It’s Not What I Say, It’s What I Mean

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While listening to MRN’s post-race coverage from Talladega last Sunday, I was somewhat stunned to hear Greg Biffle describe the last lap of the Good Sam Auto Assistance 500 as being “like “Days of Thunder” once the 25-car accident began. It’s no surprise when racing turns into wrecking at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, but comparing NASCAR’s “fact” to Hollywood’s “fiction” seemed to take the nature of the accident out of context. There was more to the white flag carnage than what came out during post-race interviews.

Context is essential when considering why and how people communicate, yet the concept can be tricky when it comes to interpretation. Because context is always shifting and evolving, depending on conditions and connections, it can be difficult to determine the intention of a speaker. The concept is at the center of both literary analysis and writing, and being adept at managing and understanding context is at the heart of communicating effectively.

Frontstretch Fan Q&A: Putting NASCAR Villains In Perspective

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_”What is your take on how fans react to injuries in NFL compared to how fans react to unliked drivers? Example: Matt Cassell vs. Kurt Busch.. Do fans go overboard cheering for injuries and booing or least favorite?”_

_Terry_

Honestly, I don’t know enough about football to know if Matt Cassel is hated or how fans reacted to his injury. However, as much as fans hate Kurt Busch, I don’t think any of them genuinely want to see him physically injured. In fact, I can almost guarantee that if such a thing did happen (God forbid), he would receive an outpouring of support from NASCAR fans everywhere.

Don’t get me wrong. There are some crazy, creepy people out there who do wish harm on the drivers and they should be ashamed of themselves. But most diehard NASCAR fans care about the drivers and their safety, even if they don’t like the guy’s personality.

Champion, Interrupted: Kurt Busch’s Phoenix Racing Tenure

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Kurt Busch’s 29-race tenure with Phoenix Racing ended with a bang, though it’s probably not the kind of noise Busch and owner James Finch hoped to make.

After leading six laps and riding around at the front of the pack in the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Busch slowed on the track — in front of nearly the entire field, no less — claiming he was out of fuel. One spin and contact with the inside wall later, his No. 51 Chevrolet was rendered pretty much useless, though that didn’t stop him from driving away from safety crews, a piece of their equipment still sitting atop his car and later falling to the racing surface.

The move earned the Las Vegas native an early exit via a NASCAR parking, even though his car wasn’t going to perform too well in the draft anyway with a crumpled rear end.

IndyCar 2012 Season Review: Teams Part I

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*Andretti Autosport*

Andretti Autosport came into the 2012 season with heavy hearts and a whole lot to prove. Just days after signing the late Dan Wheldon to drive the #27 GoDaddy car for the 2012 season, Wheldon died tragically in the now infamous early-race accident in the 2011 season finale. Veteran driver Danica Patrick also left the team after 2011 to pursue a career in NASCAR. In place of Wheldon, AA signed promising sophomore driver James Hinchcliffe to pilot the #27, and he joined Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti to form a strong three car team that looked to avenge the demons of what was mostly a miserable 2011 season, both on and off the track. And for the most part, the team did just that.

Did You Notice? … Inconsistency Rules — The Message And The Track — Plus Who’s Got That Cookie-Cutter Edge?

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*Did You Notice?…* The “new” style of plate racing, pack or tandem isn’t catching on with fans at Talladega? Television ratings, out Tuesday, suffered a 5 percent year-to-year decline, down to 3.7 Nielsen number in a Chase that’s seen the lowest viewership in the history of the nine-year playoff format. Overall, a total of 5.113 million people tuned into the Talladega Demolition Derby (err, Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500) from their living rooms. That’s the lowest number _this century_ for the racetrack, spring or fall, when the race has been run on its scheduled date.

Enough of the Petulant Kurt Busch

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So here’s a question. If Furniture Row Racing asks nicely, can they get Regan Smith back for a few more weeks? After all, the rumor mill is swirling that one Kurt Busch may be facing his second suspension of the 2012 season after the weekend’s race at Talladega. Busch, who got dumped in traffic after running out of fuel in the draft, ended up driving his wrecked car away from first responders, who not only had their equipment stashed on the roof of the wrecked machine, but were also visibly working and communicating inside the race car.