Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Emotion surrounding Danny Dietrich-Brent Marks situation is good for Sprint Car racing

The emotion might be good, but getting out of your car in traffic is asking for trouble. Penalty should be stiffer

DD makes a good point, the safety crew was there, he stayed out of traffic, and what's the difference in what he did (besides the steering wheel) and what all drivers do to get out and check damage to let the crew know if it can be fixed or not.  The Marks/DD rivalry will be fun to watch the rest of the season with all the big money shows.

The difference is that Dietrich didn't walk into traffic. The cars were idling around the track in line. Dietrich was in no danger.

BULLSHIT!!!!

    He should have never done what he did!!

I wasn't there, but the video was clear.  Jeremy, I don't think you should condone (if you are) Dietrich's actions. I call BS like some others here. With what this sport is going through right now, I don't care about "rivalries", you just can't be doing what he did.  And WG's light slap on the wrist sends a bad message too.

It looks like Dietrich gave Marks a pretty good slide job right before in the middle of the corner to the point where Marks had to back way off. Im assuming Mark really thought he had Dietrich cleared before exiting 4 or at least to the point where DD could back of the throttle to avoid contact even if Marks says he did it on purpose. Just looks like two guys not willing to give an inch which makes for some great racing. Dietrich did not run flat out towards the cars and was somewhat safe/controlled but he probably should not have reacted as he did. If you give a slide job like that you should almost expect one back of the same quality if that same driver gets a shot.

I'm not condoning it, but I'm not villifying it, either. My question is to everyone that says "what the sport is going through" and other things like that, is so what? The NFL is dealing with concussions, the Washington Redskins name crap and various other PR nightmares, yet, they press on and continue to be the most successful sport in the country. In other words, racing can and should be allowed to police itself.

I'm not trying to diminish what happened between Stewart and Ward Jr. Tragic, no doubt about it. I feel bad for everyone involved. But, the sport shouldn't go through drastic changes either for an incident that happened once. If that was the case, there would be wholesale changes to the way track personnel is handled. In all honesty, corner workers and officials are in far more jeopardy.

You better care about rivalries. Crowds are shrinking, which tells me interest is waning. Rivalries, good racing and high-profile events is what have made this sport popular and how it can remain that way. 

"So what?" The Stewart/Ward incident has left a large black eye on this sport. Every news organzation was reporting on it, and sudeenly everyone and their brother became an "expert" on sprint car racing overnight. You can't have it both ways - either it's OK to get out of your car and gesture/throw/etc a car moving under caution, or it's not.

As far as manufacturing rivaleries.....see WWE

Rivalries are a huge part of this sport. They make it exciting. I love having the heros and villans. I personally dont like Sammy Swindell or Donny Schatz but having them at the races makes it exciting. I have someone to root for and someone to root against. The victories over them are sweet and you have to tip your hat off to them when they win. Sammy will be missed as a villan in my book and a hero in others. The Brown Schatz rivalry at the nationals makes it way more exciting for a fan. 25,000 people on their feet cheering or booing when they pass each other during the A main. These rivalries manufacture themselves through races like these.

Im starting to like Dietrich more and more...He is himself...And that we don't see in racing too much anymore..

We have cookie cutter cars and cookie cutter drivers....

Good interview...He's not affraid to voice his opinion...

But it's not manufacturer. That's what makes it good. It only happens once and a while, and it's not staged or scripted. As for the black eye, okay. But it doesn't mean you make wholesale changes. Do you think drivers or fans stopped going to the races because of that incident? No. Maybe for a week. 

Sure, it's a black eye in the eyes of the national media, but how does that affect the sport? It's not taking butts out of the seats or drivers out of the pit area. That is what matters. And why would anyone listen to ESPN or USA Today when they have no knowledge of the sport?

There is a huge difference between Dietrich and Ward. Dietrich never got close to Marks. He knew where he was on the track and was never in harm's way.

