Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart got into it at Dover. They were racing each other hard, and during a pass, they both ended up in the wall.
That's nothing new. Those two always race each other hard. Busch wrecked Stewart at Daytona this year, and they've had a few other less serious skirmishes along the way as well.
Both parties say the other is at fault. Looking at all the different camera angles, I'm inclined to say it's on Busch, or rather, on Busch's spotters. It's pretty obvious that he wasn't quite clear of Stewart when he headed back to the top.
Busch says Stewart should have given him some room, to which I say, "Bullshit."
But like most incidents of this nature, they should have scowled at each other, made some snarky comments to the press, and let it go. Problem is, Kurt Busch wouldn't. He pulled up beside Tony Stewart's car on pit road, lightly grazing it and almost hitting Stewart's jack-man.
Yes, you heard that right. If Jason Lee, who was inspecting the damage to Stewart's car when Busch came barreling in, hadn't seen him coming and jumped over the right front corner of the car, he would no longer be amongst the quick.
NASCAR made Busch sit out the rest of the race, and you can read what Stewart and his crew had to say about the incident here.
(Calling Busch a "bad apple" is kind of mild. I wish he'd ended up being called "found in the desert, bound and gagged, with a jack up his ass" instead. But I digress.)
So now, NASCAR is contemplating what penalty to issue Kurt Busch. Normally they would have made an announcement by now, but the race was rain-delayed until Monday, delaying the post-race meeting. Also, Bill France, the "father of modern NASCAR," passed away Sunday, and the focus of many in NASCAR was his pending memorial service. (Rest in peace, Bill.)
Anyway, NASCAR said they'd be announcing Busch's penalty late tonight. But they backed off on that, and now it's to be announced on Friday. The rumors on the internet are that he will be suspended for one race.
One race? ONE FUCKING RACE?!?! That better not be all he gets. To put this in perspective, take a look at this photo:
See that poor bastard on the hood of Stewart's car? He got there because he saw Busch coming, JUMPED FROM THE SIDE OF THE CAR WHERE HE WAS EXAMINING SHEET METAL DAMAGE TO THE FRONT OF THE CAR, then leapt up on the hood to shake his fist at Kurt Busch. (Congratulations to Tony Stewart's entire crew for exercising restraint. Well done, gentlemen.)
Busch could have killed Jason Lee. Or crushed his legs and made him a double amputee. If this incident happened in the Kroger parking lot, someone would be going to jail for assault or attempted murder. But it's NASCAR, so it only merits a one-race suspension? What the fuck?!?!
There are also rumors that the reason NASCAR is delaying the announcement about Busch's penalty is because Roger Penske, who swings a pretty big stick in the sport, is trying to talk them into an even lighter punishment than one race. If that's true, all I can say is, Penske is no Jack Roush. He - not NASCAR - parked Kurt Busch for two races for getting lippy with the cops after he was pulled over for speeding and suspected drunk driving.
Way to go, Jack. Roger could learn something from you.
Of course, it's also possible that it's the other way around: That Penske asked for more time, in order to assuage the #2 car's sponsor, Miller Lite. If that's the case, I hope they don't back down, and demand that Penske do something even if NASCAR won't.
Personally, I'm in favor of a lifetime ban. But I know that's not gonna happen. So how about a suspension for the rest of the season? Or maybe a six-race suspension, a multi-million dollar fine, 500 driver points, and an apology to Jason Lee?
Please, NASCAR... Don't treat this like it was no big deal. Because it WAS a big deal. Kurt Busch has amply demonstrated that he is a tragedy waiting to happen
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