Attack Of The Killer Tweets

Ugh!!!  Where have all the real men gone in NASCAR.  It used to be if two drivers had a beef at Bristol,  they'd settle it with some pushing and shoving, some fisticuffs, and maybe an occasional poke here and there.  At the very least, somebody would get a water bottle bounced off their skull.  Today, however, is a new day and this ain't your Daddy's NASCAR.  Today's drivers slug it out using verbal judo and their smart phones, as witnessed after the Food City 500 today:

1. Joey Logano ‏@joeylogano

   Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on

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2. 1hDenny Hamlin ‏@dennyhamlin

   Why's that.. What would u do? “@joeylogano: Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on”

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   Joey Logano ‏@joeylogano

   @dennyhamlin

Show you some love and appreciation. 👍

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 Denny Hamlin ‏@dennyhamlin

Need my address?

Image will appear as a link

1. 26m

Heck even Hamlin's spotter, Chris Lambert is getting in on cyber tomfoolery, whipping up the passions of Brad Keselowski fans, (how'd they drag him into this?).

 Chris Lambert ‏@3widemiddle

@keselowski-I got a great idea, quit playing games on restarts. Known for it, just ask around to your peers.Even us lowly spotters know it!

Heck, even the milk and cookies poster boy, Jeff Gordon bypassed formal salutations and gave healthy shoves to Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton, when he felt they wronged him on the track.  Can you imagine Chocolate Myers, back in the day, running up to Ricky Rudd's crew at North Wilkesboro and saying, "You guys made me really angry today, and I'm gonna send some really mean tweets about you when I get home."  Now let's go racin'!!!

Heroes And A Zero

      This has been a real feel good year for Penske Racing.  Coming off of Brad Keselowski's 2012 Sprint Cup Championship, the Captain, Roger Penske, is doing all he can to keep the good karma going. Rather than kick A.J. Allmendinger to the curb and forget about him after his 2012 NASCAR suspension, Penske showed some real class by sticking with the Dinger.  Allmendinger is an all-around nice guy, whose misgivings were a real shock to the racing world.  In a "forgive and forget" move, Penske resuscitated Allmendinger's racing career by putting him back in a car for both the Indycar and NASCAR series.  The Captain knows what he's doing, if he didn't think the Dinger was up to it, he never would have made those moves.
      Penske Racing's Month of Love really kicked in last Saturday.  Another Penske "Nice guy," Sam Hornish Jr., won his second Nationwide series race while in Vegas, and he didn't just win the race, he took it away from everybody in a dominate fashion.  In a series that has gotten used to watching Kyle Busch drive away from the field whenever he's entered,  imagine the shock and awe as Hornish Jr. easily handled the field.  Then in a couple of late restarts, he drove away from Busch and the rest of the world.  Kudos to the Captain and his ship.
      On October 13, 2010 I wrote that Denny Hamlin was " another year or two away from being able to keep his head screwed on straight."  Well, it's not easy to say I was wrong, but I was wrong.  I probably should have written it would take four or five years, if at all.  Less than four races into the 2013 campaign, and Hamlin has proven once again, that his biggest nemesis is not on the track, but rather inside his head.  Two weeks ago he effectively bit the hand that feeds him.  If that wasn't enough, today he figuratively flipped off the rest of the garage during a media availability.  Denny, what are you thinking?  You're at Bristol this week.  You've got 500 laps to tick people off, why start two days before the race, especially at Bristol?      
      Don't get me wrong, Denny Hamlin is a very talented driver, and yes I think he's good enough to win a championship.  But until he starts wearing his big boy pants to the race track, it's never going to happen.  Now let's go racin'!!!

No Whining Allowed!!!

Cry me a river Denny! I'm sure there are about 42 other drivers that would love to have had your finish last week.  How did you manage to get to third place from the back of the pack, if the car was soooo bad?  It's not supposed to be easy to pass other cars and work your way through the field because..., it's racing.  This is especially true when you reach the top ten.  Typically these are the best cars in the race, and them being the best...., makes it difficult to pass them.  That's what makes a 43rd to 3rd charge pretty darn amazing.  You should be kissing that car's hood, not spitting in the injectors.  This isn't the first time you've shown a lack of better judgement and maybe a little maturity too, with your comments, whether they were about racing or teammates.  Quit your whining and race.

I think the only group in NASCAR that complains more than the drivers, are the fans.  That, however, is another subject for another time.  Now let's go racin'!!!