Should Have Known Better

          This week the only series that was running was NASCAR.  My heart breaks for Martin Truex Jr. and the MWR Team.  Denny Hamlin was leading when they paid out the money but Martin led more laps this past Sunday at Kansas, than any of his season totals since he started running the Cup Series.  I’m glad to see Michael Waltrip and his group finally seeing the fruits of their labor.  Many people thought when Michael and Buffy put their money on the line, it wasn’t a good move, but with the right people Michael has come a long way- I admire him for that.

            I came across something yesterday, and I didn’t know how to feel about it right away.  Evidently, Josef Newgarden, an INDYCAR Driver, writes a blog for the SPEED Channel, and this week he was reviewing the Long Beach race.  Now, being a driver myself, I have put myself in situations on the track that did not yield positive results, but after listening to Newgarden’s post, first turn of the first lap, accident interview- I was left wondering what I would say if I were him.

            For those of you who don’t know, Dario Franchitti and Josef Newgarden ended up on the front row for the Long Beach race.  Dario got a huge initial jump but Newgarden tried to pass him on the outside going into turn 1 on the first lap- a move usually reserved for the last lap.  I am certainly not trying to bash Newgarden; I just thought he would have used better all around judgment.  Lets, for a minute, forget what happened on the track; it is pretty much standard procedure to be interviewed after you are involved in a wreck.  He proceeds to tell us (in a way that makes me question if he should have the ride he does) that he should have used better judgment and that he thought Dario should have given him more room- that Dario ran wide and forced him into the tires and ended his day.  Then in his blog yesterday, he stands up for his first lap debacle, saying he learned a lot about one particular INDYCAR driver this past Sunday and he “will not shy away from moves like that in the future”.  *Note to Sarah Fisher Racing employees*- long nights lie ahead.

            I find myself having a big problem with this, not because he wrecked- that happens- it’s why he wrecked and what he is using to justify it.  He was never going to beat Franchitti to turn 1.  Not because Newgarden doesn’t have the talent or the resources- it just is not going to happen.  Do you think, for one minute, Dario is going to let some rookie embarrass him on national television?  That he will get passed in a very bold way, on the outside of the first turn of the first lap?  Never gonna happen, not in a million years.  Not in INDYCAR, not in NASCAR, not even on your local short track.  It’s a “paying your dues” thing not to mention pulling stunts like that often have a very high failure and embarrassment rate.  He would have gained much more out of tucking in behind Franchitti and following him and LEARNING.  Who better to follow than last years champion?  What a shot in the arm it would have been to Sarah Fisher and her organization to run up front and get some TV time battling for the lead.  Instead, they end up loading a wrecked racecar in the hauler and now have to spend time and resources fixing a racecar that had the potential win the race.  I have filled just about  every position on a race team, sometimes I have been the race team, so I know what it takes to put racecars on the track.  If I’m the crew and my driver brings me back a wrecked racecar, there better be a real good reason- and not stupidity.

            This kind of stuff drives me crazy, because I have had to race my entire career for the next race.  I had to bring the car home in one piece, because I needed it again next week.  Now, Newgarden has more resources than I do, and he makes more money than I do, but he should also be held to a higher standard than me, right now.  I have followed Sarah Fisher since she was in Sprints, and especially when she was a low budget team racing in INDYCAR trying to make it.  I believe she is a tomorrow kind of racer as well, so I would like to believe that this doesn’t sit well with her either.

            There is a time and a place for all kinds of racing, and bravery should only be shown with less than 15 to go, if at all, because otherwise it leads to disappointment or worse.  Sometimes, the best thing you can do is sit and ride, just make laps- earn the respect of your fellow drivers and let them know they can trust you.  Tucking in behind Franchitti and running the first stint of the race would have done all of that.

            I didn’t mean to get off on a tangent about him.  I believe that this kind of stuff should be learned early on in your career, when someone isn’t making lots of money to race these cars.  It is frustrating to see this kind of stuff happen, when I know how hard we work to try and attain the same level of racing.  It would seem in other sports, like baseball, some time back in the minor leagues to think about what you could do different might be in order.

            I have spoken about Bobby Gerhart often in this blog, and there is an infamous quote that I give him credit for- “Some people just don’t know that they don’t know”.  I would have to think this might apply in this case.  In the top tiers of our sport, all the drivers that compete can all wheel racecars very well, that’s not in question.  It’s the choices we make, that separate us from the pack, that make champions or “also rans”.

            I have spent too much time on this topic, but I needed to vent about what I read Tuesday.  I will talk next week about the last races of our 2004 season, and the events that followed.  I learn just how high the prices are for certain mistakes made in life, and how some of that changes who you are.

            On a much higher and positive note, we finally got to talk with Dave Stall from San Diego Motorsports this past Sunday.  I had a blast with those guys talking about racing, and our work with RAD, and our future plans.  Tune in 9pm (PST) Sundays to catch them- http://www.kcbq.com/ for those of you who can’t pick them up on 1170 AM dial out in San Diego.

            Our first race has been changed to June 16-17 down at Summit Point Raceway in WV.  Check us out @justinonderko during the weekend for updates, or plan a road trip and see some exciting racing from guys who love their machines, and are passionate about the racing they do.  We will be talking more about that weekend in the weeks to come.  Check us out on www.peerbackers.com (search “Onderko Motorsports”) and become a part of our race team.  We bring you in and show you the nitty gritty of the sport.  Feel free to comment on the blog too, I love the fan interaction.  I can’t wait for our season to finally get started, it seems like it’s been to long since I’ve been in a race, and I am ready to get going.  Till next week. . .