The News Report: Joe Gibbs Racing reports that rookie Denny Hamlin gashed open his hand at Lowe's Motor Speedway after testing yesterday. He was reportedly engaged in a foot race around the hauler when he clipped a piece of chrome causing the injury. Hamlin pointed out that despite the injury, he won the race. He will be able to race on Saturday.
However, I believe that this story has been cleaned up a bit for the masses.
Here is what really happened:
Kyle Busch was celebrating his 21st birthday in the victory lane area. Kyle's brother Kurt and his fiancee Eva Bryan baked Kyle a cake. Well, actually they bought it at Food Lion.
During the celebration, Greg Biffle's boxer, Foster, ran into the festivities chased by Nicole Lunders, Biffle's girlfriend.
Foster ran behind Kyle, pushing him face first into the cake. When Kyle came up out of the cake, he spit cake down the front of Bryan's shirt. An upset Bryan proceeded to yell at Lunders who had stopped chasing her dog because she was laughing so hard at what had happened. Naturally, Bryan was even more enraged at all of this, so she grabbed Lunders' hair.
Humpy Wheeler, the President of Lowe's Motor Speedway, was attending the Busch party. He was shoved by Lunders and Bryan in their skirmish off of victory lane into Tony Stewart, who was walking by carrying his ####, MoJo.
Stewart caught Wheeler, but dropped MoJo, who promptly ran off toward the garage area. MoJo caught up to Foster, and jumped on his back. Stewart and Lunders, who had extracted herself from Bryan, chased the fleeing animals. Kurt and Eva ran after Stewart and Lunders because they blamed them for ruining Kyle's party. Kyle, meanwhile, was crying inconsolably in victory lane.
As Stewart and Lunders crossed the first garage, they ran into Kevin and DeLana Harvick and knocked them down. Stewart yelled apologies and commented that Kurt Busch was chasing him. Harvick had barely gotten back on his feet when Kurt Busch ran into the garage. Harvick, upset that DeLana's white pants had gotten oil and grease on them, body slammed Busch as he attempted to run by. When Busch tried to get up, Harvick grabbed his ear and wouldn't let him. Eva decided DeLana could hurt her, and instead suggested that they go shopping for a new shirts and pants.
Foster and MoJo continued toward the Joe Gibbs Racing Haulers. The crew members from the three teams had been packing up to leave. Denny Hamlin was talking to Greg Zipadelli. Stewart, who was getting tired, Lunders, Foster and MoJo ran by. Stewart stopped, collapsed and gasped for breath. He pleaded for help catching MoJo. Zipadelli declined as he was watching his son and daughter, but Hamlin agreed to give pursuit.
Foster ran over to the #8 hauler, looking for Dale Jr's dog, Killer. Apparently not finding what he was looking for, he ran on through the garage and then turned back to the Gibbs haulers.
As Foster raced by the Gibbs Hauler, MoJo jumped off his back. MoJo saw a DLP HD TV playing a video clip of Stewart, so MoJo naturally tried to jump into the televised Stewart's arms. At this point, Kyle Busch was stumbling around, still upset, trying to find his team.
MoJo's delusion became apparent when he pulled the TV out of its mounting and off the pitbox it was located on. All this occurred as Kyle walked by.
Hamlin tried to catch the TV and shoved Kyle out of the way, but the TV gashed open his hand instead. And the huge TV landed squarely on Kyle Busch's left foot. MoJo lost his footing and landed on Kyle's head, screeching.
Stewart, having recovered somewhat from his run, grabbed MoJo and began lecturing Busch on how he was celebrating his 21st birthday in an irresponsible manner. Or at least, Stewart was until he saw the blood from Hamlin's hand and fainted.
Kasey Kahne had been watching in amusment while Stewart lectured Busch. Kahne tried to catch Stewart, but ended up underneath him instead. Kahne hit his head on the pavement and blacked out.
In the end, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Wheeler, Lunders, Bryan, Hamlin, Stewart, and Kahne all ended up at the emergency room. Doctors found minor bruises on the Busch brothers, Lunders, Wheeler and Bryan; Stewart had nothing wrong with him, Kahne was fine given his Talladega injuries, and Hamlin had stitches.
