FYI WIRZ: NASCAR's Top 5 Talk Dover, 2 Quietly on Probation

For point leaders Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the one-mile concrete track at Dover, Delaware with 24-degree banking will be business as usual. For Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, it will be more like a probation hangover.

NASCAR fined Busch and Harvick $25,000 and placed them on probation for the next four Sprint Cup point events (Dover, Charlotte, Kansas and Pocono) as a result of their confrontation on pit road after the Darlington checkered flag.    

Harvick was angry after his car bounced off Busch’s car into Clint Bowyer’s car, which resulted in a crash near the end of the race. After that, Busch spun Harvick on the front stretch.

In retaliation, Harvick blocked Busch’s entrance to the garage on pit road, got out of his car and attempted to punch Busch through the driver’s window. Without reverse gear, Busch accelerated, knocking Harvick’s car into the pit wall and escaped Harvick’s rage by motoring on into the garage.

NASCAR penalized them for pit road action, not the on-track bumping.

So Busch and Harvick will have to drive cleanly for the next four races or face more severe consequences from observant NASCAR officials.

It’s doubtful that the Harvick/Busch feud will go away—at least in the near future—so their driving styles will be under the scrutiny by the media for many races.     

Neither Busch nor Harvick will likely comment on the penalties until their Friday media sessions at Dover International Speedway, but both had comments on the upcoming race.  It’s customary for press agents to release comments prior to each race.   

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of motorsports topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com.  Quotes are derived from motorsports industry press releases. 

No. 1—Carl Edwards [No. 99 Ford]

“Dover has been one of our best tracks as a team,” Edwards said. “Our Aflac team has done a great job contending for wins and being up front at every track so I hope this week is the same and we have another shot to win. I’ve been thinking the whole week about the last two laps at Darlington, so I’m ready to get to Dover and hopefully get a win.”

No. 2—Jimmie Johnson [No. 48 Chevrolet]

“Dover is a fun race track,” Johnson said “I think it's a track that really suits my style, and the stats show that. There's a certain rhythm there. You have to be comfortable with typically the race car at least into the corner; then you have to figure out somehow to make it turn the center, fight forward grip up off the corner to run a good lap there.

“I'm excited going back.”

No. 3—Kyle Busch [No. 18 Toyota]

“Dover, being a concrete track, is challenging,” Busch said. “They are all a challenge, but Dover is especially so, just because of the way you have to run around that place. The way tires sometimes wear out. The way the rubber gets put down there. You’ve got to be fast through the corner. Two-thirds of your lap time is through the turn rather than down the straightaway, so you definitely have to make sure you have a good-handling race car.

“Some of the most challenging times are when you’re trying to get through traffic with guys.”

No. 4—Dale Earnhardt Jr. [No. 88 Chevrolet]

“Concrete has joints in it like a wooden deck, and much like a wooden deck when you don’t treat it well the boards sort of flare up on the ends, and that’s what the joints on the concrete track do,” Earnhardt said. “The track gets bumps in those joints, and they’re consistent bumps like when you’re going down the interstate, and it makes the car sort of chatter around on top of those bumps and joints. And, concrete as you run on it gets chalky; it’s difficult to keep smooth or clean. Every time we go out there (Dover) for the first time, the first few minutes in practice everyone is throwing up a bunch of dirt and dust.

“It’s harder than asphalt to drive on, for me.”

No. 5—Kevin Harvick [No. 29 Chevrolet]

“Dover is just one of those places as a driver that feels really fast,” Harvick said. “With this style of car it seems like the forward drive up off the corner is probably the most important thing but you still have to make your car turn in the center of the corner so as a driver the car has to be comfortable to be really aggressive.”

Photo credit: Dwight Drum at Racetake.com