Whitlock nails Danica Patrick

If you don't know who Jeff Gluck is, you have little to no business writing an auto racing column. That's a level of ignorance I can't even begin to fathom, and it explains the two rather glaring errors (the Montoya thing and the Junior thing) in the piece.

 

OK, we're getting closer.
What is the "normal amount" of jealousy? How was it manifested -- quotes? snark from the pits? what? -- and what's Junior's reaction?

 

Cough...cough...glorifiedblogentry...cough.... cough

 

Jason:

Your line in your column about Danica was: "She'd be more hated by jealous drivers than Dale Jr."

I can tell categorically and without question, Dale, Jr. isn't hated by any drivers in the Nextel Cup garage. Period.

Do some resent the fan base he has or the money he makes or his last name or his popularity or the women drawn to him like moths to a flame? Probably.

But they are same two or three guys who have run in the back of the field all their careers and who resent Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson or Carl Edwards. In every sport, those at the bottom of standings whine about those at the top. That's life in the majors.

In NASCAR, any driver who's been in the series more than two weeks understands that the media exposure and fan base Junior and the other big name stars have are what fueled NASCAR's explosive growth over the last decade and has made all these drivers rich beyond their wildest fantasies, even the ones with marginal talent.

There are drivers out there who are truly and genuinely hated - just ask Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch about each other, or Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip - but Junior isn't one of them. He's got a lot of buddies among the drivers in his age group, and his style of racing has earned him the respect of veterans like Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

Junior races hard and clean and on the track, he's just one of the guys. One of the better ones, but one of the guys.

Believe it if you want to - or not - but that's how it is.

 

OK, bogie, I'll ask you, since I'm sincerely interested. Is there any residual resentment of Junior on the part of people who resented his father? Also, there was for a time genuine severe dislike -- I won't say "hatred" -- of Gordon, wasn't there?
Bear in mind. I ask because everything I know about cars can be summed up in the phrase, "Valet Parking -- $20."

 

there are not two glaring errors in the column....there ain't one.

there are only four racing writers i'd know by name... robin miller, curt cavin, david poole and jim pedley. nothing against jeff gluck.

guess i'll have to write about something else. i quit. i'm a failure.

 

Sorry Jason, but there's at least two.

Stick to stick-and-ball sports.

And most of the resentment toward Dale Sr. evaporated a long time before he died.

 

No, just stick to shit you know. It's obvious to even casual fans like me that you don't know auto racing and didn't bother to do research. Stick to what you know.

 

The fans are ... umm .... passionate in their feelings about drivers. A lot of the Earnhardt Nation still hates Gordon with an obsession that borders on pathological.

Earnhardt's had enough time - five years - since his father's death to make his own mark, so I think most people react to him one way or another because of who he is now, not who is father was. Not everyone is an Earnhardt fan, but there are an awful lot of 'em.

Plus, Junior doesn't get into the controversies and fights his dad did.

The real ill will and hatred nowadays is from old-school fans pissed off about Toyota coming into the sport. I'm told Dale Jarrett's souvenir business has ground to a virtual halt because of how angry his fans are that he's moving from Ford to Toyota.

Just wait until next year, it will be ugly out there. The NASCAR faithful still hasn't quite wrapped its arms around globalism. ;D

 

Kind of like the Harley folks and Yamaha?

 

Bingo.

 

That opens up a spot for another young effin' stud.