Depending on your maturity level, NASCAR's "boys have at it" laissez-faire attitude is spectacular or the most idiotic form of reality TV on the planet.
The second notion may be a reach, as long as the mutants from the Jersey Shore inhabit the earth, but NASCAR seems to have taken their business to an art form in terms of immaturity.
Please call the Kindergarten Cops.
Somebody just got their hair pulled.
That's right. We had another royal rumble last weekend, fresh off the heels of the Boris Said-Greg Biffle sparring session at Watkins Glen, where Said called Biffle a "scaredy cat," and asked fans to text him Biffle's address so he could beat him up.
Now this: Jerry Baxter, the crew chief for Patrick Carpentier, pulled the hair of Steven Wallace following Saturday's Nationwide Series race in Montreal.
"I'm sorry for what happened after the race on Saturday and I take responsibility for my own actions," Baxter said in apology issued Monday by Pastrana Waltrip Racing. "…I was just very frustrated and let my emotions get to me. That was Patrick's last race and we wanted to make it special. We really thought he had a shot for the win and everything boiled over when that chance went away in the wreck. Everyone was just racing hard and there was no intent to wreck anyone. There's no excuse for what I did after the race and I apologize to everyone."
Wallace, son of ESPN NASCAR commentator Rusty Wallace, got into Carpentier's car in the Nationwide race, dropping Carpentier to a 32nd-place finish.
"Only girls pull hair," Wallace said in a TV interview.
I'm loving the sound bites, although I don't know if it tops the standard set by Said and Greg "Scaredy Cat" Biffle the previous weekend.
Check out Biffle's response to Said's threat: "Let's get real. This isn't fifth grade. I'll meet you after school behind the merry-go-round ... and we're going to fight."
Biffle's 'merry-go-round' response promoted this classic retort from radio show host Jim Rome:
"What school did you go to Biffle? Carny school?"
Seriously, this is either classic Family Feud material or the most immature bunch of brats on the planet who happen to have keys to fast cars.
Baxter did get fined $5,000 and was placed on probation until Dec. 31 but that's essentially a wrist slap. Imagine the fines and repercussions if this was any other sport. In the NBA or the NFL, they would have been slapped down with a big suspension and probably would have been ordered to kiss the rings of Mr. Stern and Mr. Goodell.
But in NASCAR, it's great for business. This is starting to have an old-school feel to it, just like the days when Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, brother Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough went at it following the wild finish to the 1979 Daytona 500.
Name-calling. Hair pulls. Pattycake punches. Threats of giving somebody a black eye.
Paging all Kindergarten Cops.
Your presence is needed in the pits.
Count Brad Keselowski as one of the biggest fans of the new wild-card format in the Chase for the Championship.
Obviously Keselowski stands to benefit because he has won two races, but regardless, NASCAR has found a way to reward winners.
"I think we've seen different variations of the Chase, but I think this is probably the best one," Keselowski said Tuesday. "It's been a great opportunity for fans, teams, sponsors, everyone because it shows a commitment to making every race important.
"We're holding a value to every race that perhaps was lost in the pre-wild card Chase era. When we came to Pocono in the fall I didn't want to say meaningless race, but the win I had [this year] in Pocono completely changes the forecast and I don't think we saw that before. The system brings value to races not in the Chase [playoffs]."
Agreed. Keselowski is among the hottest drivers on the circuit, finishing 1-2-3 in the last three races. "I'm feeling pretty good about it," he said. "but nothing is a certainty until you're done."
Sorry Junior: Larry McReynolds, former crew chief and now an analyst with SPEED, says that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be one of the odd men out when it comes to qualifying for the Chase. "I just don't have a good feeling about his chances," he said. "I don't see him winning a race in the next three weeks and I don't know that finishing 14th and 15th every week will get the job done. Dale Jr. had a good car all weekend at Michigan and they let it get away from them there at the end. I think Steve Letarte and Dale Jr. are looking at the fact Clint Bowyer isn't running well enough right now to overcome the 30-point deficit he has to Dale Jr. right and Brad Keselowski is too far back to catch him. So, right now, the No. 88 team is trying to make sure they don't make mistakes and allow those guys to leapfrog them."
Roush up in the air again: A year after an airplane crash in Oshkosh, Wis. Left him with multiple injuries, Sprint Cup team owner Jack Roush is back doing what he loves _ flying. "I'm totally recovered," Roush, 69, told the Detroit News. "I just got my medical back from the FAA, indicating that I'm medically sound and I'm without restriction. I have one more validation flight for the (injured) eye and I have that Tuesday [Aug. 23]. Once I get that done I can fly anything I did before. I plan to fly Tuesday." The crash left Roush with a number of significant injuries, including a ruptured left eyeball, damaged left cheekbone, broken jaw and had a compression fracture in his back.
Camry sets pace in Daytona: The 2012 Toyota Camry will serve as the official pace car for the 54th running of the Daytona 500, marking the first time that the manufacturer has served as the pace car for a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. "We're thrilled to be able to feature the new Camry in Daytona at the season's biggest race," Ed Laukes, TMS corporate manager of motorsports marketing, said in a prepared statement.
gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego
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