Step into the Ring: Nascar

Depending on how this season shakes up, Step Into the Ring will look into current rivalries shaping up in the Nascar Season.

Last time around in "Step into the Ring" I talked about Joey Logano and the mess he found himself in at the time. He was in the middle of a feud with Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart. Once again Stewart has been all Smoke and no fire (so far) and Denny Hamlin has been sidelined by the injury caused when he and JoLo got into a crash.

The past few weeks no driver has really stepped into the Nascar spotlight when it comes to new rivalries, but Nascar has started to bring up that "line" again.

After the race at Texas Motor Speedway Brad Keselowski came away furious. He claimed that he has

been "targeted" in the garage area. Many believe what he meant by that was that he was targeted by the Hendrick team. In the garage he was right next to the #48 crew (a crew that last year he pointed out that there rear end housings looked weird on the track, that they turned too well) and JoLo was right next to the #24 team. Nascar came down on the Penske Team and took their rear end housings before the race, leaving them to scramble to replace them. A big issue here for many fans (like or dislike BK) is that Nascar struck so quickly. Nascar didn't say they cheated but instead just that it was not in the spirit of the rule. When the Hendrick teams were called out for just about the same thing (being ahead of the learning curve) they got warnings and went 5 or 6 races before they had to change.

Here is the thing, everyone is chasing Hendrick. Everyone who knows Nascar knows that they have been ahead of the curve. Did it just happen that Penske had finally figure it out and found an edge? Maybe, we will know more when information comes out.

On the the important part here though, is this "line" that Nascar has created. Was that line crossed by Penske but somehow it wasn't by Hendrick last year? If so, how many turns and edge's does this line have?

Brad Keselowski vented his frustrations of the week after the race in Texas, ''There's so much stuff going on, you guys (reporters) have no idea - you have no (expletive) idea what's going on,'' he said. ''I can tell you there is no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. The way we've been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful. I feel like we've been targeted over the last seven days more than I've ever seen a team targeted in my life.''

On Monday it was released that BK would not be fined for his post race rant. So, this little issue brings that "line" back again. I agree with the decision of not giving him a fine, but I also thought that Denny Hamlin should not have fined. That's where the line gets blurry (or winding).

I have no problem with Nacar drawing a line on some issues, every sport does. I hope that line lets drivers speak their mind though because as fans we love getting to know the drivers we follow. But right now Nascar has a problem with consistancy on the rules and needs to figure it out.

Much scrutiny is coming upon Nascar for many issues outside of racing (NRA 500) so the issue of what you can and can't say needs to be taking care of.

All people griping about disciplinary inconsistency have apparently never read the #NASCAR rulebook. Pretty clear. twitter.com/nascarcasm/sta…
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) April 15, 2013

So step into the ring Nascar, you have a target on you to draw a straight line. Between a 3 year old and you, I will take the 3 year old every time to draw straighter.

**Edit note: Penalties were assessed for the Penske team after I finished this article. So here it is: each team loses 25 points, Crew Chiefs, Car Engineer, and Team Manager for 6 races. Also Crew Chiefs fined $100,000 each. BK moves from 2nd to 4th and JoLo moves from 9th to 14th in points standings. Penske will appeal. Ryan Truex was docked 6 points and will not appeal. (Side note, Ron Hornaday gets a $25,000 fine and 25 points docked while on probation).**

As you took the time to read about Nascar like me, to take your mind elsewhere just for a moment, we still pray for Boston and all of us as a Nation to back our fellow people.

Step Into the Ring: Logano

Depending on how this season shakes up, Step Into the Ring will look into current rivalries shaping up in the Nascar Season. First up, Joey Logano and everyone mad at him.

Well, Fontana was well, exciting! The Auto Club 400 had just about everything except Ricky Bobby running around in his whitey tidies thinking he is on fire. A few weeks ago I wrote the article "Boys Have at it." It called for Nascar to step up in the media and create some rivalries that are right in front of them. I was thinking along the lines of Brad Keselowski battling Jimmie Johnson for the top. Guys, this is way better. Now I still think that the media should keep hyping up what they can, because rivalries are part of sports and help any given sport thrive, but what is going on in Nascar right now is pure entertainment. 

