Nascar and Racing Nascar Fights

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- Brian Vickers didn't see it coming. Brad Keselowski sure did.

With Vickers and Kyle Busch fighting it out on the final lap, Keselowski swooped in to grab the lead in the final turn and hold on to the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

"I knew they'd do what they did and that's why I was sitting there lurking,'' said Keselowski, a Michigan native. "The two of them together are a recipe for what you saw -- that's just putting it the way it is.''

Vickers finished second and Busch third, and they exchanged some heated words on pit road afterward.

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NASCAR placed Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears on probation for six weeks - effective immediately - for post-race contact Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway, ruling the two were guilty of "actions detrimental to stock car racing - hitting another competitor's car after the race had concluded.''

Mears' and Earnhardt's Chevrolets collided with 11 laps remaining in Saturday night's race in Phoenix sending Earnhardt from what looked like a strong finish to a 31st place effort instead. Earnhardt retaliated against Mears on the cool down lap after the race. And Mears responded by running into the rear of Earnhardt's car on pit road.

Carl Edwards is a witty guy.

After causing a big wreck with 14 laps to go in last weekend's race at Talladega Superspeedway, Edwards took some heat from Kevin Harvick -- who told the NASCAR media that Edwards had no business racing up front after laying back the whole day.

Edwards wasn't too happy with Harvick, and apparently left a note that said "Kevin, Thanks for (expletive) me on TV - I was really trying to screw up everyone's day. Love, Carl." with Harvick's pilot after the Talladega race. We'll talk more about that in a moment.

In the meantime, things got more intense on Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway when Edwards approached Harvick in the Nationwide Series garage during practice. From ThatsRacin:

Witnesses said the incident started in the garage stall where Harvick's No. 33 Chevrolet was parked. Edwards had walked over from his area, two stalls down. The conversation appeared to start amicably, but soon heated words were exchanged, the witnesses said.

At one point, Harvick appeared to turn away from Edwards, who then reached for Harvick's shoulder, as if to turn him back around. Harvick responded by shoving Edwards, who landed on the No. 33 Chevrolet, denting the right-front section of the hood.

The confrontation ended quickly after Edwards had been placed in a headlock (a headlock! Awesome!) by Harvick's hauler driver and then the two were separated.

I didn't get a chance to watch last weekend's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but I certainly heard about the melee that took place after the race on pit road.

If you missed it, the tiff was a result of David Starr making contact with both Germain Racing Toyotas -- Todd Bodine and David Reutimann -- during the race. Tempers flared when Starr pulled to pit road after the event and both Germain pit crews surrounded his truck.

Bodine's crew chief Mike Hillman Sr. was apparently the ring leader of the whole brouhaha, and pulled Starr from his own truck which, naturally, got Starr -- a Texan -- pretty riled up. Starr started swinging (he appeared to connect on at least three shots) and everyone started scuffling. (Watch the video further down this post!)

In other words, it was an ending to a race that the Truck Series -- that's been somewhat struggling in 2008 due to a variety of reasons -- needed to gain some more exposure.

Unfortunately for the teams involved, it meant NASCAR penalties on Wednesday.

Tony Stewart finished second in Sunday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway, and if you believe what he says, he did it all on his own.

Yep, Tony Stewart -- by himself -- managed to get the No. 20 Home Depot car from the Joe Gibbs Racing shop in North Carolina all the way to Richmond, where he countered not only stiff competition on-track, but a Tropical Storm that blew through the area.

Sounds a little too good to be true, doesn't it?

As race fans found out thanks to ESPN picking up on Stewart's post-race in-car radio tantrum, Stewart apparently had convinced himself that he had been the sole provider for the team-'s Top-5 finish. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli, who likely is going to be quite relieved to deal with young gun Joey Logano in 2009, ripped Stewart back, as well.

The words:

NASCAR had to rain on its own parade, but thankfully they didn't induce a downpour.

The sanctioning body placed Sprint Cup point leader Kyle Busch and last Saturday night's winner Carl Edwards on probation Wednesday morning for their post-race antics following the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 27, 2008) – NASCAR announced today that it has placed Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards on probation for the next six races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as a result of their on-track incident last Saturday at the conclusion of the race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch, driver of the No. 18 car and Edwards, driver of the No. 99 car, both violated Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing; hitting another competitor's car after the race had concluded) of the 2008 NASCAR rule book.