All parties agreed it would be less embarrassing if Hamlin were the only one who reported injuries. Nascar is now considering banning wives, girlfriends, pets and HD TVs from the garage area.
Nascar was built on a strong fan base. Some claim that nascar fans are the most brand loyal of all sports consumers. Have driver so-and-so pimp your product, and it is guaranteed sales, or so the thought process goes. But how does Nascar develop these fans? How has it remained fan friendly?
Access to the drivers, owners, crew chiefs and teams is a main part of the fan appeal of Nascar. At this point, there is some price to be paid for access - tracks at Daytona and Kansas (among others) have built fanzones where fans can look into the garages to see what is going on. Naturally, this isn't covered in the cost of admission, but is an added ticket to buy. Fan clubs also give fans opportunities to schmooze with drivers.
Sponsors get access - which leads to non-fans going to races for business and (hopefully) developing into hardcore fans. At Daytona, I think there were more corporate types there in the pits than there were crew members.
But how does one become a fan of a particular driver? I asked some of the people I met at Daytona how they got involved in the sport, who their favorite driver is and why.
Rita went to a Daytona race back when there were grandstands in turn 3. Dale Earnhardt was leading the race. On the last lap, Dale Jarrett was challenging for the lead. The Earnhardt fans, who had been standing as he dominated the race all day, abruptly sat down as Jarrett took the lead going into turn 3, knowing Jarrett would carry the lead to the checkers. The man sitting behind Rita started crying. "That made me think, wait a minute, there is something about this." Jarrett's father, Ned Jarrett, a former Cup Champion, was calling the race. Rita said she remembered how Ned couldn't contain his excitement about his son winning the 500. She became a Jarrett fan that day.
Lori visited Roush Racing's Craftsmen Truck shop in North Carolina. While they were waiting, Carl Edwards, then a virtual unknown in the truck series, walked up and started talking to the group. He answered their questions, signed autographs, and then asked if they wanted a tour of the shop. Edwards proceeded to take the time to show them around, even though that was not the group's original plan, and clearly wasn't in Edwards' schedule. Needless to say, Edwards has a solid fan now in Lori.
Beth lives in Georgia near Dawsonville. Naturally, she roots for hometown boy Bill Elliott. But her favorite driver will always be Davey Allison. "There was something about Davey" she said. Something indeed - when I met her, she still had a charm on her bracelet of Allison's Texaco/Havoline car - one she'd had since before he died in 1993.
Martha loves racing. She attends several races each year with her husband. They currently have standing reservations at a beach hotel in Daytona for both races, in Watkins Glen and in Charlotte. They have some favorite drivers, but consider Ron Fellows their absolute favorite - mainly because he has been a family friend for quite a while. "Ron usually races at Watkins Glen, so we try to go up there." Otherwise, they travel to the other series Ron runs in to see him - and still attend the nascar races.
Jena's father started dragging her to races at a young age. She has always loved to go (even though her sister would make fun of her). He is a Dale Earnhardt Sr fan, so naturally she started following Dale Jr. Jena worries that all the exposure Junior gets limits his ability to have a "normal" life. She wonders why the media won't leave him alone, but realizes that it is fans like her who want information that create the problem. Ironically, Jena's sister (who had made fun of her love for nascar for years) has recently been bitten by the bug. Her favorite driver is Greg Biffle. Why? Because she came up with her own nickname for him: Biffle the Wiffle, which her children parrot on race day.
Matt has been a Mark Martin fan for years. He owns quite the collection of racing memorabilia, some of which is signed. When I ran into him on Saturday, he had spent a few hours waiting for Martin on Friday, only to have the autograph session canceled due to sponsor commitments. Matt had shown up early on Saturday and gotten two tickets to get autographs. Since he only had one item to sign, he planned to give the ticket to some young kid he saw at the signing who didn't have a ticket. "I figure it will make his day" and probably convert another fan to Mark Martin.
