with a big name sponsor, Joey has shown very little improvement, and continues to get badly outrun by his teammates." I'm not a Joey fan, I am sick of all the air time and hype he gets because The Home Depot is such a big booster of NASCAR, and the whole "Sliced Bread" thing is garbage. But when you compare him to everyone who has come to Cup as a newcomer since 2007, it has taken a while for them to become contenders. With the testing ban and the fact the NWide Series is a shell of its former self and no longer prepares new drivers at all for Cup, it takes a while for new guys to really contend in Cup. Now in Joey's case, he has been a bit disappointing considering the excellent equipment he is in and the top notch crew chief he has. But I say give him a little bit more time before we declare him a bust. Since 2007, it has taken newcomers a while. 142. Rice Flair posted: 05.08.2011 - 9:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 140. RLB How do you figure the road races are Crown Jewel events? 143. Jack posted: 05.08.2011 - 10:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "How do you figure the road races are Crown Jewel events?" They're tough to win, you're often going up against ringers from other series, there are only a few a year, they're driver's tracks where it isn't all about speed but rather a showcase of skills that separate the best all-around drivers from the rest, I think there are some pretty good reasons to consider them a high caliber win. I wouldn't call them crown jewels, but they look good on a Cup driver's resume. 144. irony posted: 05.08.2011 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watkins Glen is a Crown Jewel in my book, but not Sonoma. Sonoma is a good race but not a legendary track. The Glen is synonymous with American road racing and hosted about every major racing series except Moto GP. Plus it's just awesome. Since Logano's sliced bread moniker was brought up ... has there ever been a worse nickname than "wild thing"? 145. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2011 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry for the inacurracy, Bronco. 146. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, I didn't mention this, but along with the five first-time winners in the Southern 500, but the other crown jewel race first-time winners are the following: Daytona 500 (7): Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994), Michael Waltrip (2001), and Trevor Bayne (2011). (Interstingly, although Marlin and waltriop went on to win the race again, no driver to score a maiden victory in the Daytona 500 scored more than 10 wins in NASCAR's top series, although Andretti became arguably the greatest race car driver in history.) Coca-Cola/World 600 (6): Joe Lee Johnson (1960), David Pearson (1961), Jeff Gordon (1994), Bobby Labonte (1995), Matt Kenseth (2000), Casey Mears (2007), and David Reutimann (2009). (In contrast to the Daytona 500's maiden victors, four drivers that made the 600 their first victory became champions, while two became bonified legends of the sport among the series' top 5 all-time winners.) Spring Talladega Race (3): Davey Allison (1987), Phil Parsons (1988), and Brad Keselowski (2009). (Of these three, only Allison has ever won again to date, becoming one of six drivers to win this race at least three times.) Brickyard 400: None (which shows the difficulty of winning at Indy and the effort put into the race by all teams.) 147. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't like Logano that much either, but I wouldn't say he's a bust yet. He's still young and is a talented driver (good equipment can only do so much, it also needs a driver who knows what to do with it), so who knows how his future will look? For what it's worth, he showed quite an improvement last year compared to his 2009 season. He's not been that hot this year because of bad luck, but we're only 10 races in. Bottom line is, at this point we don't know for sure what Joey will accomplish in his career. 148. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Someone said this earlier. Rubbin is racing, wrecking is not. Happy gave him a rub off turn two and busch wrecked him. Both acted immature and I'm a harvick fan. But this is one of the reasons why we love this sport, we have drivers that aren't afraid to show their feelings. 149. Anonymous posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Btw I know smith had a good car and all but he wouldn't have won it without the smart call rondeau made. I still believe baynes win is the biggest upset. But congrats to regan smith and the whole 78 team. Hard work pays off. 150. HeyMan posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I consider this a much bigger upset than Bayne's at the 500 because of two major reasons; 1. Furniture Row Racing's record vs Wood Brothers' record 2. Winning a race at Darlington is much more difficult as an underfunded somewhat new team than it is for anybody to win at the Daytona/Talladega crapshoots. 151. RLB posted: 05.08.2011 - 11:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I put the Road course's in because of the difficulty and very limited list of driver's who actually master either one of Sonoma or Watkins Glen. I don't look at them in the same light as the Daytona 500 or the Southern 500, I thought it would be fun to include them because of the prestige that comes with winning either one. 152. Smokefan05 posted: 05.09.2011 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This whole race is being left in the dust because of ESPNs "lack" of caring. First time winner+drivers fighting= EPICINESS. ESPN= fail. This race basically had it all and yet ESPN still doesn't give 2 craps about it. Regan Smith and NASCAR are getting hosed because of ESPN. Another reason why ESPN doesn't deserve to get it's TV contract re-newed. This may random but i had to get this off my chest. Edit: people on other forums i'm part of have noticed this too. 153. JP88 posted: 05.09.2011 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ Yeah it's crap...last night I started watching Sportscenter at the start of the hour cause I wanted to see how it happened and it didn't get to it until 35 after. I endured all the NBA and NHL playoffs, and the Derby highlights. They don't care about NASCAR. When they show highlights, it's like 2 things then "final lap." The little details just bug me, on the ticker it said for Regan Smith "1st career Sprint win." ^WTF is a Sprint win, a sprint race? Also they don't even show the standings until it gets close to the chase or it is the chase, and I never see them show the Truck series results on the ticker, Nationwide not sure, but probably because it's on ESPN. 154. 18fan posted: 05.09.2011 - 1:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Marlin won 10 races, so I assume you mean none of those drivers won 11+ races, which would be correct. 155. NewJack posted: 05.09.2011 - 1:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) One thing I find interesting is how many of these recent first time winners get their first win in ANY of the three major series in a Cup Series race. Some recent examples: Regan Smith 2011 - Darlington Trevor Bayne 2011 - Daytona Denny Hamlin 2006 - Daytona(Bud Shootout) Jamie McMurray 2002 - Charlotte Tony Stewart 1999 - Richmond 156. 18fan posted: 05.09.2011 - 2:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) TO further the ESPN bashing, on their Sportscenter "weekend encore", they did not have a single clip from the race; not Regan Smith winning, not the fight, not anything. 157. cjs3872 posted: 05.09.2011 - 8:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No 18fan, as I mentioned, no driver that scored his maiden win in the Daytona 500 scored MORE than 10 wins, but you are right, Marlin did score 10 wins, in fact he was the only driver to date that scored his maiden victory in the Daytona 500 to score more than 4 victories in NASCAR's highest series. (Although, as I also mentioned, Mario Andretti, who is also on that list, is considered by many the greatest race car driver in history.) On a side note, isn't it interseting that, as a whole, that drivers scoring their first wins in one of the sport's crown jewel events, more often than not, does not predict ultimate success in the series, as only seven drivers that scored their first wins in the crown jewel events scored at least a double-digit victory total (David Pearson, of course, scored a triple-digit victory total). (Pearson, Marlin, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Matt Kenseth, and Davey Allison.) This proves that, like other major sporting events (like the Masters, as well as the U.S. and British Open golf championships, the biggest events seem to often choose who it wants to win, or in some cases, choose who it doesn't want to win it. 158. cjs3872 posted: 05.09.2011 - 8:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry, but there was one inaccuracy in my last post. Tiny Lund, who is on the list of drivers that scored his first win in the Daytona 500, scored five victories, so he also scored more than four victories. Also, with Regan Smith now in the All-Star Race, this may turn out to be one of the All-Star Race's weaker fields in recent years, especially if, by some miracle, Trevor Bayne is able to compete, as the first part-timer in that event since Cale Yarborough and Davey Allison were in the 1987 All-Star Race (III). (Though this would not be, by any means, the weakest field in All-Star Race history. That honor would go to any one the fields from about 1994-1997.) 159. Jim posted: 05.09.2011 - 11:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick should have left his car in gear , the Kyle wouldn't have made an easy getaway. 