HOME > INSIDE PIT PASS

October 13, 2006

Becca's BlogOff
"Race Chick"
By Becca Gladden

Every Friday on Stock Car Pit Pass, NASCAR writer Becca Gladden (Insider Racing News, The Frontstretch), confronts a fellow motorsports blogger in a "Battle of the NASCAR Blogs." Sometimes serious, sometimes irreverent, the BlogOff will give NASCAR fans an opportunity to compare two opposing viewpoints and decide for themselves who they think is right!

This Week's Featured Blog: Racing from a Chick's Point of View
Blogger: RaceChick
Blog Location: http://www.chicksview.blogspot.com

Blog Title: "Just a few things ..."

Blog Summary: RaceChick shares her thoughts in the aftermath of Sunday's notorious finish at Talladega.

BlogOff Response: While patting herself on the back for a self-administered "gag order not to blog while mad," RaceChick makes a serious factual mistake in her assessment of Sunday's incident.

In the succeeding paragraph, this week's blogger writes, "Second, I just wanted to add to that I didn't see Junior move over to block anyone on the last lap. I watched the tape again and still didn't see anything. He did move over about an inch but that had nothing to do with Brian swiping across Jimmie's right rear. Just needed to point that out."

So, I just needed to pointed this out: You're wrong.

Dale Jr. did attempt to block Johnson.

He said so himself several times in his post-race comments.

I concede that the block was nowhere as severe as Vickers alleged, nor was it the primary cause of the wreck.

But it was clearly more than the "inch" that the blogger says she saw.

Why does this matter?

A couple of reasons come to mind.

In a race with speeds approaching 200 miles per hour, a fraction of an inch makes all the difference in the world - as Talladega's finish proves.

But more importantly, Vickers has been on the receiving end of some really ugly vitriol by race "fans" since Sunday, including alleged death threats - NOT by RaceChick - but by many out-of control, extremist fans.

So it's incumbent on all of us in the NASCAR family - broadcasters, writers, bloggers and fans, to be extra careful when reporting observations and drawing conclusions.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion about this and other racing controversies. However, I caution against basing your judgment solely on a TV tape, which offers, at best, limited camera angles and an often deceptive view of an on-track incident.

And obviously it's never justifiable to take your opinion to the preposterous extremes that some fans have this week.

RaceChick writes, "Race fans are crazy, passionate, cool people who like to throw things and boo. They don't hurt people."

I hope that turns out to be true (although throwing things can be dangerous, too).

But Dale Jr.'s publicist Jade Gurss wrote in his blog this week: "Yes, people have a right to be angry and to express that anger vocally or in moronic web chat rooms or radio talk shows, but to extend threats of violence to Brian Vickers is incredibly childish and small-minded. I received several emails from seemingly proud Junior fans full of inane bile, misguided hatred (and a ton of misspellings) toward Vickers. It sickens me that people have such low self-esteem that their default reaction is to threaten violence and abuse toward someone. YES, Vickers did make a major mistake and take away victory from Junior and/or Jimmie Johnson, but that doesn't mean threats of retribution or violence are justified."

I totally agree.

My point is simply this: With the post-race environment already well past it's flashpoint, it would be prudent for everyone to double check their facts before posting them in public forum. We don't need to walk on eggshells forever, but it wouldn't hurt for a few days - would it?