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BangShift Question Of The Day: Don’t You Miss When Drivers Had Actual Personalities?


BangShift Question Of The Day: Don’t You Miss When Drivers Had Actual Personalities?

The other night, while in the middle of the traditional dinner-and-YouTube scene that plays out at my house, I inadvertently introduced Haley to NASCAR Radioactive videos…you know, the radio chatter from each race that provides insight into what is actually happening at a race that shows the tempers and personality changes each driver undergoes when the heat is on. She watched for a minute or two, then mused, “I thought you hated NASCAR?” I’m not a fan, no doubt about it. But NASCAR hasn’t been about the cars since about 1987 in my eyes. That’s gone. But what isn’t gone are the drivers and what they bring to the table. Regardless of how hard sponsors, team owners and even NASCAR themselves try to smooth each wheelman into the perfect walking, talking robot of a human being, you can’t fake it when Bubba Wallace is flying the middle finger out of the window at another driver for a lap and a half.

One of the most brash examples of letting opinions go flying for everyone to enjoy happened at the 1992 Bathurst 1000 race when Jim Richards dropped a nuke on a crowd of angry spectators. It went like this: on lap 32 of the race, Richards’ friend and former teammate Denny Hulme died due to a heart attack. On lap 145, the race was called when hellish rains and dangerous conditions forced the official’s hand. Richards, in a Nissan Skyline GT-R, had crashed twice that lap while trying to get back to the pits. Per the rules, the official results of the race fell to the previous lap, which Richards and his drive partner, Mark Skaife, had led. Just before the pair were put on the podium, Richards was notified of Hulme’s passing. And when they were on the podium, a crowd of fans who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the GT-R winning anything was ready, booing their heads off.

Quote: “I’m really just stunned for words. I can’t believe the reception. I thought Australian race fans had a lot more to go than this, this is bloody disgraceful. I’ll keep racing but I tell you what, this is going to remain with me for a long time, you’re a pack of arseholes.”

Imagine if Jeff Gordon or Darrell Waltrip let off that kind of language. Whoo, boy, there’d be some blowback.

Now, that’s not to say that all modern drivers are robotic. Look at John Force’s post-race interview at the NHRA Northwest Nationals earlier this year, unloading F-bombs like a B-52 on a mission. So, for our question of the day, it’s pretty simple: do you miss the days when drivers could actually be human, and do you have a favorite memory of a particular incident?


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3 thoughts on “BangShift Question Of The Day: Don’t You Miss When Drivers Had Actual Personalities?

  1. Gary

    Do I miss them? Let me put it this way; it’s why I don’t watch any racing on the tube anymore. It was bad enough when (all) the sanctioning bodies changed the rules so that GM products could win, but when they censored the drivers, that was it for me. Bring on Cale and the Allison’s brawling, and unfettered Force! Admittedly, the big, corporate sponsers also come into play, and again, it’s just another reason to not watch. If you like racing, you race, it’s that simple. If you like football, you play football; you don’t just watch it on TV…

  2. 75Duster

    Todays racers are nothing more that corporate spokesmen and women that turn left, hell they can’t even set up their own racecars without a mechanical engineer. Yes, I’m writing about NASCRAP.

  3. jerry z

    Remember the movie “Stepfofd Wive’s’? That is what today’s driver are like in NASCAR, or at least pretty close.

    I miss Jimmy Spencer aka Mr. Excitement!

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