Tony Stewart's Actions on Pit Road Dangerous, Further Damage His Reputation

Things got a little wild at the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night thanks to a little hard racing between Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth and their tempers bubbling over afterward.

After Kevin Harvick had taken the checkered flag as the race winner Keselowski and Hamlin got into a little banging back and forth before heading into the pits. Upon heading into the pits Keselowski and Kenseth then showed their displeasure with each other after making contact on a restart earlier in the race.

Keselowski’s retaliation toward Kenseth on pit road got a little out of hand and led to the No. 2 driver accidentally slamming into the back of Tony Stewart’s Chevrolet. Stewart, taking umbrage to this, threw his car in reverse, gassed it and slammed into the front of Keselowski’s Ford causing significant damage.

Both Hamlin and Kenseth wanted a piece of Keselowski after the race ended with Hamlin being corralled and taken away by a crew member and Kenseth tackling Keselowski in between haulers in the garage area, before a small fight took place between crew members of each team.

While Keselowski, Hamlin and Kenseth engaged in the “fun stuff” after the race I believe that everything they did fits into what NASCAR likes to call “boys have at it.”

What Tony Stewart did on pit road was a little bit more than “boys have at it” and something that doesn’t help his “hothead” reputation within the sport, especially given the tragic circumstances between him and the late dirt track racer Kevin Ward Jr. in New York in August.

NASCAR likely won’t do anything to punish Stewart, because they are probably more concerned about the actions of Keselowski, Kenseth and Hamlin, as are the NASCAR media and fans. But, I believe what Stewart did during this post race incident was the most unacceptable moment of the whole melee.

Drivers throwing their vehicles into reverse and gassing them into parked cars behind them is incredibly dangerous and should not be accepted in the sport. Not only is it incredibly dangerous, but this action (whether rightfully provoked or not) shows that Stewart is quick to anger, which is the exact thing that he doesn’t need to be seen as at this moment, even if he wasn’t charged in the death of Ward.

Keselowski, Kenseth and Hamlin are going to get the headlines after tonight’s race, but it’s the momentary lack of judgment by Stewart that really should take some of the focus.

Kansas City Royals Become America's Team for Baseball Postseason using Small Ball, Long Ball and Extra Inning Dramatics

With a thrilling, and Hollywood-like, 6-0 start to their first playoff run in almost three decades the Kansas City Royals have worked their way into the hearts of baseball fans everywhere.  (Well, maybe not fans of the Oakland A’s, Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles and potentially St. Louis Cardinals or San Francisco Giants)

The Royals with their decades long lack of success mixed with their unconventional (for today’s game) style of small ball that excites some and really annoys others (I’m looking at you SABR nerds) have taken the baseball world by storm with their stunning and historic (four of their six wins have come inexplicably in extra innings) run.

In an era when people are trying to kill off the sacrifice bunt and would rather see a batter selfishly strike out than selflessly move a teammate into scoring position because some formula has determined that is better and the stolen base has become almost a relic of the past the Royals brand of baseball, led by manager Ned Yost, seems old-fashioned, but it also is incredibly fun to watch and has been extremely effective this postseason.

People simply don’t like it because fans would rather see monstrous home runs than small ball and swinging and missing is somehow considered more masculine than helping your team out by laying down a bunt. But, in the real world of baseball a win is a win and scoring gets you there. In today’s post-steroid era of baseball runs aren’t nearly as easy to come by so why not score any way you possibly can. Fans may “dig the long ball” – hell, I like to see moon shots every now and then too – but what the Royals are doing now through solid pitching, excellent defense and sound strategy is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever seen in 20 years of watching baseball.

With all of this talk of small ball, though, I should mention that the Royals, a team that hit the fewest home runs of any team in Major League Baseball this season, has also found its power stroke since the playoffs began – hitting eight homers (four alone by third baseman Mike Moustakas), including four that came in much-needed extra inning situations by Moustakas, left fielder Alex Gordon and first baseman Eric Hosmer. All three of those hitters have upped their power games in big situations.

The Royals bullpen featuring the terrific Greg Holland, Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and youngster Brandon Finnegan have also proven to be invaluable for the Royals keeping them in all of these long, close extra inning games well after their solid starting pitchers have exited.

