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Driven to Fight: Scuffle at NASCAR
Aired August 18, 2003 - 15:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, car race or boxing match? You couldn't tell the difference at the Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. The rivalry between NASCAR drivers Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch moved into high gear off the track. And now Spencer could be facing assault charges.
Marty Snider of TNT Sports joins us from Charlotte, North Carolina with the details.
First of all, Marty, what do you know? Anything since we last spoke?
MARTY SNIDER, TNT SPORTS: Well, what I know is that they had an incident on the track early on in the race where Jimmy had run into Kurt. Kurt had a car that he felt he could win, damaged his right front fender, which would hurt the aerodynamics at a place like Michigan. His team was able to fix it. Then Kurt passed Jimmy later in the race rather forcedly. And so to them, that was the second incident of the day. Then Kurt ran out of gas as he was coming into the garage area right in front of Jimmy Spencer's hauler, and -- where he would park his car normally. And I think Jimmy took that as an aggressive action on Kurt's part. That would be the third incident of the day. And Jimmy thought, Enough is enough.
And he thought that Kurt was doing it on purpose, did not know Kurt had run out of gas, so Kurt let the window net down, took his helmet off -- he was still strapped off in the car -- when Jimmy punched him, what I am told, twice in the nose, giving him a bloody nose, actually chopping Kurt's tooth. There was a report he had broken his nose, but we don't know whether or not he has broken his nose or not.
These two have had a history that goes back to last year, March of 2002, when Kurt got his first win, he bumped Jimmy out of the way. Then at Indianapolis, Jimmy kind of gave him the payback last year in a very big wreck for Kurt. And they've had a kind of a battle of words and kind of agreed to disagree. But obviously, this is not over and this has now escalated to a new level, when you involve, obviously, the sheriff's office from the Lenawee County in Michigan.
PHILLIPS: Well, you don't usually see something like this at NASCAR. And now Jimmy Spencer has been suspended. I mean, can you remember the last time a driver was suspended?
SNIDER: Well, Kevin Harvick was suspended last year for actions on the track. But for off the track actions, I can't -- I can remember Jack Ingram -- it was a long time ago in the NASCAR Busch Series, he actually got suspended for a fight that wasn't even a NASCAR race. They deemed a -- you know, an unethical -- or something you don't want to do if you're a representative of NASCAR. And that actually cost him the championship that year.
So it's been a long time since someone has been suspended for actions not on the track. And I'll be surprised if Jimmy does not appeal this quickly and ask NASCAR's commission to get a quick hearing so he can try to race this weekend because Bristol is Jimmy Spencer's best racetrack and certainly a racetrack that would be exciting of those two were racing together.
PHILLIPS: Well, NASCAR is so different from hockey. I mean, in hockey, you want to get in fight. It's really cool to get in a fight. Whereas NASCAR, you know, it's much different. Are there standards of behavior in NASCAR?
I mean, I remember Dale Earnhardt. I mean, that's how he got the name "The Terminator." You know, he roughed around and gave guys a hard time. I don't remember if he punched anybody out. But are there, you know, ethics and standards of behavior in NASCAR?
SNIDER: Absolutely. He was "The Intimidator," by the way.
PHILLIPS: That's right. Intimidator.
SNIDER: Yes. The Intimidator.
But there are -- you know, there's ethics, of course. You know, on the track, I mean, you don't want to wreck someone, you know? And there are, you know, tiffs -- I mean, just like in basketball, football or anything else. You'll have a disagreement with a guy. But you don't want to pay him back at a place like a Michigan, where you could hurt someone. You'll pay him back at Martinsville, where you're going slow. You're not going to hurt anyone there. You know, you're paying back at Bristol, where, you know, you'll ruffle his feather.
And there are tempers often in this sport because the adrenaline is so intense for these drivers and there's really no way to shut it off, because once the green flag falls until the checkered flag falls, you're just -- you're so focused on trying to go as fast as you can. So there's a lot of adrenaline and it's hard to shut that off after a race, especially when a guy's gotten into you and you feel like it was an intentional hit or you feel like it was undeserved on your part.
So, you know, a lot of times it's hard to shut that emotion off. And when feel like something has happened for the third time in a day and you're a guy like Jimmy Spencer, who is a very aggressive person, and you've had a history with someone, I can see why Spencer would do this.
But I think what he did was uncalled for. And I'm going to make that clear. Kurt Busch was strapped into his car. There's no reason to do that to anyone. PHILLIPS: That adrenaline is like a high-seed chase for a police officer. You've got to decompress. And I'm saying the Terminator, I'm thinking of the California recall. We've been talking about that too much. You know, that's in my head. How can I forget the Intimidator? I won't now.
Marty Snider -- all right. We'll continue to follow this. Do you think this will be good or bad for NASCAR? Good attention? Bad attention?
SNIDER: I think -- well, you can always go with the saying any attention is good attention, right? You know?
PHILLIPS: There you go.
SNIDER: You know, I think that, you know, people will want to watch Saturday night when we have the race at Bristol. I think that they'll want to tune in to see what happens next, you know, especially if Jimmy's in the race. But you know, it's not good to Jimmy Spencer's part, I'll say that, but it will make more people want to watch the sport. It's just like anything else -- you know, when it happens in hockey, more people want to watch to see if it's going to happen again, you know?
PHILLIPS: Let's hope the boys behave themselves.
SNIDER: This is very rare though, yes.. I don't think it will happen again.