Are rivalries good?  yes, but IMO, Deitrich is in the wrong here.

When Steve and Sammy were VERY HEATED, it hardly ever came to blows (and when it did, it was under RED FLAG conditions or in the pit area.

Deitrich should have been fined $1000 and suspended from racing for 2 weeks for his actions (if it were under RED when he threw the steering wheel I'd be fine with it) as his actions could have hurt someone else (he can't "accurately" throw the steering wheel, what if it'd hit a tire and gotten thrown into the grandstands?  or went back and hit someone in the pit area, an official, a fan in the pits, a bystander?).

To me, this incident just compounds what the mainstream media is already saying about Sprint Car Racing.  that it's a "lower form" of racing.  The drivers, team owners, SPONSORS, Race Tracks, Sanctioning Bodies, FANS, etc., etc. should EXPECT and DEMAND better from the racers. 

Rivalries are fine, but there is a fine line you can't cross and IMO Dietrich did (had he went and confronted him once the checker flew the rivalry would still be there, he'd still be getting the same fine, but no one would have cared about it because it would have been done AFTER the cars had stopped.  Fans would have still seen it, his passion would still be shown.

How much was RJ Johnson penalized for throwing his steering wheel at Matt Moro last year? I was just wondering how punishments compared between tracks and over time after the recent incidents. DD shouldnt have done it. I wouldnt call it wreckless as it was mostly safe but if he would have waited till after the races were over he probably would have calmed down by then and not reacted like that.

no idea.

If he was fined, it was done between him and the track (they usually don't put our press releases about fining drivers for unsportsmanlike conduct.  But it is in the rulebook.

Not sure how much RJ Johnson was fined, but Jeff Shepard was hit with a $250 fine 8-10 years by Williams Grove for the same incident. 

I think Jeremy is right on.

If you want cookie cutter, PR machine, politically correct racing, watch NASCAR.

I don't want cookie cutter, PR machine, politically correct racing.

however, as a FAN, I EXPECT better from the racers.  Like it or not, they are Role Models for the young kids in teh stnads (the few that are there anyway).  It's ok to be emotional, to be mad if you got wrecked, but it's deplorable when the same people saying that you need to stay in your car (the track promotors) do very little when someone violates that rule.

IMO, Dietrich should have been fined $1000 and suspended for 2 weeks (that sends the message to EVERYONE, that rules are rules, you follow them or you don't race).  If the Red Flag had been out and the he'd went down and showed his displeasure, I'd say maybe fine him $200 (if that's what the rulebook states) and call it good.  You WANT and NEED drivers to show their emotion, what you don't want or need is something unnecessarry (which this was).  He wasn't going to accomplish anything except getting himself in trouble and letting Marks know he wasn't happy.

It AMAZES me when people think that drivers and teams can act like drivers and teams did in the 1960's.  it's 2014!  Cars are WAYYYYYY more expensive, WAYYYYY faster, WAYYYY more dangerous, etc., etc.. 

And to top that off, we now live in a digital world.  It takes about 10 seconds for video to hit the web and those who have no clue about our sport to start regulating it based off video that they saw online (you think that one of your "lawmakers" won't see this as an "opportunity" to make racing "safer" and make themselves feel important?  Don't give them more firepower as 99% of the voters in every state has no clue about sprint car racing, so there would be virtually ZERO opposition to any legislation they bring forward.).

I don't feel Deitrich's actions should be ok!!  Rivalries are great for racing, There has been plenty of Great racing over the years between drivers whom didn't care for each other, How ever 99% of those drivers had/have respect for other drivers!!

  You can have rivalries between drivers with out them throwing parts of there cars at each other when they are on the track!!!

  Deitrich's actions are no good for racing!!!   He and Marks traded slide jobs for several laps!!!

   Sometimes you are the windsheild, sometimes you are the bug!!

 13 year old son looks at me and says, " Obviously he didn`t get the memo." as DD walks back to pits.