Now we don't need to have post race fights every week, and I don't think Nascar should hype up the rivals to the point of that, but rather hyping it up and seeing hard racing like we did between JoLo and Hamlin. Leaving Bristol we had our first big feud of the season, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. The former JGR teammates got into is when Hamlin hit JoLo a little too hard and sent Logano spinning to the bottom of the track at Bristol. After the race we had JoLo attempt to go after Hamlin while he was in his car but the teams kept that from escalating. Then the social media world blew up and JoLo went after Hamlin on Twitter. (Find some of it here)

 

Now, back to Fontana. Joey Logano has found himself in another pickle, dealing with Tony Stewart. Tony Stewart got all hot and bothered when JoLo blocked him on the final restart of the race when Smoke had a good run going to the bottom line. This block took both of them almost down to the infield grass. Smoke fell a ways back and finished 22nd while Logano fought, banged, and battled again with Hamlin. The result, Hamlin spinning out into the inside corner wall on turn 4. Logano still finished 3rd. After the race and after everyone caught there breath, Stewart came out of no where and had some thoughts for Logano. 

Tony on Joey: "He sent Denny to the hospital and screwed our day up. ... He threw a water bottle at me like a little girl."
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 24, 2013

Stewart calls Joey "nothing but a little rich kid who's never had to work for anything in his life." Says "he needs to be taught a lesson."
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) March 24, 2013

Now, in my opinion it was JoLo's right to block Stewart, and he also mentioned after the race a few smart comments. He said that if I don't block him I would never get in position to win at the end. Logano is right, he would have lost all track position and never got up to Hamlin to have that finish we all got to take in. At the same time, Joey does seem to be finding himself in the middle of everything right now. Is that a sign of something Logano is doing wrong around other drivers? Does anyone in Nascar like him?

Just listened to an awesome interview by Tony Stewart. I think he said it all!
— Kasey Kahne (@kaseykahne) March 24, 2013

Tony Stewart may not have been a fan of the move by Logano this past Sunday, but he may also have a short memory.

Did Tony Stewart forget the 25-car pileup at Dega he caused with a block? es.pn/16SqMhi #nascar
— David Newton(@DNewtonespn) March 25, 2013

I'm not going to pick sides on any of these rivalries, but this is definitely setting up for a crazy Martinsville. It is also nice to see Nascar not fine someone for speaking his mind. Nascar fans what to know the drivers, know there personalities, and hear them speak up. When it comes down to it, which is more manly, the helmet throw by Tony Stewart or the water bottle by Joey Logano? Tony running his mouth is great for Nascar in my opinion, and just check out the ratings.

Dang. RT @ppistone: The @nascaronfox Auto Club 400 from Fontana posts an impressive 4.5 overnight share, +32% from 2012's 3.4 #NASCAR
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 25, 2013

That is up 32% and it is during College Basketballs March Madness. Nascar could not have asked for a better start to the season. Denny Hamlin's fine may have been the wrong decision, but it got the Nascar world buzzing again. Denny may have hit Logano a bit harder than he meant, but it got everyone talking on social media about there feud. Tony Stewart may have been in the wrong about blocking him low, but it started another rivalry heading into Martinsville

The only thing that hasn't gone Nascars way is that this is a bye week. This may fizzle out by next week, but if Nascar media does it right they will use this time to hype every story line up. (Hey, did you know Kyle Busch won this past weekend? "That might be a story"). 

Maybe Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer can get back into it here, Bowyer hasn't completely forgot about it. Matt Kenseth also wasn't too happy with Greg Biffle when Biffle hit his right rear (at Fontana), could that make noise at Martinsville? And there is always BK and JJ fighting for a title (or will that start to fade with Jr on top of the points?).

So we are coming up on MLB Opening Day, who do you have throwing the first pitch? Joey or Tony?