September 21, 2008
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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I don’t know about you all, but part of the enjoyment I get every weekend watching a race is the fact that I can listen in on the conversation between my favorite drivers and their teams. It is almost like voyeurism, listening to what they talk about as they drive around at 185 miles an hour, talking about what is working and what isn’t, and who is giving them trouble and who they really want to get off the track.
Occasionally, the trouble isn’t between the drivers on the track, it can be between the driver and his team. Thanks to the availability of scanners at the track and features like 'Trackpass' on NASCAR.com and 'Driver to Crew' chatter on Sirius NASCAR radio, you can nose in on any discussion between a driver and his team, at any time during the race. And sometimes, it isn’t always friendly, and they don’t always use polite words to explain their problems.
Since the day I became a fan, I think I have known that Tony Eury Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fussed at each other like the relatives they are when talking on the radio. I have known that drivers like Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch use more colorful language on their radios when talking about their fellow drivers or issues with their cars.
So why is this suddenly becoming a big deal?
Fans seem to have been finding a reason to claim that the language is too course, the teams too angry with each other. The ongoing debate between Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. seems to call for the need -- for them to separate and go to different teams. We hear over and over how Clint Bowyer thought that Michael Waltrip was the worst driver on the track and how he doesn’t understand how NAPA re-signed with the 55 team.
And drivers cuss. Boy do they cuss. They know those seven words you aren’t supposed to say on TV, and then some.
In case you are new to the sport, let me pass on this little tidbit: this isn’t anything new. And in most cases, they really don’t mean it. At least, not with the vehemence they say.
That hasn’t stopped fans from calling on teams to censor what they say on the radio, because their children might hear the dirty words. Or the mean spirit in which they are said.
To which I say: Are you serious?
Listening in to a driver and crew on race day is a privilege, not a right. And as you have the ability to listen to all the words they say, you also have the ability to turn it off.
Sure, network television is going to replay some of what is said, but they usually clean it up before airing it where you and your children can hear it. That said, they don’t always take what is being said and put it in the proper context, and that can also rub a driver the wrong way…and give the fans the wrong impression about what is actually happening on the track. There is plenty of drama going on during the usual race, but it seems that the networks have a need to create even more when there really isn’t any.
Greg Biffle, winner of last week’s race at New Hampshire, said “It would hurt our program to censor ourselves. We need to be as animated as we are. It is private communication between us; we talk about how we feel in the car, we talk about what’s going on, we talk about how the other guy is driving. Keep in mind that this communication is between us, and you are the one that is eaves-dropping on us. You have a wire tap on our telephone at home and you are listening to what we are talking about. So YOU need to moderate what you are gonna listen to and what you aren’t gonna listen to. And it frustrates me a little bit that they take excerpts out of these things and play them…and actually I have seen these radio communications played while there is video or showing the car go around the track that are completely out of context. And it frustrates me that that is happening. Turn off the recording device. If you want to listen, go ahead and listen. But don’t record everything we say and then play it how it suits your fancy.”
Fans who listen in to this chatter each week seem to take what they hear during that given period of time, from a plan of how to best solve the apparent issue at hand, and call into radio shows and write blogs to share their solution…whether it is needed or not. Most heated discussions you hear on the radio on a given weekend are said in the heat of the moment…when a driver is frustrated because he isn’t doing as well as he wants, and a team is frustrated because the driver is telling them they didn’t do their job right, whether they did or not.
These teams are like family, and like family, they fight. I still fight with my younger sister, and we are in our 4th decade of being related to each other. These folks spend the majority of the year living and working together…there is no way they can do that and not squabble about big and little things.
Bobby Hamilton Jr., who drives the 25 car for Team Rensi in the Nationwide Series, explained it like this on Sirius Radio: “This is the way I look at it, if they wanted your opinion about how they talk, they’d make sure you got a radio just like everyone else does. And if they wanted to hear what your side is…let me tell you we’re a family, whenever you have a loss in NASCAR, everyone feels it. And there hasn’t been one time where nobody’s got up and fought with their brother or fought with their sister because they are family. You deal with each other so much, with so much emotion, so much energy wrapped up in this stuff, and that is part of it, you are gonna have at it. I honestly think that is good to get it off your chest, but the real champions are the ones, and all it does is show emotion. It’s like when Tony Stewart gets mad. He gets mad because he didn’t win the race. So does Zippy. They just get mad, and the only other person you are talking to is that other guy, so you are gonna voice your opinion. The fans don’t need to worry about it. That driver is gonna be OK. That team is gonna be OK. That is part of this sport.”
Hamilton had a simple solution for the fans that don’t like what they hear, or think that there is too much fighting going on between the drivers and their crews. “It’s part of the sport. If you have an opinion about it, you don’t like what was said, simple, turn the radio off. As a matter of fact, don’t go rent one. If they wanted an opinion on how they’re runnin’ their team, you’d be in their oval office with them in their meetings on Monday. Let those guys work, let them hammer it out. It’s great to have an opinion, but a lot of times its better to keep it to yourself. The best thing (the fan) can do if they support their team, support their driver, if they love their team and they love their driver is let them fight it out…quit worrying about it. Enjoy the races, do what you are supposed to do and cheer your driver along and leave them alone.”
I couldn’t agree with him more.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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