Writing.Com: Hard racing or intentional wrecking?

Mark Martin in the #21 Woods Bros. entry was all set to win yet another truck race last night. He and Mike Skinner in the #5 had spent 80 laps racing eachother clean. Now, Mark had stayed out to maintain his position during a caution and he was all lined up to win. All he had to do was execute a clean restart and he should have been able to drive off into the sunset...

Except for one little thing. Ron Hornaday sat behind him in the #33 machine. Mr. Hornaday...known in the racing world as the king of the restart. He'll rub you, bump you, jump the flag...basically do anything to slip past the leader. We held our breath. He did it again.

Mark Martin held off on the restart with 10 laps to go. Whether he was saving his worn tires or simply trying to out manuever Hornaday...well it's a moot point now. Hornaday ran into the back of Martin, lifting the #21 tires off the ground, sending Martin's truck spinning into the infield and killing any chance that Mark had at racing to the finish.

To me it looked intentional. It looked like Ron was doing anything, including removing the competition, to win. It looked like a black flag and rough racing call...but that's me. That's not NASCAR.

NASCAR got what they wanted--a showdown at the finish with Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday racing to the end and a slightly controversial event and fans that will stay in their seats until the checkers.

I wonder...

Last year the Cup series and Busch series had more Green/White/Checker finishes then ever before. It was actually kind of irritating because you don't really get a great race at the end. The red flags and slow yellow laps preceding the final showdown kind of take away the excitement building in the final 25 laps.

Did NASCAR sit down in the off season and decide that muscle moves during the final 10 laps of the race that resulted in wrecks would be ignored? NASCAR turned a total blind eye to Hornaday's antics last night. They apparently lost the ability to push the button bringing out the yellow during last week's 500 when half the field was spinning across the finish line. Has the safety of the competitors been banished in the hopes that a better show will be provided to the fans?

I wonder...

Tell me, NASCAR, where did your commitment to the safety of the competitors go?

Personally, I'm torn. The blood thirsty American in me loves the bad boy type of racing. And yet, a sense of fair play keeps ruining the moment for me.

What will ultimately be the determining factor? Probably TV ratings and the injury rate...

Stay tuned for more excitement today

(If racing in a strung out line is what you call exciting

)

Later!