160. Rusty posted: 05.09.2011 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR fans usually don't watch ESPN for highlights/anlaysis. They usually cater to the more traditional sports, and as a fan of the NFL and NBA, I hate their coverage of those sports as much as NASCAR. All they do is talk about the big market teams and their drama and leave everyone else out to dry. I never watch ESPN anymore unless it's to watch a game or race or I really want to see a highlight. 161. Ivan Balakhonov posted: 05.09.2011 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, prior to the race I had little respect for Kyle. Now I have no respect to him at all. Having intentionally wrecked Harvick he pissed his pants when #29 approached him after the race and declined to see Kevin eye to eye. He's just a chicken-heart after that. And huge props to Smith for such a great victory. I thought he had no chances against Carl on the last restart but somehow he managed to steal this one. What an amazing finish! 162. Talon64 posted: 05.09.2011 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith and Furniture Row Motorsports win their first career Sprint Cup race. Regan's the 4th 1st time winner in the last 5 who didn't even have a top 5 finish before netting thier first win (Trevor Bayne in 2011 D500, Joey Logano at Loudon and Brad Keselowski at Talladega in 2009; David Reutimann (2009 Coke 600) is the only 1st winner with a previous top 5 finish, 9 races previous at Las Vegas). Regan's previous best finish in any series in NASCAR was 5th place, 3 times in Nationwide, 1 time in the Trucks and all coming back in 2007. As things stand Regan Smith (currently 27th) would have the worst points finish by a race winner who's run full time since Ricky Craven also ended up 27th in 2003 after his Darlington win. That was also the last time a single car team won at Darlington (#32 PPI team). Regan Smith points watch starts now, as he's currently 29 points out of 20th and he needs to crack the top 20 before Richmond if he wants to be eligible for a wild card Chase spot. Let that sink in, Regan Smith now has a legit chance to make the Chase this season. Carl Edwards snags his series-leading 3rd runner-up finish, 4th top 2 finish, 6th top five and 8th top ten of the season. He's on pace to lead 684 laps this season, which'd be his 2nd most in a season (led 1282 laps in 2008) but I'd bet on that pace improving as the season goes on. Carl only had 16 total top fives in the previous 2 seasons (72 races) but has 6 top fives in the first 10 races of 2011. It's Carl's 2nd runner-up finish in the last 4 Darlington races (3rd career top 5 in 8 starts, but all coming in the last 5). Brad Keselowski gets just his 2nd career top 5 in 63 starts, his first in 57 races after getting his first career Cup win after just 6 career starts. It's his first top 5 with Penske, and 3rd is the organization's best finish in Cup this season. This was only Keselowski's 2nd lead lap finish of the season, and Regan Smith's 3rd. Kasey Kahne set a new track record at Darlington with his 4th pole there (tied for 5th all time) and 21st career pole (3rd most since moving to Cup in 2004). He has back-to-back top 5's for the first time in the last 32 races (Michigan and Sonoma last season). By failing to win he ties Geoffrey Bodine for the most poles at Darlington without a win, but he led a Darlington career-high 124 laps and got his 3rd career top 5 in 9 starts there (but first in the last 6 races). Ryan Newman equals his number of top 5's from 2010 with his 4th in the first 10 races of 2011, but he has yet to finish better than 5th this season. It's his 7th top 5 in 13 Darlington starts (11.6 average finish), and 3rd straight top 10 there. By both finishing in the top 5 Carl and Newman both move into a tie by themselves for 45th all time in top 5's, one behind Speedy Thompson for 44th. Denny Hamlin becomes the 65th different driver in Cup Series history to reach the 100 top 10 milestone; his 100 top 10's in 197 career starts has him in 32nd all time in top 10 % (.5076), one of only 33 drivers to finish in the top 10 in over 50% of his starts. It's Denny's 5th top ten in 6 starts at Darlington (6.5 avg fin, worst finish is 13th). After going 5 straight races without a top 10, Tony Stewart now has back-to-back top 10's for the 2nd time this season. It's his 10th top 10 in 19 Darlington starts and 3rd in the last 5 races. Greg Biffle gets his 3rd top 10 in the last 4 races; he's gone from 31st to 12th in points in the last 7 races. It's his 5th top 10 in 11 Darlington starts, but just his 2nd in the last 5 following his back-to-back wins in 2005 and 2006 (has led 2 races for 97 and 117 laps in that span). Jamie McMurray gets just his 2nd top 10 of the season, but 2nd straight at Darlington (5th in 11 starts). Martin Truex Jr. also got just his 2nd top 10 of 2011, his first in the last 7 races; he's led at least 1 lap in 7 of the 10 races this season, and without those 7 bonus points he'd be 22nd in the standings instead of 20th right now. It's his 2nd top 10 in 6 Darlington starts, but he's finished no worse than 19th in any of those starts and sports a 12.3 average finish there despite a 27.3 average start. "Laps led in 2011 after Darlington Kyle Busch 794 Jimmie Johnson 265 Tony Stewart 251 Clint Bowyer 224 Matt Kenseth 198 Jeff Gordon 192 Carl Edwards 190 Denny Hamlin 158 Kasey Kahne 155 Kurt Busch 120" He's led more laps than the next 3 behind him combined (794 versus 740). He's on pace for 2858 laps led this season, which would be the most since Earnhardt's 3357 led in 1987 (btw it's nice that Earnhardt's best season in Cup was the year I was born!). Jeff Gordon's streak of 7 straight top 5's at Darlington comes to an end after he finished 12th. Despite getting wrecked on the last lap Bobby Labonte gets his first top 20 finish in the last 6 races (13th at Bristol). With Brad Keselowski's 3rd place finish, Jeff Burton is now the highest driver in points without a top 10 in 24th (5 top 20 finishes, best of 11th at Texas). Although he has 3 top 10's this season, Brian Vickers suffered his 5th finish of 30th or worse which puts him way back in 29th in the standings. 163. 00andJoe posted: 05.09.2011 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dover entry list is up! 44 cars entered: -Stremme in the #30 -Mike Bliss in the #32 -Skinner in the #60 -Riggs in the #81 No #21 or #92 this week. 164. Talon64 posted: 05.09.2011 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #21's next scheduled start is the All Star race, but that's only if Trevor Bayne is ready to come back. Winning teams by themselves aren't eligible for the All Star race anymore if I recall, only drivers now. 165. RR posted: 05.09.2011 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Talon, they allowed Mears to drive in the All Star race last year after Vickers stepped out of the car. You figure they'd do the same for the Daytona 500 winning car, especially after they took a while to find sponsorship. 166. Smokefan05 posted: 05.09.2011 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "TO further the ESPN bashing, on their Sportscenter "weekend encore", they did not have a single clip from the race; not Regan Smith winning, not the fight, not anything." I honestly said to myself today that 'If ESPN doesn't show a single highlight from 4:30 to 6:00 then i have lost all respect for ESPN.' Well they just proved my A$$ right. The only show i'll give a pass too JRIB, he has actually had drivers on his show and the others gets the flying bird. "NASCAR fans usually don't watch ESPN for highlights/anlaysis. They usually cater to the more traditional sports, and as a fan of the NFL and NBA, I hate their coverage of those sports as much as NASCAR. All they do is talk about the big market teams and their drama and leave everyone else out to dry. I never watch ESPN anymore unless it's to watch a game or race or I really want to see a highlight." They covered horse racing more then the NASCAR race. I've only counted 1 time they coverd the damn race and that was on saturday at the 11pm SC. *adds to the check list as to reasons why NASCAR shouldn't re-up with ESPN* 167. ii posted: 05.09.2011 - 8:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Every time Smith has qualified well, he did poor in the race... And when he does crappy in qualifying, he WINS THE GODDAMN RACE 168. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.09.2011 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think any race, minus the cookie cutters, have some level of "crown jewel" in them. But why hasn't Martinsville been mentioned? It is a very difficult race track, it is a true throwback, it is the only track still on the schedule that was on NASCAR's original schedule and the trophy you get is awesome and unique. 169. irony posted: 05.09.2011 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Marty is a jewel yes. If you want a cool trophy Dover has to be on your list. The 600 doesn't carry as much weight to me as it used to. Charlotte isn't the same with so many clones of it. Awesome race to see in person though. Atlanta is also ruined by being a Charlotte clone. I would consider all of the Daytona races to be jewels. The All-Star race somewhat is. 170. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.09.2011 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "TO further the ESPN bashing, on their Sportscenter "weekend encore", they did not have a single clip from the race; not Regan Smith winning, not the fight, not anything." Really? If that is the case, then that's the straw that broke the camel's back. To not acknowledge this eventful race loses ESPN's credibility that they had with me. It also adds another reason why NASCAR shouldn't renew with them, which has to stuff the freakin' box! "Talon, they allowed Mears to drive in the All Star race last year after Vickers stepped out of the car. You figure they'd do the same for the Daytona 500 winning car, especially after they took a while to find sponsorship." I would think so. They scraped like hell trying to find sponsorship for the All-Star, so it would suck if they CAN'T run it. 171. Cooper posted: 05.10.2011 - 10:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ESPN is hilarious. They don't cover NASCAR at all when it's on other channels. But when ESPN starts covering their races, it's like their #2 priority. That's when it gets funny. Watching their news anchors struggle to carry a conversation about NASCAR is the best thing about their coverage. 172. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.10.2011 - 11:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, Dover is definitely a race every driver wants to have a win at on their resume because it is so damn tough and the trophy is really cool. It also has a pretty rich history dating back to the 60s. Basically the only exceptions to the "jewel" label are any tracks added to the NASCAR since 1990 (exception: Indy for obvious reasons). Not enough history, not enough uniqueness. BTW, early rumors have NASCAR fining Harvick 25 grand and a whopping 4 weeks probation. Kyle will most likely get something similar. Looks like NASCAR will drop the ball again. They'll just wait until somebody gets killed to stop this. Obviously this generation of mentally unstable drivers can't handle the responsibilities that go along with "Boys Have At It". But NASCAR is just gonna let it go until somebody gets seriously hurt or killed. Then they'll do something, and kiss each other's asses and act like they have really done something. Just like they did after they mandated window nets (after 2 time defending champ Joe Weatherly got killed, and Richard Petty ended up hanging halfway out of his car after a flipping wreck on national TV at Darlington). Just like they did after they mandated rubber fuel cells (after NASCAR's most popular driver at the time, Fireball Roberts, died from complications from severe burns suffered after his car's fuel cell erupted). Just like they did after they mandated better roll cages for the cars (after Tiny Lund got killed at Talladega less than 2 years after Benny Parsons' entire right side roll cage got ripped off after seemingly minor contact that should have been a huge wake up call). Just like they did after mandating the HANS devices and SAFER barriers (after losing Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Tony Roper, and Dale Earnhardt in a 9 month span). 173. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.10.2011 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yep, both of them get the double secret evil NASCAR probation of doom until June 15th as well as a small fine. Cant say Im suprised. 174. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.10.2011 - 1:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You think ESPN is bad at NASCAR? They give the middle finger to all kinds of motorsports, dumped F1, dumped CART, and their Indycar coverage is probably some of the worst sports coverage in the world. Their ALMS coverage is not on ESPN or ESPN2, its on ESPN3! On the over hand, SPEEDTV is excellent at covering NASCAR while rubbish at covering other forms of motorsports. 175. RR posted: 05.10.2011 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm pretty conflicted on this one. One the one hand, I don't know if there's any sports fan in American right now that is a fan of ESPN. Whether you're a fan of a stick and ball sport, a major niche sport (racing, golf, tennis), or a minor/regional sport (lacrosse), you usually come away irritated by the way ESPN either covered the event, or the day in sports. Usually, I find that ESPN does one of two things on any given day: cover a big name athlete or team's every move ("Breaking News: Brett Favre just took a shit") ad nauseum, or do their best to insert themselves in to the major story of the moment (they're still trying to recover from "The Decision"). When they do decide to cover an event, they usually limit it to the top name teams/athletes (how many times were the Red Sox on last year?), and insert a tremendous amount of unnecessary hype ("Kyle Busch is making history!"). And the worst part is, there's no one around to really challenge them. It looks like NBC and CBS are going to make an attempt with Versus/NBC Sports and the current CBS College Sports networks, but Fox tried to do the same thing and failed. Having said this, I'm not THAT pissed that ESPN didn't devote too much coverage to the race. For one thing, there were several other big stories that weekend. The NBA playoffs are as exciting as they've been in years, and it IS a big deal when a multi-championship winning team gets trounced by a team has come to be known as perennial "chokers" (I hate that term, but when you look at how Dallas has played in the postseason over the years, no other words really come to mind). And horse racing only get covered four times a year: the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup. The Derby is the biggest race, so it deserves to be covered properly. And, frankly, I'd rather not have another year when the biggest story in NASCAR is a "fight" between two drivers who stare at the bumper of the #48 comes season's end. For one thing, I'm already getting sick about hearing about it (I watch for the on track action primarily). Also, stuff like this reinforces the perception that NASCAR is a bunch of dumb rednecks that drive around in circles. I feel like focusing on fights is an attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator, people who care more about the entertainment than the racing. I realize that NASCAR needs as many fans as they can get right now, NASCAR has already tried to appeal to the causal fan once before, and look how that turned out. But, I do think that NASCAR will ride this horse into the ground. Why? Because when the media focuses on stories like this, they tend to talk less about the grandstands that continue to be empty, the ratings that continue to fall, and the sponsors that continue to leave/reduce their investment. While I would say that it isn't great to have negative stories continue to hound NASCAR, I'm not so sure replacing them with silly drama is for the best, especially if somebody ends up getting hurt in the midst of one of these feuds. The NBA had a hands off approach to fights in the 70s, which ended only when Rudy Tomjanovic nearly died. Hopefully my ramblings are coherent enough. "The only show i'll give a pass too JRIB" What's funny about this is he used to hate NASCAR (he called it Neckcar and stuff) but then came around and liked it. 176. Talon64 posted: 05.10.2011 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If NASCAR had actually suspended Kyle and Kevin that would've been just as laughable as the fine and probation. Why? Because they're the only 2 time winners so far this season and with the new wild card Chase spots they're a virtual lock to make the Chase. Missing a race wouldn't really hurt them AT ALL, and I'm surprised NASCAR didn't do that just to show that they're willing to punish their stars. But it would've been a completely shallow and pointless gesture. 177. Cooper posted: 05.10.2011 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Very well put RR. I remember watching a basketball game this year on ESPN, and I'm pretty sure there was only one team playing. The Miami Heat. All game long they kept talking about the same thing over and over. It took them nearly half a quarter to mention something about the other team. Good Times. 178. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.10.2011 - 5:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "cover a big name athlete or team's every move ("Breaking News: Brett Favre just took a shit") ad nauseum" That is funny and true. Here is my issue with ESPN as it relates to their NASCAR coverage and the way they cover everything. They go into everything with a pre-conceived "storyline" that they beat to death in the pre game/race shows, then keep following throughout the event even if something more interesting is happening. In NWide races it is Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch's dominance and "unparalleled driving abilty" and his "history making performances". In the 3 or 4 races per year the Kyle doesn't run, it is "Who can step up and win now that Kyle isn't in the field?" and "Who will take advantage of this TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY not to have to compete and against Kyle?". Unless, of course, Danica is in the field, then her every move is covered like it actually means something. And we get to hear Dale Jarrett say "That definitely wasn't her fault" and "She just needs time to learn" 50,000 times. And the same is true with everything else they cover. For their NBA coverage it is all about, as Cooper mentioned, the Miami Heat and how LeBron James is doing even though Wade is clearly the most important player on that team. They don't even have the Jordan/Pippen dynamic, it is Wade doing all the important work, then LeBron doing a few dunks for which he gets his ass kissed for. All season it has been all about the Heat. And they have totally missed the boat on more important stories like the Lakers, Spurs, and Celtics getting really old (and now ESPN is shocked they all got beat so convincingly in the playoffs). Or the Grizzlies. A laughingstock for their entire enistance, they have now unseated the #1 seed and are in a dogfight to make the Conference Semis. Basically they are less interested in the actualy sport, and more interested in reality TV. They have even tried reality TV with really bad shows featuring Barry Bonds and Shaq. They can't just sit back and let the action tell the story. And that makes them very annoying. 