(November 13, 2009 - Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images North America)For those of you that read my little biography on this site, you’ll notice that I’m a Brad Keselowski fan. A really big one. One friend even called me “the grade A of BK fans”. I’m the kind of fan that will defend him and make up excuses for him even when I know he’s wrong. But that’s just who I am and I don’t see myself changing anytime soon.
So to bring up the feud between Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin really gets my blood boiling. I wasn’t a real big Hamlin fan before all the drama started. And the race at Phoenix was the icing on the cake for me. I’m beginning to think that Hamlin is taking this all too far. All of his complaining and little comments are making him look bad while Keselowski sits back and says nothing.
Yes, Hamlin started the on track pushing and shoving this past weekend, which was clear. But Keselowski could and should have stopped it. He didn’t have to bump Hamlin back and he should have stopped after one hit. So my question is: Where was NASCAR when all of this happened? Were they not watching? They should have at least warned Keselowski about rough driving because obviously that hit was intentional. But they didn’t do anything. And, after the race, when Hamlin was strong in his comments, promising to retaliate the next time he’s in a Nationwide car. Uh, NASCAR? What are you going to do when their on track feud ruins another driver’s day? What happened to penalizing when threats are made? NASCAR just said that they aren’t going to “police” their feud. What?
The confrontation that happened after the race was surprising to me. I was proud of Keselowski when he didn’t egg on Hamlin’s angry feelings. He knew that it wasn’t a good idea to talk about it right then. Instead of this being a good thing, what does Hamlin do? Whine and complain to the media that Keselowski wouldn’t talk to him. Will they ever talk it over? I doubt it. I don’t see them just talking it over and resolving everything. They’re both too stubborn.
Hamlin didn’t just stop with threats about Keselowski to the media. He went to Mike Helton and Keselowski’s Nationwide team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. What’s Junior going to do? Keselowski only has one more race left with JR Motorsports. No one has reported what was said in that meeting. But I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that motor coach.
In my opinion Hamlin should handle all of this like a true racecar driver. No, I don’t mean punching the daylights of Keselowski in the infield. But by showing that he is that amazing racecar driver that he thinks he is. Go out there and win races, finish better than Keselowski, and when asked about the feud, answer it with a mature answer, one that sponsors would be proud of, instead of just insulting Keselowski.
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The opinions expressed in this post are those of the individual writer and may not reflect those of the group.
So to bring up the feud between Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin really gets my blood boiling. I wasn’t a real big Hamlin fan before all the drama started. And the race at Phoenix was the icing on the cake for me. I’m beginning to think that Hamlin is taking this all too far. All of his complaining and little comments are making him look bad while Keselowski sits back and says nothing.
Yes, Hamlin started the on track pushing and shoving this past weekend, which was clear. But Keselowski could and should have stopped it. He didn’t have to bump Hamlin back and he should have stopped after one hit. So my question is: Where was NASCAR when all of this happened? Were they not watching? They should have at least warned Keselowski about rough driving because obviously that hit was intentional. But they didn’t do anything. And, after the race, when Hamlin was strong in his comments, promising to retaliate the next time he’s in a Nationwide car. Uh, NASCAR? What are you going to do when their on track feud ruins another driver’s day? What happened to penalizing when threats are made? NASCAR just said that they aren’t going to “police” their feud. What?
The confrontation that happened after the race was surprising to me. I was proud of Keselowski when he didn’t egg on Hamlin’s angry feelings. He knew that it wasn’t a good idea to talk about it right then. Instead of this being a good thing, what does Hamlin do? Whine and complain to the media that Keselowski wouldn’t talk to him. Will they ever talk it over? I doubt it. I don’t see them just talking it over and resolving everything. They’re both too stubborn.
Hamlin didn’t just stop with threats about Keselowski to the media. He went to Mike Helton and Keselowski’s Nationwide team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. What’s Junior going to do? Keselowski only has one more race left with JR Motorsports. No one has reported what was said in that meeting. But I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that motor coach.
In my opinion Hamlin should handle all of this like a true racecar driver. No, I don’t mean punching the daylights of Keselowski in the infield. But by showing that he is that amazing racecar driver that he thinks he is. Go out there and win races, finish better than Keselowski, and when asked about the feud, answer it with a mature answer, one that sponsors would be proud of, instead of just insulting Keselowski.
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The opinions expressed in this post are those of the individual writer and may not reflect those of the group.
Great story Lauren! It amazes me that a driver that has been in the sport for several years has to go and whine and cry to people. I believe Brad let it all go, but when Denny bumped him, Brad simply stood his ground. Denny should have picked up the phone and called or picked up a pen and write a letter, whatever. He could have stopped all of this. Instead he keeps adding fuel to the fire. Fine sure go ahead. Denny is really showing his rear. If he was a child he would be throwing a temper tantrum, kicking and screaming.
ReplyDeleteLauren, since I didn't get a chance to see this happen first hand I can't really comment one way or the other. I've personally never been a BK fan and I do like Denny from time to time still I think that Denny might be taking it a bit too far with his comments. Will be interesting to see what happens in 2010 with BK running full time in the Sprint Cup. Great article!
ReplyDeleteKaty and I were at the Nationwide race last year in Charlotte where Hamlin made the comment about throwing back a concrete block at BK. That time it was Brad and his team who took the feud off the track, and his team who threw punches at Hamlin's crew. If I was in Denny's shoes, I might have a hard time forgetting something like that. It's not an excuse (at all), but all drivers have to to take responsibility sometimes.
ReplyDeleteOf course I can't talk. I support Harvick, who wore a Kenseth shirt to the track one weekend, following an on track incident lol
go BK wake up with the King!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! I literally wrote this in 10 minutes and I actually left a lot of things out of it. And I like the comments that don't agree with me. My Denny Hamlin friend told me that she liked my article but she didn't agree with me. I just laughed and told her I didn't want her to agree with me. I don't want to try to change anyone's mind. People have their opinions and that's fine with me. I don't want someone trying to change my mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm just mainly surprised that NASCAR isn't intervening. Does everyone forget all the penalties Shane Hmiel got for rough driving? And I don't remember who but I know someone got put on probation for threatening to wreck someone. I guess NASCAR is just that desperate for people to show up at the races.