PHILLIPS: All right, Marty. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 18, 2003 - 15:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, car race or boxing match? You couldn't tell the difference at the Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. The rivalry between NASCAR drivers Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch moved into high gear off the track. And now Spencer could be facing assault charges.
Marty Snider of TNT Sports joins us from Charlotte, North Carolina with the details.
First of all, Marty, what do you know? Anything since we last spoke?
MARTY SNIDER, TNT SPORTS: Well, what I know is that they had an incident on the track early on in the race where Jimmy had run into Kurt. Kurt had a car that he felt he could win, damaged his right front fender, which would hurt the aerodynamics at a place like Michigan. His team was able to fix it. Then Kurt passed Jimmy later in the race rather forcedly. And so to them, that was the second incident of the day. Then Kurt ran out of gas as he was coming into the garage area right in front of Jimmy Spencer's hauler, and -- where he would park his car normally. And I think Jimmy took that as an aggressive action on Kurt's part. That would be the third incident of the day. And Jimmy thought, Enough is enough.
And he thought that Kurt was doing it on purpose, did not know Kurt had run out of gas, so Kurt let the window net down, took his helmet off -- he was still strapped off in the car -- when Jimmy punched him, what I am told, twice in the nose, giving him a bloody nose, actually chopping Kurt's tooth. There was a report he had broken his nose, but we don't know whether or not he has broken his nose or not.
These two have had a history that goes back to last year, March of 2002, when Kurt got his first win, he bumped Jimmy out of the way. Then at Indianapolis, Jimmy kind of gave him the payback last year in a very big wreck for Kurt. And they've had a kind of a battle of words and kind of agreed to disagree. But obviously, this is not over and this has now escalated to a new level, when you involve, obviously, the sheriff's office from the Lenawee County in Michigan.
PHILLIPS: Well, you don't usually see something like this at NASCAR. And now Jimmy Spencer has been suspended. I mean, can you remember the last time a driver was suspended?
SNIDER: Well, Kevin Harvick was suspended last year for actions on the track. But for off the track actions, I can't -- I can remember Jack Ingram -- it was a long time ago in the NASCAR Busch Series, he actually got suspended for a fight that wasn't even a NASCAR race. They deemed a -- you know, an unethical -- or something you don't want to do if you're a representative of NASCAR. And that actually cost him the championship that year.
So it's been a long time since someone has been suspended for actions not on the track. And I'll be surprised if Jimmy does not appeal this quickly and ask NASCAR's commission to get a quick hearing so he can try to race this weekend because Bristol is Jimmy Spencer's best racetrack and certainly a racetrack that would be exciting of those two were racing together.
PHILLIPS: Well, NASCAR is so different from hockey. I mean, in hockey, you want to get in fight. It's really cool to get in a fight. Whereas NASCAR, you know, it's much different. Are there standards of behavior in NASCAR?
I mean, I remember Dale Earnhardt. I mean, that's how he got the name "The Terminator." You know, he roughed around and gave guys a hard time. I don't remember if he punched anybody out. But are there, you know, ethics and standards of behavior in NASCAR?
SNIDER: Absolutely. He was "The Intimidator," by the way.
PHILLIPS: That's right. Intimidator.
SNIDER: Yes. The Intimidator.
But there are -- you know, there's ethics, of course. You know, on the track, I mean, you don't want to wreck someone, you know? And there are, you know, tiffs -- I mean, just like in basketball, football or anything else. You'll have a disagreement with a guy. But you don't want to pay him back at a place like a Michigan, where you could hurt someone. You'll pay him back at Martinsville, where you're going slow. You're not going to hurt anyone there. You know, you're paying back at Bristol, where, you know, you'll ruffle his feather.
And there are tempers often in this sport because the adrenaline is so intense for these drivers and there's really no way to shut it off, because once the green flag falls until the checkered flag falls, you're just -- you're so focused on trying to go as fast as you can. So there's a lot of adrenaline and it's hard to shut that off after a race, especially when a guy's gotten into you and you feel like it was an intentional hit or you feel like it was undeserved on your part.
So, you know, a lot of times it's hard to shut that emotion off. And when feel like something has happened for the third time in a day and you're a guy like Jimmy Spencer, who is a very aggressive person, and you've had a history with someone, I can see why Spencer would do this.
But I think what he did was uncalled for. And I'm going to make that clear. Kurt Busch was strapped into his car. There's no reason to do that to anyone. PHILLIPS: That adrenaline is like a high-seed chase for a police officer. You've got to decompress. And I'm saying the Terminator, I'm thinking of the California recall. We've been talking about that too much. You know, that's in my head. How can I forget the Intimidator? I won't now.
Marty Snider -- all right. We'll continue to follow this. Do you think this will be good or bad for NASCAR? Good attention? Bad attention?
SNIDER: I think -- well, you can always go with the saying any attention is good attention, right? You know?
PHILLIPS: There you go.
SNIDER: You know, I think that, you know, people will want to watch Saturday night when we have the race at Bristol. I think that they'll want to tune in to see what happens next, you know, especially if Jimmy's in the race. But you know, it's not good to Jimmy Spencer's part, I'll say that, but it will make more people want to watch the sport. It's just like anything else -- you know, when it happens in hockey, more people want to watch to see if it's going to happen again, you know?
PHILLIPS: Let's hope the boys behave themselves.
SNIDER: This is very rare though, yes.. I don't think it will happen again.
PHILLIPS: All right, Marty. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