Robbie last attended the 500 in 2001, when his hero Dale Earnhardt died. I met him at the Duels, the only event he planned to attend at Daytona during Speedweeks. Robbie attends both Talladega races, the July Daytona race and the Atlanta race. "After Earnhardt died, I swore I'd never see another 500 in person. I just can't do that again."
Janet and her family attended the Champion's Breakfast on Monday, the day after the 500. Janet was a diehard Gordon fan (evidenced by her Dupont Jacket) "I was hoping to see Jeff" she commented. Her husband was a diehard Jimmie Johnson fan, and was decked out in at least 3 Lowe's/Johnson items. He couldn't stop grinning - in fact, it was hard not to look at him in all his joy over the win and not grin yourself. Janet laughed as she watched him. "I don't think that grin will be gone for at least a week." Janet's three kids have the bug too. One son is a Kasey Kahne fan, another son is a Tony Stewart fan and her youngest, a daughter, is also a Stewart fan. Her sister was there too - an Elliott Sadler fan and her sister's two kids - another Stewart fan and a Dale Jr. fan. I asked how they all ended up having different drivers, and Janet said she wasn't sure, but that they had just watched the races, and everyone picked out who they liked. I asked if she felt outnumbered by all the Stewart fans and would consider changing her driver allegiance for family unity. "Are you kidding?" she said.
Late last week, Tony Stewart, the reigning Nextel Cup Champion, raced at the Chili Bowl in a midget. He rolled the car on Wednesday night during hot laps, and on Friday night, rolled the car again at the start of a Qualifying race. Stewart had to go to the hospital to be evaluated, but reportedly had no injuries. He did sport a cast for the rest of the weekend, a precaution until he could see his own doctors.
Stewart plans to still run "extracurricular" races at the Rolex 24 hour race, and more than likely will race sprint cars, late models, and midgets throughout the racing season (as he has done nearly every year since he started racing in the IRL and nascar series). Typically he also races in the truck series, Busch series and in a Daytona Prototype in the Grand American Rolex Series. Stewart calls his moonlighting, particularly in the midgets and sprint cars, his vacation - events he looks forward to each year.
Stewart was not the only nascar driver moonlighting at the Chili Bowl: Kasey Kahne, Jason Leffler, JJ Yeley, and Tracy Hines were also there. Nearly all of these drivers raced midgets (and at the Chili Bowl) prior to racing stock cars. Of the other 270ish entries, there were drivers who primarily drive in the World of Outlaw, USAC and late model series, among others.
Moonlighting has its detractors. In fact, Stewart comments that Joe Gibbs, his owner, was/is not too keen on him driving in any other series. The moonlighting detractors say that the extracurricular racing is too dangerous - and the drivers are not considering the fans, race teams, and sponsors who are relying on them to driver in their primary series. Car owners worry about the loss of control and income. Dale Earnhardt Jr's fiery crash and subsequent injuries in 2004 re-alerted the Cup garage to the inherent dangers involved in and great loss that could occur due to moonlighting. One wonders if driver's contracts are being re-negotiated to exclude or include the moonlighting opportunites.
Moonlighting supporters point to the versatility drivers develop, the alternate access given to fans, and the "back to their roots" element that occurs as reasons to encourage the practice. The reality is that drivers can be injured at home (David Stremme while tending his lawn), playing other sports (Juan Pablo Montoya - tennis, although better rumor is that it was motorcylce racing), driving or flying to the track.
Certain drivers rarely moonlight. Jeff Gordon has participated in the Race of Champions, as has Jimmie Johnson. Johnson has raced in the Rolex 24 hour race at Daytona. But outside of those 2 events, the Hendrick drivers may not be allowed to race in non-nascar events.
After Stewart's crash, sportscasters were wondering if Joe & JD Gibbs would let his moonlighting continue. That remains to be seen - and really is an issue that Stewart and the Gibbs need to resolve.
I don't know what the right solution is, but I do know this: Anytime you force someone to give up something they love, you only breed bitterness, anger, and frustration.
