NASCAR: Brian France’s Comments On Kyle Busch Are Ridiculous At Best
NASCAR Chairman Brian France recently addressed the Kyle Busch/Joey Logano situation and the end result is near laughable if you’re able to understand the bigger picture.
On Monday NASCAR Chairman Brian France spoke on “Tradin’ Paint’’ on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about the brawl following Sunday’s race between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.
"We’re going to have moments. We just shouldn’t come out of our chairs over this. It is what it is. The drivers are doing everything they can.The pressure on these guys today is so difficult. So it shouldn’t surprise anybody that every once in a while somebody is going to boil over, somebody is going to think that they saw an incident in a different way and, whether it’s true or not true doesn’t matter, emotions are going to get the best of them. That’s just part of it.We also want to be realistic, there is just a lot of emotion and a lot of pressure on these guys to do well and compete at a high level. When something goes terribly wrong, as it did for Kyle, you know, emotions are going to get the best of all of us at some point or another. Obviously, that’s what happened on Sunday."
If the above comments were made by another driver or even a NASCAR analyst, that would be on thing. However, the above comments were made by NASCAR’s Chairman and CEO and that is completely ridiculous.
I understand that NASCAR is in a tough spot when it comes to these kind of situations. Fans like to see this kind of stuff, it’s good for ratings and it makes for entertaining TV. While NASCAR cannot force this kind of stuff to happen, it certainly doesn’t get upset when it does. That being said, NASCAR is not the NHL where fighting is allowed and unless they decide to go that route, they need to avoid comments like France made above.
The gist of France’s comments are that drivers are under extreme pressure and stress, and sometimes things happen that lead to the emotions that we saw on Sunday. I’m sorry but that’s a bunch of nonsense.
What would have happened in Game 6 of the NBA Finals last season if LeBron James snapped and punched Steph Curry in the face? What if after the game LeBron explained that he is under a lot of pressure to be the best in NBA history and that being down 3-2 in the finals and dealing with the Warriors just became too much in that moment for him and his emotions got the best of him? Would NBA fans just be like ‘oh okay, I understand’ and move on?
How about if Matt Ryan went over and tried to swing at Tom Brady after the Patriots tied the Super Bowl, and after Ryan explained that he just boiled over? Would that be a good excuse for throwing a punch at someone on national TV?
Heck forget the athletes themselves, maybe they would still be criticized since they were involved in the actions. What if NBA Commissioner Adam Stern or NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came out and said what France said after one of the incidents described above, would that be okay?
Of course it would not be okay, much like France’s comments are not okay.
France needs to represent NASCAR in a light that doesn’t support their athletes trying to brawl with one another after races, regardless of whatever he truly thinks about it. Nowhere in the above thoughts does France condone Busch for his actions, nowhere does France say that NASCAR expects more from their drivers and that this isn’t the way this situation should have been handled. Instead, France more or less comes across as a father defending the inappropriate actions of his son, citing the stress and pressure that led to an overreaction of emotion.
What would have happened if during the altercation between Busch and Logano, one of them ended up with a serious injury? Yes, Busch was bloodied after the brawl but that isn’t going to keep him from racing this weekend in Phoenix. However, would have been the dialogue had Busch broken his arm when he was taken down by Logano’s pit crew or if Busch had connected with Logano’s face and broken his orbital bone or something? At the point would France still have been understanding? At that point would it still have been just stress, pressure and emotion boiling over?
I understand that suspending Kyle Busch in this situation is not what is best for the sport, I’m not saying I agree, but I am saying that I understand. However, that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be some sort of punishment. In every other major sport there is a punishment for fighting, why would NASCAR not be the same?
Moreover, where exactly is the line? Let’s assume that no punishment is handed down for this (because it seems to be trending that direction) and in two weeks this happens again with different drivers and they bloody each other up. At that point did it go too far? At that point is it still whatever or is it a serious issue?
When exactly should we as NASCAR fans come out of our chairs over situations like this?
In a realistic world it would have been the job of a sports CEO to tell fans that what took place on Sunday was disappointing. In a realistic world Brian France would have said that NASCAR drivers are expected to handle these situations better and while he understands the pressure, stress and emotion, such actions are not becoming of drivers. In a realistic world Brian France would not publicly relinquish a driver who was looking to beat down another driver after a sporting event of all responsibility for his actions and brush it off as being “just part of it.”
Maybe asking France to be realistic is a bit too much?
Now NASCAR fans are left wondering what happens next. What happens when it isn’t the third race of the season and two drivers are battling for a top-five finish on the track? What happens when it’s the ninth race of the season and two drivers are battling for a top-three finish and one of them thinks the other wrecked them on purpose? What happens when it’s playoff time and two drivers are racing for a win and someone gets wrecked? What happens when it’s the last race of the season and two drivers are racing for a championship and someone puts someone into the wall?
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If this is what happens when emotions boil over and the stress and pressure of racing in the third race of the season for a top-five finish is too much, I shudder to think about a similar situation when racing for wins, playoff spots or a championship. Then again, maybe I’m just not being realistic enough.