*NASCAR has announced they will not penalize any of the drivers involved in both Fontana’s last-lap mayhem and post-race fracas. Did they make the right call?*
Phil: I’m surprised that no one got probation. That is what I thought would happen. It does show some consistency, for once.
Amy: With Hamlin and Logano, you can’t penalize hard racing or you undermine the heart and soul of the sport.
Much has been made of Joey Logano’s actions at Auto Club Speedway this past Sunday. From his “take no prisoners” dive into Turn Three on the final lap, to going Ivan Drago with his “that’s what he gets” blast after Denny Hamlin went careening into the inside wall – and out of the Series for the next six weeks, Sliced Bread has sliced right into the center of NASCAR attention. Granted, Logano didn’t know the extent of Hamlin’s injuries. However, as of Wednesday afternoon he had yet to reach out to Hamlin to discuss the incident – or wish him well. That changed Wednesday afternoon, finally although Hamlin said that while Logano had reached out to him, and they had exchanged texts, things “didn’t go well. It was unproductive.”
Denny Hamlin’s Sprint Cup season will be officially interrupted. After an evaluation by Dr. Jerry Petty, in North Carolina Tuesday Joe Gibbs Racing announced Hamlin …
While everyone had Martinsville circled on their calendars, it’s doubtful anyone was expecting the fireworks from Bristol to roll over to California. Like it was written for the Hollywood screen, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin were battling for the win on the final lap. Contact in turn 4 sent both drivers into the outside wall opening the door for Kyle Busch to claim his first win of the season and the first win at California for Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
Sources have told the Frontstretch Elliott Sadler has been chosen as the primary sub for Denny Hamlin. All that’s preventing an official announcement, as of Wednesday AM is a few details to work out with sponsor Fed Ex. Sadler, who was long pegged as the likely choice is driving full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series and was scheduled to drive a fourth Cup car in a limited schedule later this season. That Cup announcement has been put on hold due to Hamlin’s injury; ironically, Sadler’s expected fill-in role will serve as an extended audition.
*Did You Notice?…* The fine line Joey Logano walks now? The 22-year-old was hardly apologetic after breaking Denny Hamlin’s back, literally, with a last-lap incident that, regardless of intention, he felt evened the score.
So much of Logano’s response has been reported; we won’t go into detail on that in this space. But the result of this incident, after Hamlin’s compression fracture diagnosis, is a sobering reminder of the worst case scenario for “Boys, Have At It.” That’s not to say athletes despising each other is a bad thing; hatred, when expressed through aggression on the field, has built the backbone of contests like the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers – Baltimore Ravens rivalry. That passion, borne out of contempt for the opponent, always leaves those games as two of football’s best each year.
The Auto Club Speedway has sometimes drawn disapproval because of the distinct style of racing that the venue breeds, but that all changed on Sunday when the Gen-6s visited California.
Kyle Busch won in the Sprint Cup Series’ annual trip to Fontana for his first victory of the 2013 season and the second overall for Joe Gibbs Racing. But that wasn’t the biggest news of the weekend thanks in whole to some current and past JGR drivers.
When is a race winner not the center of attention?
*ONE: Logano Needs to Focus on Driving not Dueling*
Another week and yet another driver infuriated with Joey Logano. This is becoming something of a theme, isn’t it folks? No one would argue that Logano should stick up for himself — and it’s certainly better than his Dad doing it for him — but the fact is he’s going about this all the wrong way. If you need any evidence of that, just look at his graceless post-race rant on Hamlin including the comment, “…that’s what he gets.” And then his throwing a water bottle at three-time champion Tony Stewart from behind the safety of his pit crew – hardly the move of a big boy now is it?
Joe Gibbs is a genius.
When working out a contract extension with Kyle Busch in the offseason, Gibbs added in a small wrinkle that didn’t receive much press at the time. It said that if Busch was going to race in the Nationwide Series, he was going to do it in Joe Gibbs Racing equipment.
The sun is shining, engines roar as the machines fly out of the final corner. Side-by-side and nose to nose the competitors aim for the …