179. Smokefan05 posted: 05.10.2011 - 5:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If NASCAR had actually suspended Kyle and Kevin that would've been just as laughable as the fine and probation. Why? Because they're the only 2 time winners so far this season and with the new wild card Chase spots they're a virtual lock to make the Chase. Missing a race wouldn't really hurt them AT ALL, and I'm surprised NASCAR didn't do that just to show that they're willing to punish their stars. But it would've been a completely shallow and pointless gesture." This is another situation of "darned if you do and darned if you don't" if NASCAR didn't do anything then people would thrown them under the bus, if they parked them for a race then they would thrown under the bus. NASCAR is in another lose-lose no matter what. It seems to me that people want a perfect world. "What's funny about this is he used to hate NASCAR (he called it Neckcar and stuff) but then came around and liked it." He used to call NASCAR 'the left turn league. Everything said about ESPN in posts above i completely agree with. "It looks like NBC and CBS are going to make an attempt with Versus/NBC Sports and the current CBS College Sports networks, but Fox tried to do the same thing and failed." If NBC would have manned up more money before the 2007 season started, then we wouldn't have had to deal with ESPN. "But, I do think that NASCAR will ride this horse into the ground." Media is partly to blame for it. Society wants a "reality" feel to everything that they watch. Dave Despain made a really good comment on windtunnel sunday. I'll post it later. 180. Rusty posted: 05.10.2011 - 6:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ESPN has a knack for trying to manufacture stories all the time too. They've started this whole Dwight Howard to the Lakers thing ever since the Lakers got eliminated, but in reality the Lakers don't have the cap space to offer Dwight a contract and the Magic don't have to trade him there. They're gonna try and push him there like they tried to push LeBron to New York and like that effort, it will be for nothing. DSFF is also right on them beating stories to death. The whole weekend during the NFL Draft it was all about all the QBs and the lockout, you rarely hear anything about the players getting drafted after the first round unless they are a QB. I don't really bother with ESPN unless I have to anymore, living in Florida we get Bright House Sports Network who do a decent job covering the teams I care about and if I want NASCAR I'll just watch SPEED or something. ESPN just caters to the big markets and constantly shove the same stories up our asses over and over. 181. 00andJoe posted: 05.10.2011 - 7:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think the bottom line on ESPN is that they no longer focus on the "S", and, instead, focus on the "E". 182. DerekJeterPumpkinEater posted: 05.10.2011 - 7:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And just like that, Keselowski removes himself from nearly the top of the list of drivers with the "worst-best" finish. Previously, Keselowski had only managed a 15th finish as his best, 2nd worst of any driver running every single race. Now Robby Gordon with his best finish of 16th has the "worst-best" finish. Every other driver running full time has managed a top-15, except for Gordon. And really, it's not because of a lack of talent. His team just flat out sucks, and he's basically just driving around collecting points. But expect him to run in the top 10 at the road courses, and jump much higher up on the "worst-best" finish list. 183. Red posted: 05.10.2011 - 7:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Honestly, I'm glad SportsCenter doesn't spend much time covering NASCAR, because their apathy/ignorance toward motorsports is palatable. It makes me cringe watching Stuart Scott do a NASCAR highlight, because you know he doesn't give a shit. Like another poster said, NASCAR is a niche sport, and I'd rather see it covered by the people who are genuinely interested and passionate about it, rather than trying to force NASCAR down the throats of the mainstream sports audience. Really, ESPN only cares about three sports: football, baseball, and basketball. And within those sports they only care about a handful of big market teams and superstar players. I've come to accept that's how ESPN operates, and luckily with the internet I can find all the stories and analysis that ESPN misses (like this awesome site, for example). 184. Smokefan05 posted: 05.10.2011 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I laugh everytime ESPN talks about NASCAR, cuz you know that they are thinking "why in the hell are we covering this crap?" "Really, ESPN only cares about three sports: football, baseball, and basketball." ESPN world wide leader in sports.......yeah right. *rolls eyes* "Like another poster said, NASCAR is a niche sport, and I'd rather see it covered by the people who are genuinely interested and passionate about it, rather than trying to force NASCAR down the throats of the mainstream sports audience." I mostly agree with you Red but NASCAR is still the second most popular sport in america. as far as i see it, NASCAR deserves to by covered just as much as the NFL does. Here is the Dave Despain comment: (this is paraphrasing) "in the herarchy of sports there is the NFL NASCAR Then everything else." 185. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.10.2011 - 9:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Glad to see I'm not the only one annoyed by the way ESPN tries to make everything into reality TV. This is a sports network. If I want to watch reality TV (and I don't, even when it involves NASCAR), I would watch the E! network or VH1 (another formerly good network turned reality crap). What is the point of having these 1,000 channels? Very few offer a line of programming that is unique to them. I feel like there was more variety on TV back when I was little and cable only had about 25 channels. Then again when I was little, I thought the Ultimate Warrior was the coolest guy ever. So take that with a grain of salt. 186. Red posted: 05.11.2011 - 12:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I mostly agree with you Red but NASCAR is still the second most popular sport in america. as far as i see it, NASCAR deserves to by covered just as much as the NFL does." NASCAR may be the American sport with the 2nd most fans, but there's probably also more people who hate NASCAR than any other sport. In certain areas of the country (like where I live), there's still a heavy stigma against NASCAR and lots of people blindly reject it because it's "below them." People make fun of me all the time for being a NASCAR fan, and often in a condescending elitist manner. Contrarily, nobody ever teases me for watching football or basketball. It's really pathetic that people can't overcome their prejudices toward NASCAR, but that's the way it is right now, and ESPN knows it. 187. irony posted: 05.11.2011 - 12:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can't wait to see how ESPN covers my Panthers now with Cam Newton on the team. At least until Andrew Luck (curse him) comes along to replace his hype. And to be fair, NASCAR fans turn to SPEED which is the official NASCAR over kill channel and a fairly common channel unlike the NFL Network. RPM2Nite was a good show back in the day though, maybe they should bring that back. 188. irony posted: 05.11.2011 - 12:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It's really pathetic that people can't overcome their prejudices toward NASCAR" Which will happen when NASCAR has a car that looks like it belongs in the 21st century and more road courses. 189. 18fan posted: 05.11.2011 - 1:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The problem with SPEED is during the week they show a bunch of really dumb reality shows because FOX owns them. On the weekends and when they discuss and cover racing they are excellent(except when there is a Waltrip, and sometimes two, in the booth.) 190. 18fan posted: 05.11.2011 - 1:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, it is interesting that both Kyle and Kevin are in the Truck race, and we've seen Kevin pull some interesting stunts in Truck races. 191. Rusty posted: 05.11.2011 - 1:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) When I go to sports forums, usually NASCAR isn't very popular with those people. The sports' popularity is doing well at the moment, but the average sports fan tends to be one of the "it's not a sport" people. ESPN doesn't do a good enough job of promoting it to those kind of people as well. They rarely spend a lot of time covering it except for the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400, and as it's been said they don't seem enthuiastic about it so it's hard for people watching to be as well. Trevor Bayne gave NASCAR some positive press in the mainstream sports media for like two days but that faded. I'm just sick of ESPN period, I'm tired of their fabricated drama and garbage reporting. I wish they never got back into covering NASCAR because I hate them overhyping everything. TNT's coverage has become the class of the field since they got rid of Bill Weber (in my opinion the worst broadcaster I've heard and that says a lot). I love the way Kyle Petty commentates and he has a good sense of humor. Dale Jarrett is way too dry and DW is way too corny. 