The probation takes effect beginning with this weekend's event at Auto Club Speedway.

Prior to 2008, the typical penalty for such post-race encounters included a monetary fine and seemed much steeper, but this penalty falls more in line with NASCAR's pledge from the beginning of the season to let the rough side drag a little more in the sport.

And can you blame them? The biggest news from Bristol was Busch & Edwards, not anything else.

Tony Stewart may have been announcing his new car with Stewart-Haas Racing Friday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but his actions Thursday night at O'Reilly Raceway Park might become a bigger story later this weekend.

Stewart, according to many online reports and at least a handful of NASCAR beat writers Friday morning at IMS, first knocked a radio headset off the head of a USAC (United States Auto Club) official and then shoved him during a pit road confrontation at ORP.

From the Anderson (Ind.) Herald Bulletin:

Stewart, the two-time Sprint Cup champion, owns the midget cars of Tracy Hines and Levi Jones. Hines entered Thursday's race as the points leader and was running in the top four when he brushed the outside wall on a restart on the eighth circuit

Hines' crew attempted to change a right rear flat tire and get Hines back into the race before another restart. As the crew pushed the car to the front of the straightaway, a USAC official indicated they were too late.

Juan Pablo Montoya's brutal honesty is so, so refreshing.

Following Sunday's Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, JPM fully admitted that he intentionally spun Sprint Cup point leader Kyle Busch late in the event under caution after the two had bumped on track. Before we go any further, watch below at 0:46:



As you can see, the discontent among the two began when Busch drove JPM up the hill in turn one. The two continued to make contact down the backstretch and when the caution came out for the crash between Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish Jr., Busch banged into Montoya's drivers side.

That was enough to break Montoya's last straw.

Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick owns the Craftsman Truck Series truck raced by Ron Hornaday.

Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway, they were both on the same page in doing one thing: hating on Kyle Busch.

Busch drove into the left-rear of Hornaday in turn one on the final lap of the 200-lap CTS event won by Erik Darnell, knocking the CTS point leader into a spin and out of a top-10 finish. That set both driver and owner off, as they chased Busch through the garage area and had a heated discussion. Harvick and Busch later talked to the media:

"He just drove into me because he got mad because I took us four wide and passed him cleanly," Hornaday said. "Halfway through the race, he showed me he was upset because he lifted the back of the truck up. If he is going to race that way, that is pretty chicken. He doesn't deserve to be a racer.

If you were able to make it through Saturday's rain-delayed coverage of the Nationwide Series Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Raceway, I commend you.

More importantly, if you made it you were treated to another episode of "Reasons Why Fans Hate Kyle Busch".

Busch, as is usual these days in any of NASCAR's divisions, found himself out front for 68 laps of the event, and with 31 laps to go, was battling back through the pack to get back to the lead. With 30 laps to go, he was no longer battling.

Heading in to turns 1 & 2 on a restart, Busch got spun and slammed into the wall by fellow Braun Racing driver Jason Leffler, who got loose underneath Busch. Busch's day was done, but his quote-giving abilities were not.

"I just have a teammate that can't stand to be No. 2," Busch said. "I don't know what Leffler was thinking there."

ESPN's Dave Burns then asked if Leffler "shouldn't have been racing as close" to Busch.

"Duhhh," said Busch. "You get air pulled off the side of you and you wreck. It's just not responsible driving."

There seems to be an oxymoron in there somewhere for Kyle Busch to be talking about "responsible driving." For the full effect of Busch's "Duh", check the video over on Youtube.

Leffler did apologize for the accident later, but I find it tough to really place blame on a guy who was on the inside of a someone passing him on the outside. Leffler got loose and lost it, plain and simple.

Denny Hamlin won the event that had a grand total of 5 lead changes, marking the 9th-straight victory in the Nationwide Series by somebody employed by Joe Gibbs Racing. One lap wasn't led by Hamlin or Busch in the race.

Yawn.