In New Hampshire, veteran Denny Hamlin saw Ty Gibbs slamming Bell in the door. He was very vocal on the radio about his anger towards Gibbs for racing a playoff driver aggressively, despite being a non-playoff driver. And instead of talking to him like a leader and a man, he tore him down.
Far From An Isolated Event
With so much of NASCAR’s older brass leaving recently, they haven’t gone quietly. In recent years, it’s become a narrative that younger drivers are more aggressive and less respectful, and not without reason. Many minds would wander to the infamous 2023 truck series finale, where everybody wrecked everybody, including champion contenders Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar, who started up a rivalry mid-race, which led to them wrecking each other twice. However, this isn’t about whether the narrative is right or wrong, but about how veteran drivers approach it.
Veteran Denny Hamlin showed exactly how not to handle this at New Hampshire this past weekend. Wrecking Gibbs on purpose isn’t going to change his mind or get him to want to see your perspective. Tell me, if a teacher were throwing a fit and tearing apart your work, would you like to listen to him? No, you think he’s an angry jerk and don’t even bother hearing him out ever again. What a veteran leader would do is talk to him and explain why he shouldn’t do that, trying to get through to him.
That’s what a man does. Denny isn’t acting like a man; he’s acting like a kid with anger issues, remarkably similar to that of a bad teammate in Fortnite. It’s more immature than anything Ty Gibbs has done in the past 2 years. All he’s done is ensure he’ll never listen to Denny again, because he’s proven to him that he cares more about his own ego than his teammates.
Keselowski’s Take on More Fines For On-Track Incidents
You want respect? You show that respect back first, because otherwise, they have every reason to dismiss you, and they should. Only listen to those acting like men, not boys, although he’s not alone. Veterans like Brad Keselowski have called for more fines in NASCAR, and Kyle Busch lamented the lack of respect after Denny took out Ross at Phoenix.
He then admitted on his podcast that it was intentional, as he didn’t like him. But do you notice a problem there? Keselowski, the veteran driver who managed to anger every driver in the garage in a single year; Kyle Busch, the most controversial driver since Dale Sr., who wrecked the sport’s most popular driver and the most successful truck series driver ever in trucks; and Hamlin, who’s wrecked Larson twice for the win on purpose.
They don’t see that they’re part of the problem, which, through their ultra-aggressive driving and on-track antics, has very much inspired the next generation to want to be like them. Because it’s more than the fights and insults exchanged, it’s also the excitement of a daring dive bomb or someone moving them out of the way that’s part of this sport’s appeal. That’s what they brought to the table, and it helped turn people into new NASCAR fans. Not to mention, if they’re so aggressive, surely they can use their mindset to empathize with these newer guys, no?
Is Beef Really Such a Bad Thing?
While moments like Kansas 2023 and Texas 2011 have gone down in infamy, many of the sport’s most iconic moments were drivers going at it as hard as possible. Darlington 2003, Bristol 2008, Homestead 2011, Daytona 1979, and Bristol 1999, where Dale Sr. wrecked Labonte on purpose to win.
But when Sammy Smith does the same, they bring in the old veterans to lecture the kids, like that’ll reach them? This is why I hate all this talk about “respectful racing,” because it takes so much of the fun out of it.I want to see drivers racing as hard as possible from start to finish. Yeah, sometimes they overdo it and go too far, but they’re young; they’ll learn if they’re any good.
But thanks to veteran drivers acting as entitled as possible, it’s like these younger guys are scared to race hard or speak out against them because they’re so much more popular. However, honestly, many of these older drivers don’t treat the younger drivers with understanding, either emotionally or thoughtfully.
Final Thoughts
So now you’ll see younger drivers getting crap for racing people aggressively, something that’s been ingrained in the sport since the start, and both fans will justify it because how dare they do it to someone they like. And the industry will justify it because you respect the veterans. Why don’t the elders show any respect back? Because they’re always complaining and never teaching, as far as I can see. Thanks a bunch for reading.