192. Anonymous posted: 05.11.2011 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) So, Kevin and Kyle have been given a slap on the wrist for the incident on pit road. But what of the one on the track? No mention of anything there! That makes me wonder, what kind of message is NASCAR trying to send? That intentionally putting another driver into the fence is ok? It's not the first time this has happened. For a series that is so vocally proud of it's so called "safety", NASCAR is disgustingly selective about what safety really is. 193. Cooper posted: 05.11.2011 - 10:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The interesting thing about the television coverage in Canada, is NASCAR is definately increasing it's market share. Their was a time about six years ago not every race would be broadcast. I remember their was one race that I'd have to catch on tape delay every year. On top of that the Busch Series would only be shown about 50% of the time. As we stand right now, I can watch every race from every series. Thanks to ESPN owned TSN. In addition NASCAR's popularity has grown and so has motorsports in general. And for the people that don't consider NASCAR a sport, that is a bunch of BS. Considering Motor"SPORTS" has been here since the 19th century, their argument has no validity. 194. Smokefan05 posted: 05.11.2011 - 12:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF i completely agree. There are too many channels with lack luster programming. Hell back in 90's there was some really good shows, no not so much. "NASCAR may be the American sport with the 2nd most fans, but there's probably also more people who hate NASCAR than any other sport. In certain areas of the country (like where I live), there's still a heavy stigma against NASCAR and lots of people blindly reject it because it's "below them." People make fun of me all the time for being a NASCAR fan, and often in a condescending elitist manner. Contrarily, nobody ever teases me for watching football or basketball." Then people need to be educated. Ignorence is no excuse to learn something new, even if it's something you hate. "Which will happen when NASCAR has a car that looks like it belongs in the 21st century and more road courses." the more road courses i agree with but car i don't. Its a racecar, its meant to be raced, reguardless of how it looks. "Trevor Bayne gave NASCAR some positive press in the mainstream sports media for like two days but that faded." ESPN didn't even do a good job of reporting that. "I wish they never got back into covering NASCAR because I hate them overhyping everything." You know what is funny, how many people where happy too see ESPN come back to cover NASCAR. Then about 2 years later people didn't want ESPN covering NASCAR anymore. Cooper i agree, while NASCAR in *America* is still doing fine, international is growing. Which in hind site a good thing. Oh and i'm still waiting for people at ESPN to say NASCAR is "fixed." oh wait that didn't last long now didn't it. 195. Anonymous posted: 05.11.2011 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Don't get how people are complaining about the light penalties Kyle and Kevin received? Isn't this what we asked for? You know, the boys have at it thing? Before that, that complaint was NASCAR is too harsh on these guys. 196. 00andJoe posted: 05.11.2011 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #194 - The thing is, everybody (including me) looked back to the 'glory days' of ESPN's NASCAR coverage, up through 2000, and thought returning to ESPN would be picking up where they left off. But boy were we wrong! (I must say, part of me wonders if ESPN deliberatly keeps their NASCAR coverage at a low-quality level as a result of NASCAR's treatment of them in 2001...) 197. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.11.2011 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "For a series that is so vocally proud of it's so called "safety", NASCAR is disgustingly selective about what safety really is." NASCAR talks a good game, but in reality they have never been proactive about safety in their entire history. Every major "safety innovation" they have mandated has come as a result of a horrendous, often fatal, accident that had a precedence earlier that should have made somebody in Daytona Beach say "Hmmmm, this either is or could be a problem, maybe we should fix it before somebody gets killed". I've mentioned them before, but I'll make a chart just to show how little NASCAR truly cares about safety and their long history of making safety decisions way after it is too late. And the same thing will happen with this until somebody gets hurt by a 3400 pound car on pit road. Rubber fuel cells: Precedence: Too many to count. Many cars had burst into a ball of flames in stock car racing's early days after rear end impacts, but with no safety devices inside, doors that opened, and usually only a single lap belt, a short sleeve shirt, and a leather helmet, they could usually escape to safety quickly. The cars also turned over a lot. Tipping point: It finally happens when (ironically) Fireball Roberts, NASCAR's biggest star at the time for his no nonsense personality and hard charging driving style, basically Earnhardt before Earnhardt, has his car flip over at Charlotte early in the race and erupt in flames with a full tank of gas. He gets pulled to safety by Ned Jarrett who burns himself in the process, but dies about a month later because his body is so immunocompromised from the burns and infections. Concrete walls (instead of flimsy guardrails) and catchfences everywhere: Precedence: In 1961, Richard and Lee Petty both crashed out of the racetrack in the Daytona qualifiers, basically ending 3 time champ Lee Petty's career. A few years later, an up and coming future legend Cale Yarborough leaves the ballpark at Darlington. Fast forward more than 20 years later, and NASCAR is still racing at the old Richmond Fairgrounds track with just a guardrail. Lesson learned? Nope. Tipping point: There wasn't one. It just gradually happened as people were still leaving the racetrack as recently as 1993 at Talladega. Even worse, last year Kasey Kahne damn near flipped into the woods at Pocono FIFTY YEARS AFTER LEE PETTY NEARLY DIES LEAVING THE RACETRACK!! Fifty years! Better roll cages: Precedence: In the famous 1973 Rockingham race, Benny Parsons gets in an early wreck that rips his entire right side roll cage off seemingly ending his championship hopes. But people liked Benny so damn much that members of just about every other team joins his team in getting it repaired, getting the roll cage put back together. He gets back out and completes enough laps to win a feel good Winston Cup championship with his little team as they beat the Junior Johnson - Cale Yarborough juggernaut. Everyone feels good about this, although nobody thinks to say "Wait a minute, his whole roll cage got separated, this could be bad". Teams would famously lighten their cars by taking weight out of the roll cages, compromising safety. Tipping point: Tiny Lund, a popular driver, gets killed at Talladega when his roll cage fails after getting hit. But hey, who could have seen that coming? Oh wait. (If I'm not mistaken, that was the same weekend Bobby Isaac heard a voice telling him to get out of his car, which he did, and Richard Petty's brother in law got killed by a pressurized water tank that exploded). Window nets: Precedence: Joe Weatherly, the two time defending champion, gets killed at Riverside when his brakes fail going into a sharp right hander causing him to slam the wall on the driver's side. With no window net, his head slams into the concrete wall causing him to die on impact. Think about that: THE TWO TIME DEFENDING CHAMP GOT KILLED! And NASCAR still didn't do shit about it. Tipping point: With ABC airing parts of their 1970 Darlington race live on Wide World of Sports, Richard Petty, NASCAR's most popular, most recognizable, most successful, most everything driver gets in a vicious flipping wreck. When it ends, an unconscious Petty is shown on TV hanging upside down halfway out of his car, which is on its roof, looking dead. He only has minor injuries and wakes up shortly, but it looked awful. Only then does NASCAR say "Gee, maybe we need to make sure these drivers stay in their cars when they wreck." What a novel concept. Restrictor plates and aero modifications: Precedence: Tons. By the mid 80s it was pretty well established that at Daytona and Dega a) the cars were going really fast and b) when they got turned sideways at high speeds they lifted off the ground. Dick Brooks at Dega doing a front moving backflip (can't remember the year), and unknown Rusty flipping through the wet grass once (before his famous '93 flips), Trevor Boys at Dega in '84, whoever that guy was at Daytona in '84 that flipped to bring out the caution that ended the race in Petty's 200th win, etc. Most disturbingly, in the 1984 Busch Clash Ricky Rudd gets turned and flips violently towards the infield, heading straight towards the Goodyear Tower until, as if by the hand of God, he starts flipping in the other direction. Does NASCAR take this chance to say "Hmmm, what if they were to flip like that towards the grandstands?" Of course not. Tipping point: It damn near happens. In 1987 Awesome Bill qualifies at 212, everyone is happy for about 20 minutes until Bobby Allison blows an engine, which blows out his rear tire, and he turns sideways towards the grandstands, becomes airborne, crashes into the catchfence in front of thousands of spectators, almost wiped out flagman Harold Kinder (who throws the caution flag even as all sorts of debris are flying all around him), and scares the living shit out of everyone. Only then are the plates added for good and strips added, and eventually roof flaps after NASCAR's second best driver, Rusty Wallace, had two wicked wrecks in 1993. That could have its own section. HANS devices and SAFER barriers: Precedence: In 2000, in a span of less than 6 months, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, and Tony Roper all die of head and neck injuries after head on impacts with the wall. Over the off season leading into 2001, has NASCAR done anything to address this? Hell no. Tipping point: "The Day". "The Eighteenth of February Two Thousand and One". Whatever other name they have come up with for the "momentous" 2001 Daytona 500 (didn't something happen in September of that year that was kinda momentous?). Why is this race significant? Because it altered Michael Waltrip's career and life. He finally breaks through and wins in his 20 millionth Cup start with his Big Brother calling him across the line from the booth. It should have been a great day for him. But it turned into a horrible day for him and Darrell. They had their moment ruined. It just wasn't fair to them. This injustice killed Michael's confidence as a race car driver leading to the continued mediocrity of his career, and sent him into a depression that caused his marraige to fail. Don't believe me? Just ask either of the Waltrips, they'll tell you. Seriously, we all know what happened. It has been hashed and re-hashed over and over again, especially during February this year for the 10th "anniversary" of it this year. If Dale could come back for a little bit and do just two things, the first thing he'd do is go see Taylor and tell her how proud he is of her and her horse riding career. The second thing he'd do is come to the race track and slap everyone silly for all the fuss they have made over losing him. 198. