Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson said today
that he will moderate his comments in the future, based on yesterday’s $25,000
fine assessed to Denny Hamlin for comments critical of the new, Gen-6 race car.
“The phrase ‘actions detrimental
to stock car racing’ (is) something that I am going to try to keep top of mind,”
said Johnson. “As my opinions come about, if it’s something that’s going to
hurt our sport… I probably need to keep my mouth shut and head over to the
truck and talk it out there rather than through microphones.”
“I think we’re all
watching and learning as things unfold,” said Johnson. “We do know that NASCAR
is sensitive to some things, and that line is becoming more defined right now
as to what type of criticism is allowed and what is not.
“We’re all learning,”
said Johnson, “and we’ve all been encouraged to have an opinion and speak our
minds about each other as drivers, and on certain topics.”
Johnson also said that today’s steady rain at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
will not undo the progress made in a full day of testing yesterday.
“Not sure the rain will
undo a ton,” he said. “I’m glad we got on track yesterday. That was a good move
by NASCAR to give us some extra time, on top of the fact that if we did have
rain, we would all have on-track activity.
“I feel good,” he said. “We
worked on race trim and qualifying trim. Our car was fast. It took us a few
runs to sort out things down in (Turn) One and Two over the bumps, but once we
got that under control then we had a lot of speed in our Chevy.”
He said he and crew
chief Chad Knaus are “learning a ton” this week. “(At) Phoenix, things changed
quite a bit. I can use Kasey Kahne and myself as an example. Their setup was
very, very fast there last year, (but) they came back this year and had to work
pretty hard to get it.
“We showed up at Phoenix
and were fast, right off the truck. Coming here, running a very similar package
to what worked here last time, it didn’t exactly work. The front end didn’t
ride like it should, and we had to go to work and get the front end to stay
down on the car and not bounce up and down so bad through the bumps.”
Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images North America
Great write! Unfortunate subject! Sad to hear Jimmie say this! Fans are the ones that aren't getting a fair "shake" on our sport
ReplyDeleteIt must be bad if "Mr Vanilla" says he needs to keep his mouth shut.
ReplyDelete@ David. That's Mr 5x
DeleteYou said it Reece.
DeleteAt the same time it could also be a bit of a nip at denny. He took a shot at brad in the off season. Startin to look to me that he may be seeing himself in more of a leadership role to the 'kids' of nascar.
I might be reading too much into it but he is one wiley cat. Takes some real skill to actually pull off that degree of "Vanilla." Strikes me as the fighter pilot/astronaut type. The kind that can THINK his hearbeat down. An ice cold killer. He is one bad, BAD
Android.
With that said, shut up jimmy and quit winning everything too.
-B.Fulton
Minneapolis, MN
so do we believe him or is he saying all this because this is what nascar actually approves of?
ReplyDeleteI would go with a little for column A and a little from column B. In other words, yes I believe him and yes, this is what NASCAR wants or approves of.
DeleteNow get ready, no driver is going to really speak and that is bad for the sport, that's bad for the racing (in order to improve it) and that's bad for the fans.
NASCAR, you blew it on this issue!! You do a lot for the sport, undeniable! You do a lot to promote safety, undeniable!! But, you don't drive the cars...how do you ever expect to get open honest feedback if you fine the drivers for their opinions? Yes, some opinions are based on emotion, that's human, especially with the media shoving a microphone in the drivers face immediately after they step out of the car ...you as the parent need to take off the hat of pride and and sort that out. You are not infallible, just as drivers aren't infallible. But without drivers being able to provide honest feedback, emotionally based or not, you will be the roadblock to the advancement of the sport. I don't believe drivers should ever use profanity or make blatant stupid remarks of an insulting nature, but Denny didn't do that, he simply offered an opinion which you sitting in the "Kings" chair didn't like. Remember, sometimes you have to look in the mirror and face the ugly before you can truly become pretty. I am not a Denny Hamlin fan, but right is right. You now need to step up to the plate and do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteExcept 25k to these multi-millionaires is equal to the dime I found in the washer today. If they actually had something important to say it shouldn't be a deterent but a badge of honour.
ReplyDeleteI love you Jimmy, for your driving (not the other way). Just relax gosh darn it, if your comments were any cleaner you could be considered for Pope. Brad is annoying you and me and your gonna have to give it to him soon (on the track not the other way).
ReplyDeleteNASCAR determines when teams and driver have been detrimental to stock car racing, but who is making sure NASCAR isn't screwing up the sport?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point.
DeleteActions detrimental seems a bit of a rubber stamp for anything in my opinion.
A cop/friend told my father, "..if you follow someone long enough, they will eventually inevitably break the law." His point was, the law that states that he needed a reason to pull someone over was effectively unenforceable. It was because he wanted to plain and simple. If you think about it, it's perfect for law enforcement and enables them to do their job. The problem arises when you piss one off. He can still only write you a ticket for that broken tail light or failure to signal etc.. Sure they can make things alot more inconvenient for you but there is no "because i said so" ticket where he can set the penalty. They dont make the rules. The simply enforce them. Imagine if they did though. Something tells me that you'd see a lot fewer broken tail light violations but an enormous spike in "because I said so" penalties. Afterall, why would they choose to cite a law in which they themselves could be held accountable and or their integrity scrutinized?
My point is if it's MY game and I write a rule in which no one can be certain they breaking, my integrity is in question from the begining.
Sorry NASCAR. We know you can't be everything to every one. We don't expect that. We do expect you to be fair.
-B.Fulton
Minneapolis, MN
Well said, but if you listen to Radio and TV commentators, we are a very small minority. What are the odds that 3 France's in a row could get it right. Two did a great job.
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