The most intersting thing that happened in Sunday's Cup race at Loudon was when Juan Pablo Montoya intentionally smacked Kyle Busch while under caution, causing Busch's 18 car to spin and, in turn, hit Montoya's 42 a split-second later.
Montoya went on to admit in a live post-race TV interview that he'd done it on purpose because, he said, Busch had hit him earlier. Busch, on the other hand, denied having done anything to provoke Montoya.
NASCAR assessed a two-lap penalty, which, with just 21 laps to go, meant Montoya had no chance to recover
Now, my record on predicting NASCAR's actions in this blog isn't so hot, but I gotta figure, this time, Montoya's also going to be hit with some kind of penalty, because he retaliated under caution, which, according to NASCAR is a big no-no, and he put the rest of the field in jeopardy as well, because there were a lot of cars stacked up udner the caution.
If not, well, I still think Montoya deserves it. Look, I'm all for the Loren Wallace-school of "put him in the wall" driving when necessary, but only during competition, not during caution periods, and the two-lap penalty didn't hurt Montoya much--he wasn't going to win anyway. His attitude afterwards, that what he did was acceptable, needs to be addressed.
This quote from Montoya explains why:
"I retaliated. Did I go too far retaliating? Yeah. I think them giving me a two-lap penalty is okay for what I did. The only thing I told them is they always say to be very careful under caution and I said the only reason I did that was because I was defending myself. And there's a fine line on that."
No, Juan, there's no line at all on that. You don't wreck people under caution. And the two-lap penalty didn't have much of an effect on a driver who wants contending for a good finish.
The incident involved two guys who couldn't have been better-chosen; Montoya, who many fans see as a wreck just waiting to happen, smacks Kyle Busch, the current least-favorite driver in the series, then gets hit himself, thanks to physics.
Given the outcome of the confrontation, and the egos involved, I think it is safe to say we'll see further "interaction" between these two.
Comments (10)
Wrong bud..... juan was turmented by bush for over 50 laps...and he got what was coming to him ....the bad part was tha montoya recked him selF....it was worth the money on penaltys....I dont see ....How about kane and armerola that was Intentional to.
Posted by frank | June 30, 2008 3:55 AM
Posted on June 30, 2008 03:55
Frank must have been seeing something on his TV that wasn't being shown on anyone elses TV. BTW, what does "turmented" mean?
Posted by Bud | June 30, 2008 4:50 AM
Posted on June 30, 2008 04:50
Hamlin wrecked Brad Keselowski a few weeks ago in a Nationwide Series race under caution and got no penalty at all. . . NASCAR just makes it up as they go along.
Posted by Thomas | June 30, 2008 7:17 AM
Posted on June 30, 2008 07:17
Hamlin drove into the side of Keselowski and ruined his fender. Keselowski did not spin. Montoya spun Busch under caution. What Hamlin did put no one at serious risk. Montoya put a quarter of the field at risk. Montoya should get a big penalty, but probably won't. Last year at Watkins Glen, he started an on track fight with Kevin Harvick, and NASCAR said "it was cool as hell." So, Montoya probably won't get much penalty if any at all. He lost 21 points from the two lap penalty, so NASCAR may say that is a sufficient penalty. Personally, I think that if they give a 150 point penalty to Haas-CNC for mechanical competitive advantages, Montoya should get at least a 200 point penalty for putting so many drivers at risk because he can't take the competition with 20 to go.
Posted by Nathan | June 30, 2008 8:53 AM
Posted on June 30, 2008 08:53
Juan's only problem was admitting he done it on purpose. He should have listened to Kyle over the last few months: "car got loose", "just a racing deal", "don't know what happended". These and many more excuses were used when Kyle wrecked drivers in the cup, nationwide, and truck series races. And, unlike Juan who did it under caution instead of 200 MPH like Kyle, didn't put many cars and drivers in harm's way. How can all you Kyle fans be so blind! It was not Kyle's driving ability that lost him the Hendricks ride. It was his arrogance, bumping, banging tearing up cars and wrecking your own brother that lost him his ride. But that doesn't seem to matter to the good christian Joe Gibbs as long as he can get the wins and the big check from the Japanese. I had an uncle killed in WWII but things like that don't matter to some people when money is involved. But I will never support Joe Gibbs or any of his drivers/sponsors.
Posted by Larry | June 30, 2008 2:40 PM
Posted on June 30, 2008 14:40
Larry--
Who made your TV?
Posted by Bob | June 30, 2008 3:26 PM
Posted on June 30, 2008 15:26
wonder why NASCRAP didn't do the same to Hamlin in the Nationwide race a few weeks ago when he took out Brad...
didn't he admit he did it on purpose...
Posted by jon | June 30, 2008 5:21 PM
Posted on June 30, 2008 17:21
I am not the least bit sad that Kyle got hit by Juablo. However, it was pretty cool how Kyle's car just happened to turn back into Juablo's.
If Kyle executed that maneuver, he IS the best driver out there. Dang it.
Posted by D Jones | June 30, 2008 6:07 PM
Posted on June 30, 2008 18:07
I have to admit, the idea of Montoya and Kyle knocking each other out of contention for the next 10 races would do my heart good, and probably double the size of the NASCAR audience.
Posted by Charley | June 30, 2008 6:24 PM
Posted on June 30, 2008 18:24
Larry, what does Joe Gibbs Christian beliefs have to do with who he has driving for him?
As far as I can tell, your real agenda has nothing to do with Kyle Busch but with Toyota.
Know what? I don't like having them in NASCAR myself. But, they're there for the duration.
Kyle Busch's only crime is driving to aggressively. I've never seen the first race in which he intentionally took anyone out. Yeah, I know the Jr nation is still steaming about Richmond. If it had been the other way around, it would just been a racing deal. But, no, the blind Jr. nation actually believes that KB took Jr. out intentionally. You can be assured that if NASCAR believed he did, he would have drawn some severe penalties.
One more thing you might want to consider. J P Montoya took out more people by "accident" in 2007 than Kyle Busch has in his entire career.
Posted by Bud | June 30, 2008 6:54 PM
Posted on June 30, 2008 18:54