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.11.2011 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Forgot to mention, after Mikey's bad day, they mandated all drivers wear a neck restraint...... in late September. They began introducing SFAER barriers that had been proven so effective in early 2002.... in late 2003, 2004 and 2005. And they introduced the extremely safe (and ugly) COT a swift and efficient SEVEN YEARS later. So yeah, for over 60 years NASCAR has been doing a lot for safety. They just almost always waited until it was way too late for an unfortunate few. "Isn't this what we asked for? You know, the boys have at it thing? Before that, that complaint was NASCAR is too harsh on these guys." There is a line. Fining Jeff Gordon $10,000 for barely shoving Kenseth? Ridiculous. Telling the drivers where and when they could bump draft leading to the disasterous 2009 Fall Dega race? Pure crap. Doing NOTHING of consequence to Carl Edwards as he intentionally caused two vicious wrecks by intentionally turning somebody ON A STRAIGHTAWAY? Beyond dangerous. Doing NOTHING of consequence to Kyle and Kevin as their long running antics cause an unmanned 3400 pound car to take off on pit road? Beyond dangerous. If they want to get out of their cars after they are safely parked and beat the hell out of each other, that is fine. To quote that guy who became a senator in Days of Thunder "If you want to turn yourselves into a greasy spot on the road on a deserted road somewhere, then go right ahead. I don't give a shit and neither does anyone else, regardless of what they say to your face" (most underrated line of that movie). But turning people on straightaways and trying to wreck each other on pit road needs to be punished harshly so nobody even thinks about it in the future. Pit road is a dangerous place. Which leads me to another NASCAR "safety initiative" I forgot to mention earlier that came about way too late: Pit road rules: Precedence: Lots, but at Riverside in 1987, members of Bill Elliott's crew got seriously injured after Michael Waltrip went flying into them. One guy had his spleen ruptured and damn near died. He stayed in the hospital for a long time afterwards. Tipping point: As if what happened to them at Riverside wasn't enough, at Atlanta 1990, as they are changing Bill's right side tires, Ricky Rudd hits an oil slick, spins sideways at a high rate of speed, and slams Bill's right read with his right rear. Mike Rich, who is knelt down changing the right rear tire, gets crushed between the two cars and dies quickly. When it comes to pit road, NASCAR needs to throw the book at any offenders. After Kurt's Dover pit road antics in '07, he should have been suspended. Same for Kyle and Kevin. 199. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.11.2011 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm just sick of ESPN period, I'm tired of their fabricated drama and garbage reporting. I wish they never got back into covering NASCAR because I hate them overhyping everything." Very well said. Their coverage in the 80's and 90's was excellent and they had the perfect broadcast team. Bob, Benny and Ned will likely go down as my favorite broadcast team in NASCAR history the way things are going now. I wish TNT could cover more races than they do, because I enjoy their coverage much more than FOX and ESPN's. "And the same thing will happen with this until somebody gets hurt by a 3400 pound car on pit road." No kidding. Somebody needs to show these guys that video of Mike Rich getting hit on pit road, especially the Busch brothers and Harvick. Those guys have caused more pit road incidents than I care to count. "This injustice killed Michael's confidence as a race car driver leading to the continued mediocrity of his career, and sent him into a depression that caused his marraige to fail. Don't believe me? Just ask either of the Waltrips, they'll tell you." True, but any race fan who's been watching since that time span or before would know that that's not why Michael's results dropped. In 2003 he had his best season and would have finished in the top 10 in points if he were capable of taking advantage of his equipment. DEI and Mikey parted ways after 2005, and from then on his career went on an ugly downspiral. "On the weekends and when they discuss and cover racing they are excellent(except when there is a Waltrip, and sometimes two, in the booth.)" Those are the days I dread. "And for the people that don't consider NASCAR a sport, that is a bunch of BS." Most of the people who say that don't even follow NASCAR. 200. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.11.2011 - 3:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was being sarcastic about Mikey. I was making fun of how him and Darrell have made "That Day" about themselves and how it messed up "their moment". What happened as Mikey crossed the line first was part of a game. What happened in Turn 4 was life/death. If he can't realize that and seperate the two, then he is stupid. Which he is. 201. Smokefan05 posted: 05.11.2011 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ If that is how you feel about Mikey then might i suggest you say it his face. Cyber ink over the interent doesn't mean a thing. More bashing on ESPN, just watched the show Around The Horn (anti-NASCAR show) cover the top 10 most influential athletes today and Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon are in the top 10 (Jimmie being #1, he wins everything doesn't he?) Tim Cowlishaw (NASCAR fan) says "i'm suprised at this but i guess is shows how people view main stream sports. These guys don't hold out for money." The other guy (Can't spell his first name he'll be called 'Jones' for this post) says "yeah Jimmie is up there because people wish they could drive that fast." I'm leaving it at that. 202. Talon64 posted: 05.11.2011 - 7:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is just the 2nd time that Red Bull Racing's had back-to-back top 5's (Vickers at Pocono and Michigan in 2008). 203. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.11.2011 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If that is how you feel about Mikey then might i suggest you say it his face. Cyber ink over the interent doesn't mean a thing." You hate NASCAR fans so much, why don't you go to a NASCAR race and tell the fans in the grandstand how stupid they are to their faces? Just try to make it happen at Martinsville, where I'll be, and let me know where you will bash these fans at. I want to stand by and watch as a swarm of drunken rednecks beat the hell out of you. Of course cyber ink doesn't mean anything to Mikey. He's too busy making sure the two talented drivers on his race team are wasting their prime in second rate shitboxes, doing really bad commentary, and getting involved in embarrassing traffic accidents. "(Jimmie being #1, he wins everything doesn't he?)" Just glad to see he is getting some credit from the mainstream. He deserves it. It's funny, when he was winning a lot of races, but unable to close the deal for the championship ('03 to '05) he was the guy made annoying by the NASCAR media constantly playing him up and overexaggerating his accomplishments at the time. Once he actually started winning championships, and kept winning, and kept winning, the NASCAR media quickly got tired of him and kept trying to annoint false successors (Hamlin, Harvick, June, Kyle, Carl, Hamlin again, Harvick again, Carl again, Kyle again). In a week where every bit of attention is being paid to two extremely talented drivers that are so immature and have really hurt their careers by being too interesting in stirring shit up, diverting their attention by starting their own racing teams in a crappy economic climate, and winning meaningless NWide and Truck races, good to see a true professional being honored. 204. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.11.2011 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I was being sarcastic about Mikey." I know you were, that was more of a widespread post. I'd be surprised if anyone truly believed that depression was the reason for his career downspiral when he had his best years in between '01 and now. 205. RR posted: 05.12.2011 - 1:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder if the ghost of Dale Earnhardt caused him to put rocket fuel in his car and steal that sway bar from Jack Roush. 