The Royals almost flawless outfield defense from center fielder Lorenzo Cain, Gordon, right fielder Nori Aoki and late-inning defensive replacement Jarrod Dyson have managed to save the Royals in many situations and leave the mouths of fans agape at the sheer beauty and brilliance of some of their catches.

The most exciting thing about the Royals this postseason, which appeared mostly in their unbelievable come from behind victory against the A’s in the American League Wild Card game, is their speed on the basepaths from speedsters such as Cain, Dyson and Terrance Gore. Dyson and Gore are frequently used as pinch runners by Yost in late inning situations and almost always swipe bags without being caught. You just know they’re going to run and yet it’s still exhilarating to watch.

As a baseball purist I love seeing the Royals use small ball strategy, speed on the basepaths and sound defense to have this much success. It’s even better knowing how much of an underdog they are and how little success they’ve had since they last won the World Series or even went to the playoffs in the George Brett-era of 1985. I’d take this style of baseball the Royals have perfected over high scoring home run derby-like games any day of the week. This style of play, along with the team’s extra inning dramatics over the last two weeks have made me invested in the Royals playoff run more than any other team that wasn’t my favorite (the Atlanta Braves) since I began watching the game two decades ago.

I’ve been living and dying with every single pitch and close play, and again this isn’t even my favorite team. I find that incredible. That’s how exciting this Kansas City Royals ballclub has been and from what I’ve seen I think many of the baseball fans of America agree.  

New NASCAR Format Has Big Stars, Sport in Danger

When NASCAR announced its new format for the Chase for the Championship playoff system in the Sprint Cup Series before the season I instantly felt it turned arguably the biggest motorsports championship into a joke.

Almost halfway through the Chase that feeling actually continues to grow.

After a wild race at Kansas Speedway for the fourth race of the 2014 Chase the standings were shaken up quite a bit and find some of the biggest names in the sport in desperation with only two races remaining in this segment to get into the top eight spots needed to reach the Chase’s third segment. The final race of this second segment is Talladega Superspeedway, which every NASCAR fan knows is simply a crapshoot. This must have these big names, and the sport depending on them for its success, on pins and needles.

After the Kansas race six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, 2013 champion Brad Keselowski and the sport’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. find themselves on the outside looking in, all more than 20 points outside of the eighth place bubble with only Charlotte and Talladega remaining in the segment.

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon is safe for now, but sits only eight spots ahead of Kasey Kahne for that coveted eighth spot in the standings.

Theoretically Gordon, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. and Keselowski, arguably the four biggest names in the Chase, could all end up missing the next segment of the Chase and be eliminated from title contention. Another scenario has the only four champions currently in the Chase (Johnson, Gordon, Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth, also only eight points ahead of the cutoff, missing the next segment). If this were to happen I’d halfway expect NASCAR to say “oopsy and never mind” and revert immediately back to their old system. While in jest, we have seen the sport do unheard of and stranger things before. I’d almost guarantee a lack of big name stars over the sport’s last four races would lead to more changes in the offseason.  

These four stars, or even two or three of them, being eliminated from championship contention with four races remaining would be horrible for NASCAR’s fans, and more importantly to the sport, its television ratings.

If these drivers’ racing ability led to such horrible finishes at Kansas none of this would be a big deal, but things out of their doing like blown tires or getting the bad end of other people’s wrecks have them in holes that might not be possible to dig out.

The new Chase format was instituted by NASCAR hoping to add some spice to the playoff system in order to help compete with dominant NFL coverage on Sundays, to show the networks (NBC and Fox) in the new television package starting next season what’s to come and add a do-or-die flare to the playoffs, which would still often come down to just two drivers at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After the first four races and knowing that Talladega is on the horizon that “do-or-die” flare has turned into the potential for a “crash-and-burn” scenario for NASCAR. Sure, it’s currently nothing more than a “what if,” but 20-plus points down for its superstars and the big one at ‘Dega looming kind of puts things in perspective.

A final foursome of Joey Logano, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin in a virtual winner take all championship bout might bring in the television viewers, but having a name like Johnson, Gordon, Keselowski or Earnhardt would bring in heckuva lot more.