BEHIND THE SCENE WITH DARRELL LAMOURE

I was asked of a very dear friends of mine to write to you about a subject most people never hear, see or even know about. Post race incidents, tempers flying and the recourse of all of that.

We all have our favorite racetracks or series we like to watch and at these events you might see some of the battles that occur during a race. Such as door to door contact or what you might think is just a loving nudge in the rear of the guy in front of him or her, not so, most drivers take that personal! And some times it doesn't stop there, fact is it could continue for hours in the pits or days depending on the circumstances.

Oh, this reminds me of an incident that happened oh a couple of years ago, but it was one of the most memorable ones. Not mentioning names but the driver of the #20 was in a position to win an event at Colorado and a local racer decided to move the 20 car, well it didn't take long for tempers to flair. Soon as the local racer caught up to the 20 car there was another contact and both cars dam near took out the entire field of racers. This all happened in the closing laps and on the white flag the leaders were dodging the two who took it upon themselves to put on a little of there own entertainment, so to speak. This didn't end yet. While the cars had exited the racing surface the local driver decides he wants a piece of the 20 car and slams him in the rear, well the 20 car stops and gets out of his car as the local drivers is in route to talk or something? Well the local guy made one big mistake, yes he took off his helmet and the 20-car driver didn't. You can imagine who won that conversation. Ha, Ha

Not long after I saw the father of the 20 car walking around with a smile on his face, I was curious. Why the smile I asked. You didn't win; your car is hurt, why? He responded with "Did you see my boy" he was proud of his son. Sometimes the negative and wrong can be turned into a positive. A father and his son bonded. It didn't matter at what cost. A small mistake can turn into a nightmare if you're not careful. Thank God no one got hurt in this particular case. Each time I get into a battle with another driver on the track I think of this incident and it reminds me there are other people to consider, if I decide to make this personal others may be involved involuntarily. My crew will jump at the chance to get involved if they think I have been dealt bad cards, Heck my wife, Dad, Mom will get in there, you get the point. Too many people to worry about and its not worth it!

Now there is another side that's not so glamorous. The NASCAR ruling and discipline for action taken on and off the racetrack. Yes, NASCAR will do something about these situations. If it isn't in the rulebook don't do it! Not having an ear in the outcome of that incident I can say that there are many teams drivers and owners who can and will be the recipients of NASCAR's discipline. Such as fines, suspensions and impoundment's just to name a few. You see when you enter a NASCAR sanctioned event they own the right to do just about anything they want to assure the safety of the racers and the fans always…

You see tempers fly and the only thing that stops it from escalating is time to reflect and gather information so that we can make a good judgement. Then we have to take the only avenue to resolution talk to Nascar and let them be the arbitrator or middle man to resolve any difference the teams, drivers or owners have with the other. Then life goes on and we have at it again next week (we hope anyway)

Till next time have at it racers,

Darrell "DL" LaMoure