206. Smokefan05 posted: 05.12.2011 - 1:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You hate NASCAR fans so much, why don't you go to a NASCAR race and tell the fans in the grandstand how stupid they are to their faces? Just try to make it happen at Martinsville, where I'll be, and let me know where you will bash these fans at. I want to stand by and watch as a swarm of drunken rednecks beat the hell out of you." I've been around drunk rednecks before at Daytona, enjoyied them greatly, even tho they where drunk. The smell of beer and fuel made us one big happy family. We were all num by the time the race was over, we didn't give a damn. (btw i didn't drink, underage at the time) Just be glad i'm not one of those F1/IRL fans that will use sterotypes and ignorence when i talk about NASCAR fans. Yeah i dislike NASCAR fans, but i dislike IRl and F1 fans more. they have one of those 'i'm better then you, and my racing is better than yours' type complexes. You must think i view all southerns as 'stupid.' Well i don't, and if i went to Mville, i wouldn't get my ass beat for calling someone stupid, i'd enjoying the race and eating hot dogs. "Just glad to see he is getting some credit from the mainstream. He deserves it. It's funny, when he was winning a lot of races, but unable to close the deal for the championship ('03 to '05) he was the guy made annoying by the NASCAR media constantly playing him up and overexaggerating his accomplishments at the time. Once he actually started winning championships, and kept winning, and kept winning, the NASCAR media quickly got tired of him and kept trying to annoint false successors (Hamlin, Harvick, June, Kyle, Carl, Hamlin again, Harvick again, Carl again, Kyle again)." Agree with this 100%, especially the first sentence. "I wonder if the ghost of Dale Earnhardt caused him to put rocket fuel in his car and steal that sway bar from Jack Roush." He "borrowed" the sway bar for Jack. ;-) And the rocket fuel thing still makes me laugh. 207. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.12.2011 - 12:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cool story smokefan. Let's put this behind us. "I wonder if the ghost of Dale Earnhardt caused him to put rocket fuel in his car and steal that sway bar from Jack Roush." HA! No, Mikey was just so depressed because he didn't know, and still doesn't, know how to feel about "The Day", having his greatest moment ruined by the death of his buddy and owner, that it has impaired his judgement to the point he would do something like that. Actually, it was one "rogue" crew member that did that. Mikey had NO IDEA somebody put rocket fuel in his car. That "one individual acting alone" went out, casually bought some rocket fuel like you can totally do at any auto store, and placed it in Mikey's car without his knowledge. Didn't you see him cry at his press conference afterwards because his daughter asked why he cheated? He was totally an innocent victim of that whole deal. And they accidentally grabbed one of Roush's sway bars, they thought it was their's. They didn't mean to do that. Don't believe me, just ask Mikey. 208. Spen posted: 05.12.2011 - 12:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF : A couple of other areas where Nascar took their time in making saftey improvements. At Watkins Glen in '89 or '90, Geoff Bodine had a *really* hard crash into what was then turn 5. But it took until after J.D. McDuffie's death in '91 for the inner loop to be added, to slow the cars down a bit. Also, a wall separating pit road from the track. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, it took the death of mechanic and car owner Paul McDuffie in the 1960 Southern 500 for Nascar to mandate them. 209. Smokefan05 posted: 05.12.2011 - 12:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR has been reactive with safety improvments but isn't it human nature? I mean *we* humans are slow to react to anything that is building up danger. And when it happens, we react to it later then when we should have. Its human nature. We only use 30% of our brains, so i guess we are still learning. :-P 210. cjs3872 posted: 05.12.2011 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In response to post #197 (restrictor plates and aero modifications), Brooks' Talladega crash came in 1975, the same day that 1963 Daytona 500 winner Tiny Lund (Talladega) and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner Mark Donohue (Austria) had their fatal accidents. 211. cjs3872 posted: 05.12.2011 - 5:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also in response to post #197, the push for rubber fuel cells were not just because of Roberts' crash in the 1964 World 600 at Charlotte, but also because of two incidents that occurred in the Indianapolis 500 just six days later. First, on the second lap, Indy rookie Dave MacDonald, driving one of Mickey Thompson's low-riding cars, lost control of turn four, hit the inside wall, and the car, filled with 75 gallons of gasoline, exploded on impact, careened across the track, where Eddie Sachs, one of the most popular of the veteran drivers collided with MacDonald, and his car also exploded. Sachs was killed instantly, while MacDonald died two hours later. That crash could also have affected history as we know it, as Johnny Rutherford and Bobby Unser, both of whom would win the Indianapolis 500 three times each, were among those involved in the crash. (The lemon-necklace that Sachs wore to keep his mouth moist actually wound up on one of the axles on Rutherford's car, which ran over the top of Unser's in that accident.) Then, after leaving the pits on his first stop, Parnelli Jones, who was leading the race at the time of his pit stop, was knocked out of the race when his fuel tank exploded. A week later Jim Hurtubise ran over A.J. Foyt's car at Milwaukee, leaving Hurtubise severely burned. Also, DaleSrFanForever, the incident that killed Richard Petty's brother-in-law actually occurred in the Spring Talladega Race in 1975, while the incident in which Bobby Isaac quit after hearing voices occurred in the 1973 Talladega 500, the same race in which 1972 Rookie of the Year Larry Smith was killed in a seemingly harmless incident. That was the race that Brooks won. (As I mentioned in the previous post, Brooks' disastrous accident occurred in that same race two years later.) But your rants about numerous NASCAR safety shortcomings are mostly accurate, and unfortunately, not talked about often enough. (Where's Jackie Stewart, or someone in NASCAR who's as outspoken when it comes to safety as he was when you need him?) 212. irony posted: 05.12.2011 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Yeah i dislike NASCAR fans, but i dislike IRl and F1 fans more. they have one of those 'i'm better then you, and my racing is better than yours' type complexes." Um, and NASCAR fans don't? NASCAR fans never use the phrase "wine and cheese" as an insult to fans of other series? Luckily I'm a fan of all three and don't drink either beer or wine. 213. Smokefan05 posted: 05.12.2011 - 11:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ True when an argument breaks out over whos racing series is better, usually the OW people start throwing insults first. You should check youtube, it happen all the time. F1 fans going out of there way to insult NASCAR and its fans on NASCAR video. 214. irony posted: 05.13.2011 - 2:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) YouTube is the arm pit of the internet in terms of intelligence and maturity. Nearly every video's comments are full of profanity and name calling. I think it's mainly teenagers at that site, or at least I would hope. I wouldn't judge a series' fan base by comments on YT. 215. Talon64 posted: 05.13.2011 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Youtube community; you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villiany. lol 216. Smokefan05 posted: 05.13.2011 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ Ok Master Yoda. :-P 217. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.13.2011 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks for clarifying some of the dates. 218. Mike posted: 05.13.2011 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @DaleSrFanForever: It was Doug Heveron that flipped at Daytona in 1984 to end that race. Also, who can forget Randy LaJoie's flip in his qualifying race in '84? That was an ugly hit, straight to the bottom of the car. It looked almost the same as Rudd's crash ... 219. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.14.2011 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Where's Jackie Stewart, or someone in NASCAR who's as outspoken when it comes to safety as he was when you need him?" Exactly... There is a lack of leadership amongst the drivers in the Cup Series right now. This is something I and many other fans have noticed recently. When it comes to safety, the sanctioning body has a long history of looking the other way as DSFF illustrated, the drivers themselves have to pick up the responsibility and run with it. I don't know if the Kyle/Kevin generation and mentality of "its all about me, all the time," has so permeated the Cup garage? NASCAR is on the verge of another tragedy especially with this crisis of confidence and present leadership vacuum. 220. petty43 posted: 05.14.2011 - 5:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) dont post here much anymore but just really love seeing smith get a win at my favorite track. i have no opinion on kyle and kevin because i really dont care about two dipshits in field full of class acts. why mention either of them other than to discuss their obvious faults. and that topic has been beat to death. just my two cents. i guess i am a little late to the party. 221. petty43 posted: 05.14.2011 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) geez there is a lot of bithin on this site anymore. wow this is like sports talk radio everyone tryin to get thier point across. I am a better fan than you becasue i can make you accept my argument. just rubs me the wrong way anymore. i am just a grumpy old fart. also bummed to find out about smokey shop in daytona. man that guy should be on the hof ballot that ballot is total bullshit. 222. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.14.2011 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sad to hear about Smokey's shop in Daytona Beach... he should have been on the HOF ballot by now. 223. Eric posted: 05.14.2011 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have to agree about Smokey not being on the ballot being a big problem. Smokey also belongs in the hall of fame. Smokey not being on the ballot has to be something with him and the France having bad blood while he was alive. Yunick better be on the ballot next year for 2012. 224. cjs3872 posted: 05.14.2011 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DaleSrFanForever (post #217), you're welcome. I'm a new poster, but I want to be absolutely as accurate as I can be, so that others that may not know that facts will know them. Jarrett88fan (post #219), I know you're as concerned as I am, and if you saw the finish to today's Nationwide Series race at Dover, you could see the evidence for yourself, as Clint Bowyer's car nearly flipped OVER the pit wall, and who knows what would've happened had that occurred. With today's incidents, it was a miracle that no driver was seriously injured, and in fact, that last serious driver injury in one of NASCAR's top series that I can think of was Jerry Nadeau's near-fatal injuries suffered in his practice crash at Richmond in May of 2003, eight years ago, though I still wonder about Trevor Bayne, this year's Daytona 500 winner. Had he been in that #16 car today, he may have been severely injured, due to the fact that I believe his problems may, in fact, be the result of a head injury he may have suffered in his crash at Talladega in the cup race last month (that's just speculation though). But none of the drivers that entered the elite levels of NASCAR within the last six or seven years have experienced, for themselves or someone else, a driver seriously injured, due to the safety advances in the cars and tracks in the last decade (SAFER barriers, safer cars, etc.). I wonder just how drivers such as Edwards, the Busch brothers, Harvick, Keselowski, Kahne, Logano, Hamlin, Johnson, and Montoya (among others) had experienced what drivers such as Martin, Jeff Gordon, Burton, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Jr., Stewart, Newman, and Bobby Labonte had either seen or experienced themselves, I'm not sure some of them would be so gung-ho in their approach. Interstingly, isn't it strange that two two first-time winners this year, both winning one of the sport's crown jewel events (Bayne in the Daytona 500 and Smith in the Southern 500), seem to me to drive a little more conservatively than some of the more aggresive drivers, and more along the lines of a Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, and the Labonte brothers. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned from that. That lesson being, that before can win, you must actually get to the finish. 225. cjs3872 posted: 05.14.2011 - 11:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The things I mentioned in my last post about what drivers have experienced disaster and tragedy as a result of on-track action and those that, as of now, haven't, I think are the reason the the drivers of the 60s and 70s were probably the greatest ever, as a group. Whether is was Petty, Yarborough, Baker, Parsons, the Allisons, and Pearson in NASCAR, or drivers such as Foyt, Andretti, Jones, Ward, Gurney, the Unsers, Ruby, Leonard, Johncock, and Rutherford in Indy Car racing, those drivers, as well as their comtemporaries, who are too numerous to mention saw enough tragedy to realize that, although they were fierce competiors on the track, they also respected their competitors, and many among them have become friends over the years for exactly that reason. Also, Eric, anyone that makes the HOF ballot next year would make it for 2013, as those that made the ballot this year are competing for the five slots for 2012. (And I think the inductees should be Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, legendary crew chief Dale Inman, as well as both Glen and Leonard Wood. But they probably won't all make it this time.) 226. the_man posted: 05.16.2011 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan on finishing 21st: ā??On that restart I got a little tight and had to roll out of the throttle and Vickers was behind me. He had nowhere to go and he hit me, so we got some damage. We were fortunate to be able to finish the race. If it wasnā??t for that last caution, I think we could have got a top 20, but our UPS team did a good job. We made some improvements from the start of the race and we just needed to have a little bit of luck. Thatā??s the way Darlington goes, but Iā??m proud of the way our team rebounded and we didnā??t get a DNF.ā? 227. Ryan posted: 05.24.2011 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Oh wait, it's Ryan. Nevermind, your opinion doesn't count anyway. My grandma knows more about racing than you." Come on JIMBeam, the last time I heard that one I fell of my T-Rex. "Yeah right. I guess you were in a car accident after the Bristol race too, because you didn't have the guts to show your face in that one either. And what, you were in the hospital all week? You had plenty of time to show up in the Richmond thread and spout your stupid BS, but you didn't, because you can't stand when Kyle proves you wrong." I really don't care if you believe me or not. I mean if you want me to put the evidence in front of you I can. Besides, I had a lot going on after the wreck. Being out of state I had a lot of things to take care of. It was a pretty bad wreck man. Myself and a couple of my players got banged up pretty good. Crazy thing is I got wrecked on my heros birthday. 4/29/11. It's easy to see now that most of Busch's followers are just like him. PRICKS "When you post your full name, address, and phone number, I'll post mine. Until then, you're just as anonymous as everyone else." At least I have the guts to put my name, bitch... And you're wrong, everyone knows who I am. 228. 18fan posted: 07.23.2011 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This feud between Kyle and Kevin must've been hard on the inside for FOX as there were two of their favorites(and to me their two favorites outside of Junior). 229. Robert Nelson posted: 07.12.2012 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) F1 points Carl Edwards 120 Kyle Busch 102 Jimmie Johnson 81 Ryan Newman's fourth 5th place finish in 2011. Brad Keselowski 1st top 10 of the year. 230. Anthony posted: 08.19.2012 - 12:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not sure if he was actually trying to pass or not but if Carl was points racing it cost him big time, big being a championship. 231. Nascar24JeffGordon posted: 04.03.2013 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan and Brian Vickers go racing again and Ragan crashes into Vicker's Car What's Going On? Let it Let It Roll I need 4 new Tires and and some front damage LOL! But Yea 78! 232. ch posted: 07.16.2013 - 8:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor for the #18 should just be Doublemint for consistency. 233. Edwards99 posted: 12.30.2013 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Even though Regan Smith won instead of Carl (which in turn lost him the championship). This was a great race and I was happy Regan Smith managed to win. (Because I thought Carl could at least gather ONE more win this season, guess I was wrong though) 234. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 04.24.2014 - 12:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew 75 Derrike Cope Dodge TBA Derrike Cope 235. Braindead Zombie posted: 03.09.2016 - 7:02 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This race had a much larger consequence in the long run for Edwards: it cost him the championship. 236. Danish Pie posted: 12.04.2018 - 12:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) First time since Lake Speed in 1988 that a driver got their first career Cup win at Darlington. 237. 34McDowellFan posted: 03.17.2019 - 9:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I never figured that team would ever win a race." From comment #2 on this page Little did they know what would end up happening with that team 238. Anonymous posted: 10.18.2019 - 8:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update: #92 Brian Keselowski - VoiceToday.org Source: https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/photos/brian-keselowski-keselowski-3/1136079/ 239. Anonymous posted: 05.12.2020 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This makes sense since well they're returning at Darlington. Bet that makes Regan Smith happy, because this was where he got his only Cup Series win. 240. bret posted: 05.13.2020 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) the top 23 finishers in this race are Cup winners. 241. Anonymous posted: 05.13.2020 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) yep your right and all but 11 of them in this race that re-aired on Fs1, did win at least once in Cup. 242. JSPorts posted: 05.13.2020 - 11:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was an excellent race. Regan Smith did a masterful job of driving there at the end, hold off Edwards on 2 restarts. You have to feel for Kasey Kahne, though. He led a race-high 124 laps from the pole, but ended up 4th. Kasey would never win at Darlington, and would never finish in the top 5 again after this night. 243. Rich posted: 12.06.2020 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Dr. Dick Berggren and Matt Yocum were the pit road reporters. Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: