Stop The World And Let Earnhardt Jr Off
May 5th, 2008 by James J.I took Carl Belew and W.S. Stevenson’s song titled Stop the World (and let me off), and I tweaked it for Dale Earnhardt Jr.. It goes a little something like this:
I’m tired of going round and round
I’ve raced the last two years and lost
So stop the world and let me off.
My fan’s dreams are shattered don’t you see
Now that Kyle raced hard inside of me
I miss the 1st place trophy kiss
How could you race me hard like this?
Stop the world and Let me off
I’m tired of going round and round
I’ve raced the last two years and lost
So stop the world and let me off.
[BTW, I like Waylon Jennings's version of that song the best.]
Note: The following is a rant. As such, objectives such as grammar and being succinct have been left at the log-in page. There may even be a typo or two. 
It simply amazes me the amount of anger Earnhardt Nation has been spewing on forums and blogs (and probably even a water tower or two) stemming from the incident between Dale Jr. and Kyle Busch this weekend in Richmond. The simple fact is that what happened was nothing more than a product of Saturday night short track racing and it was a racing incident, period! Furthermore, this incident was so mild by short track racing standards that those who think it was Kyle’s intent to wreck Jr. must be befuddled! I think many members of Jr. Nation (as well as the “We Just Hate Kyle Legionnaires”) are really looking for a reason to cry foul here.
I think some people need to take another good hard look at the video of the race. Larry McReynolds comment about Kyle’s tires being turned to the right ever so slightly just really got me. I couldn’t believe my ears when he said it. If you’ve been watching automobile racing for any length of time, or if you’ve ever driven a sports car in a performance environment, you’d know that when the back comes loose and tries to come around to the right you counter it with the steering to the right. Larry Mac knows this!
Some of the comments people have been posting are that Kyle didn’t give Jr. enough room or that he went in too high in the corner. Excuse me, but if you go back and watch the few laps even before the accident you’ll see Kyle is pretty darn consistent where he takes that inside line. For what it’s worth, Bowyer and Martin were following the same line which was a couple feet up front the crease or banking and apron line. It wasn’t until the turn 3 that Kyle got loose on the inside and went up higher into Jr. who had himself brought his line down the track.
Still others (many who have thought it wasn’t intentional on Kyle’s part) have said that Kyle shouldn’t have been pushing it that hard at that point in the race. Again, excuse me, but they were already at 3 to go the very first time Kyle was able to get up along side of Jr.. The incident itself was the only contact between the two cars. Kyle had not been rubbing on Jr.’s rear end! Jr. wasn’t blocking Kyle from taking a low or high line either. The two drivers were not banging each other’s doors, nor rubbing fenders, nor trading paint, or anything of the sort. Kyle didn’t rub up along Jr.’s car to move him up out of a line either. In other words, this was NOT a bump-n-run attempt, period! Both Kyle and Dale Jr. commented right after the race that if that’s what Kyle wanted to do, it could have been done already or it could have been done such that Kyle would at least be in the lead and wind up winning the race.
What really gets me the most by many fans is that there seems to be an expectation out there that if Kyle (or any other driver for that matter) is racing Jr. for position, then they need to use some extra or different level of caution in doing so. Say what?! Why the hell should Kyle, or any other driver, have to race more cautiously around Jr. than they do any other driver? Just because he is Dale Jr. and he inherited most (if not all) of Dale Sr.’s fans? I say “Malarkey!” The last thing I want to see are these drivers out there riding around and racing at 8/10ths effort or ability just because they’re around Jr.. I can’t imagine Dale Jr. wanting that either. That would be like handicapping the field when they’re around him.
Dale is a racer, and a damn good one too. Of course he’s disappointed and so are his fans. But this folks was nothing more than hard racing on a short track on a Saturday night, and the intensity of the incident itself was MILD by short track standards. It also just happens that there is an interesting dynamic between the these two drivers. They both had something to prove. Earnhardt wants to show he is the real deal in the HMS car and get back to winning races. Kyle wants to prove he is in a better situation now with his new team and show it by beating his old car/team.
I’ll pull the plug on my rant by saying that there have been many occasions where Kyle Busch has done something incredibly stupid on the track and deserved the ire of fans and drivers alike (I’m sure he’ll do something again real soon). Since he first came into the Cup series he has been one of the drivers that I have disliked the most because of some of his antics. However, I can not find fault in his performance at Richmond. I certainly can understand the disappointment that both Jr. and all of his fans felt last night. That’s not an easy pill to swallow when they were so very close. If they want to hate and boo Kyle Busch, then that’s fine too. The sport thrives on rivalries and passion for different drivers. I just hope everyone has enough common sense and nobody does anything stupid (such as all the talk about needing security, etc.). In the end everyone needs to remember that it’s racing and the world keeps on turning no matter how much you may want it to stop and let you off.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
sounds like your a k.busch fan.jr said it was just racing[however if it happened to busch what would he have done or said]maybe the jr.fans did’nt hear what he said.i am a jr.fan and hate kyle busch but if jr say’s it
well he was their.remember write both sides of the story
May 7th, 2008 at 12:47 am
The point is that Busch wrecks people pretty often (ask Johnny Benson). A lot of fans just had a bad feeling on those last laps that he was indeed going to wreck Jr. because he had the opportunity to do it with his teammate’s unnecessary caution. Instead of saying “that’s just racin’” we can’t help but say “that’s just KyBu”. Reckless and predictable. The cars went around that turn 397 times without him wrecking anyone, but then came Dale Jr. Why do we think our favorite driver is a target? Someone’s blog said Jr. should use a National Guard tank on the final laps next time. Is Nascar selling that many more tickets this year? Ok, Jr. says he can deal with it, so we will too. He’s a better person than me for sure. Just give us a little time! We really love our driver and that was a pretty big disappointment. Oh and by the way, pleeeze stop this Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Busch comparison debate. There’s such a big difference between aggressiveness and recklessness. Busch, you are no Earnhardt!
May 8th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Had it been another HMS car outside of Busch on that lap, ummm, let’s say the 24 car for example, then all of the “fans” of the 88 car would be hailing Busch as the next patron saint of all that is good and holy in the sport of racing.
I hesitate to even have used the word “fans” because clearly the majority of the Jr. Nation are not fans at all. No amount of reasoning or logical explanation of the events that occurred will EVER overcome the sort of mentality that has taken over and consumed the mental capacities of his supporters.
I’m sure there are still real fans of racing who are also fans of the #88 and who can still separate reality from fantasy, but unfortunately for them, their numbers are rendered invisible under the seas of red and green.
Preach on James.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Thanks for the comments guys.
That said, I’ll admit that Kyle has grown on me quite a bit and I’ve acquired a certain level of appreciation for him that I previously didn’t possess.
Actually, I like both Jr. and Kyle about the same. There are easily 4-5 guys I like better than them both.
Oh, and by the way, I prefaced my post with “the following is a rant.” There’s no story here. Which come to think of it, was kinda my point. This incident really shouldn’t be a story at all. The only reason it has been treated as one is because it was Jr and his 2 year winless anniversary. Not directed to anyone here, but there are many Jr fans with vision so narrow, it makes all the ones with common sense, and the ability to reason, to become the silent few. For example, there is a lunatic fringe of Jr Nation who blindly think “Jr” is the answer to every poll question. Just because his name is listed as an option, doesn’t mean he’s the correct answer. LOL
Kyle is a super aggressive driver. And while I have seen the Earnhardt Sr. vs. Kyle Busch comparisons, I don’t necessarily subscribe fully to that train of thought. It’s way too early in Kyle’s career for me to make that call. However, Kyle currently is more like Sr. than even Jr. is. This is true in many aspects such as his driving style, attitude, and the ability & talent to back it all up. Perhaps this little bit of truth is what really gets under the skin of many Earnhardt (as in Jr & Sr) fans??? Dale Jr. isn’t following step-by-step in Sr.’s footsteps (tire marks?), and someone else is taking that place as an intimidator on the track. Hmmm, I wonder.
So let me get this straight, there is some surprise that there was an accident involving the race leaders in the closing laps of a Sat. night race on a short track? I think a bump-n-run or spin-for-the-win is pretty common after 397 laps of a 400 mile race regardless if Kyle and Jr. are running 1-2 or not. The fact is, Kyle is going to be involved in more incidents up front for the win because that is where he is contending for position week after week.
Lou, you’re dead on right in regards to replacing the #88 for the #24 and what the reaction would be.