Category: my thoughts on

My Thoughts On Kurt Busch and Writing Season Previews

By David G. Firestone

Got a few things to cover this week, so strap in. First, in a move that shocked me, and a lot of fans, NASCAR reinstated Kurt Busch as a driver, and went so far to waive the requirement that a driver has to complete every race in the season to be eligible to race in the Chase. I’m just going to copy the report from Jayski, my go-to site:

“NASCAR announced that, effectively immediately, the indefinite suspension of Kurt Busch has been lifted. He is eligible to return to NASCAR racing under indefinite probation subject to additional mandatory requirements that include but are not limited to participation in a treatment program and full compliance with any judicial requirements placed upon him. On Feb. 20, Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 car, was found to be in violation of:
• Section 12.1.a: Actions detrimental to stock car racing
• Section 12.8: Behavioral Penalty
The decision to lift the suspension was made by NASCAR after Kurt Busch:
• Complied with all requirements in its reinstatement program;
• Completed the mandatory behavioral assessment sessions; and
• The behavioral health care expert who conducted the sessions recommended to NASCAR that Kurt Busch be allowed to return to competition.”

I’ve stated my stance on the subject many times, but I’ll say it again, domestic violence, in all forms is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! While Kurt isn’t going to be criminally charged for domestic abuse, it is clear that the incident did occur as accused. A Dover judge issued a no-contact order and stated that it does appear that a domestic assault did take place. NASCAR responded quickly by suspending Busch just before the Daytona 500. I gave them credit for that, but the fact that he was reinstated the second it was announced he wouldn’t be criminally charged makes it clear that NASCAR was, to some extent, caving in to fan pressure. There is no other logical reason why he was reinstated.

While NASCAR may have regulations they have to follow, neither I or The Driver Suit Blog are under those same restrictions. While Kurt might have gotten off somewhat easy from NASCAR, I will not be so compassionate. As such, this will be the last time I mention Kurt Busch by name on The Driver Suit Blog in any form in 2015. Above and beyond that, the #41 team’s paint scheme grades have all been retroactively changed to F-. Furthermore, I will no longer list the #41 in the tracker, nor will I grade anymore of the #41’s schemes. #41 will not be listed on The Paint Scheme Leaderboard, and will be ineligible for the Paint Schemies in 2015.

Now that is out of the way, I have something else that I need to discuss. I got an email asking why I didn’t do a season preview for F1. The season started on Sunday, with the Australian Grand Prix. It was a good race, though there was a very high attrition rate of cars. I’ve stated before that I don’t like doing season previews, and it dawned on me, why should I waste time doing things on my own blog that I don’t like to do? So in that spirit, I won’t be doing any more season previews, or season reviews on The Driver Suit Blog. I will do something for Memorial Day, for obvious reasons, but other than that, no more stuff I don’t want to do.

I really hated that for a decent part of January that all my Friday Features, which from here on out I will call my memorabilia articles, were focusing on news, and previews. In addition to the Tracker and the Paint Scheme Grades, which aren’t that bad, but at that point in the year, it’s insanely time consuming. I’ve had enough, and I won’t do them anymore. Only fun stuff from here on out.

My Thoughts On The End of Winter

By David G. Firestone

Just a real quick one this week. I’ve said it before, but I hate winter. The cold can be almost unbearable, the snow gets annoying quickly. I hate waiting for buses in this weather. I’m seeing spring products in stores, and the racing seasons are starting. Spring training indicates that spring has started, but I have yet to see it. This part of winter is my least favorite part of my least favorite season. I want the weather to get warm, but it isn’t. The waiting really is the hardest part. As I write this, it is 24 degrees outside, the high is projected to be 48 degrees. Waiting for the warmth to start really sucks.

My two big indicators that spring is on the way are the beginning of the racing seasons and Spring Training in baseball. Spring Training is awesome because it’s baseball, but more relaxed. The record is irrelevant, and the final rosters haven’t been set yet. I watch a lot of Spring Training. The teams and fans are much more relaxed, they know that the best part of the year is on the way as well. I don’t have the time or resources, but some day, I want to just go to Arizona and spend 2 or 3 weeks just at Spring Training games. That would rule. Maybe someday, who knows?

From everyone living in places where it gets cold in the winter, I speak for all of us when I ask Spring to HURRY THE HELL UP!

My Thoughts On The Black Cloud Hanging Over Daytona This Week.

By David G. Firestone

The Daytona 500 is behind us, the NASCAR season is underway. The race was great, Joey Logano finally lived up to the lofty expectations set on him when he was a rookie. Jeff Gordon has raced in his last Daytona 500 in his regular career, though I won’t rule out that he might come back for the 500 at some point. All in all it should have been a great weekend for NASCAR, but while the sun shone over Daytona, there was a dark cloud hanging over NASCAR this weekend.

The dark cloud started in November, when allegations against Kurt Busch came to light. Patricia Driscol, Kurt’s ex girlfriend went to the police and alleged that Kurt had assaulted her, during the fall race at Dover in September. Between then and Thursday, a series of court hearing took place. On Monday, Busch was ordered to stay away from Driscoll, as the court had deemed that “an act of domestic abuse had taken place.” As a direct result of that ruling, on Friday, he was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Busch appealed TWICE on Saturday, and lost both appeals, and is now indefinitely suspended from NASCAR.

I stated when the story first broke in November, that I would wait until the facts are fully known before I would take a side. Now that those facts have come to light, I will state the following: Under NO circumstances is domestic abuse ever acceptable! Kurt’s actions are totally unacceptable, and he should be suspended for at least the 2015 season, minimum. I don’t feel bad at all for Kurt, he will lose a lot of money, his career is probably over, and he will face criminal charges, and he deserves it. Anyone who hits a spouse, or children does not deserve sympathy. I don’t feel bad for Busch, Ray Rice, or Chris Brown, because men should NEVER hit women!

NASCAR took some heat in waiting as long as they did, but they said that they would wait for the facts to come out before they made a decision. I think that it was a wise move. They did the same thing with Tony Stewart last year as well. People in this day in age want immediate reactions, immediate suspensions, and immediate discipline. I get that, but doing it fast should never take precedence over doing it right.

With this story in mind, I sat down to watch the Alert Today Florida 300 on Saturday. I was treated to a great race…until lap 113, when there was “The Big One” and Kyle Busch was sent into a concrete wall near turn 2, nearly head on at an estimated 90 MPH, and had to be helped from his car. He was taken to Halifax Medical Center, and was diagnosed with a severe compound fracture in his right leg, as well as a broken foot.

The wall he hit was a simple concrete wall, no tires, or SAFR barrier. How in the world can there be any track, much less Daytona International Speedway, that has concrete walls with no energy absorbing materials? I get the $500 a foot price tag is a bit hefty, but when something like this happens, drivers and fans demand answers, and action. As such, there will be improvements starting today at Daytona, but how many more times does this have to happen, seriously? How many top shelf drivers will be sidelined with injuries because of cost cutting? WHEN WILL THIS STOP? I hate having to call out racing sanctioning bodies for seemingly stupid safety issues, I really do, but why does this keep happening? I wanted to write a story about how great Daytona was, and how much fun I had, but I can’t! I’ll finish this article now, as I’m too angry to finish.