Watkins Glen drama: Is this what NASCAR needs?

While Chase Elliott dominated Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, drama between drivers was also put in the spotlight. Is this what the sport needs?

A victory for NASCAR‘s most popular driver, no matter who it is and when, is always going to be somewhat of a shot in the arm for a sport that has been on the decline in recent years, especially when it comes via a great battle and a great finish.

Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International was no exception, as Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott dominated en route to winning at the track for the second consecutive season, and he held off a hard-charging Martin Truex Jr. both times to do so.

Last year, he secured the first victory of his Cup Series career at the track and became the first most popular driver to win a race since Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the November race at ISM Raceway in 2015.

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But Sunday’s 90-lap race around the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) Watkins Glen International road course in Watkins Glen, New York may have provided NASCAR with a shot in the arm for another reason, one that had nothing to do with the 23-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia native.

NASCAR has seen great finishes throughout the first 22 races of the 36-race 2019 season, and Sunday’s race was no different. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a race this season that featured a finish that wasn’t fantastic.

But what Sunday’s race also featured was drama between drivers throughout pretty much the whole race. This drama was put into the spotlight both during and after the race, and considering what the drivers said afterward, it is hard to believe that any of it ended when the haulers pulled away from the track.

As popular of a win as this was for Elliott, several drivers have been discussed to arguably a greater extent than he has since he took the checkered flag.

Among those drivers are William Byron, Darrell Wallace Jr., Ryan Blaney and Jimmie Johnson.

I don’t think I’m forgetting anybody.

Oh, and Kyle Busch.

Busch spun out early when attempting to pass Byron for second place.

https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1158096787787456512

He then sent Byron through the chicane, which irritated Byron’s crew chief, Chad Knaus.

Here is what Knaus had to say about it.

"“If I see the 18 come back here without you knocking the f*** out of him, we’re going to have a problem.”"

Byron attempted to retaliate, but when he went to hit Busch’s #18 Toyota, Busch brake checked him and damaged his #24 Chevrolet to a greater extent, and Byron never got back into contention.

Busch’s drama for the day, however, was nowhere close to being done. Toward the end of stage two, Wallace got into the wall, and we later found out that he was spun out by Busch.

That led to this bumping and banging between the two drivers when they ran together again in stage three. Wallace got the best of Busch here, spinning him off the track into turn one.

But despite getting retaliation, Wallace was irritated, and he illustrated that he won’t put up with Busch effectively thinking that he can do what he wants because he’s Kyle Busch. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to NBC Sports.

"“I’m going to get my respect on the track, and I don’t care who it is. That’s for when guys fail to think about the young guys, I guess, or with me…I won’t put up with no s***.“[He] just run me the f*** over. I don’t care if I’m two years in, rookie stripes or what. So I flat out wrecked his a** back. I guess we’re even. We’ll see. That’s what happens when you get run over. You just pay him back. So I won’t be like, ‘Oh, it’s Kyle Busch, he didn’t mean to.’ F*** him.”"

Busch had no comment about either incident other than “You saw it.”

Then there was the incident in stage three involving Blaney and Johnson, which took place right as Busch and Wallace were getting into their scuffle. Going into the carousel, Blaney spun Johnson out and ruined his chances of a solid finish. Blaney went on to finish in fifth place while Johnson could only rebound to finish in 19th.

Here is how Johnson responded.

Here is what Johnson had to say about the matter after the race ended, according to NBC Sports.

"“He just drove through me in the carousel. I tried to hear what he was trying to say…but his lips were quivering so bad when he came to speak. I don’t know if he was nervous or scared or both…I don’t know what the problem is.“He just drove through me…and spun me out. And clearly that has big implications with what we are trying to do for the Playoffs right now, so clearly not happy with his actions…“We scored points in both stages which was nice. We were setting up for top-eight to top-10 and got drove through. He claims it was just racing. So I can hardly wait to go racing. Everybody stay tuned.”"

Blaney maintained that he did not spin the #48 Chevrolet intentionally. Here is some of what he had to add, according to NBC Sports.

"“I mean, obviously, I didn’t mean to spin him out. I don’t want to do that. It’s obviously an accident, but he was upset and I can’t blame him for being upset about it. We’re just racing hard and I thought there was a lane there and it just closed.“He’s angry. I can’t blame him for being angry. He’s trying to get in the Playoffs right now and have good runs. Trust me, the last guy I want to spin out is Jimmie. We always race great together. I’ve looked up to him for a long time and still do, and he’s the last guy I want to spin out. It didn’t end well. He wasn’t happy and I can’t blame him. He’ll probably race me pretty hard here for the next few weeks, but I can’t blame him for that. It was definitely not my intention there.”"

But when Blaney found out that Johnson said he was “scared”, he stated the following.

"“He said I was scared? Yeah okay. He can think that. Did I turn away? No, I didn’t turn away. If he wanted to go, we could go.”"

That leads to the inevitable question.

Is this what NASCAR needs?

Pretty much since NASCAR became NASCAR, fans have always loved when drivers scuffle with one another. It has been no different in this day and age, as fans always seem to welcome this kind of controversy.

We have seen various incidents between two drivers this season, including a fight between Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez and another one between Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman. We saw Brad Keselowski try to wreck Byron in practice at Daytona International Speedway seemingly over an incident that happened a year ago.

Right or wrong, these kinds of moments can and do ignite the fanbase, and it’s not hard to see why.

But these one-off incidents will hardly do anything to grow the fanbase. Sure, they’re entertaining in the moment and they get people talking for all of two days afterward, but unless they really turn into a rivalry, they’re not doing anything more than that.

NASCAR doesn’t need them like we typically hear whenever they happen. There is fighting in every sport as it is. Nobody is going to come flocking to NASCAR because two drivers have a disagreement that is effectively settled minutes after it begins, and nobody is going to hold off on their plans to no longer watch NASCAR just because somebody dropped the F-bomb about somebody else.

If it’s a rivalry, that’s certainly different, but none of the extracurricular activity that has happened this season has resembled anything close to that.

Does NASCAR really need the points leader getting into a scrap with the guy in 27th place in the championship standings? Other than some big headlines in the days afterward, what’s the point beyond the intensity of that moment and maybe a few ensuing quotes?

Of course, because it’s Busch, it may be a little bit different just because he seems to consistently find himself at the center of controversy no matter with whom he is racing. Busch consistently has the fans talking, and whether you love him or hate him, that in itself does undoubtedly benefit the sport.

These types of controversial incidents in general, Busch or no Busch, certainly don’t hurt NASCAR, and fans have a right to want the kind of spark that they provide. No one is going to argue against that.

But the idea that NASCAR needs random spats between two drivers who most times aren’t even fighting one another in the championship in order to gain new fans or to avoid losing old fans is laughable. I’m not going out on a limb by saying that no one is going to tune in just to watch McDowell or Suarez every week to see who is going to put who into the wall for 23rd place.

Following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, what are your thoughts on this kind of drama in the sport? NASCAR has seen some amazing close finishes this season already, including many that have been discussed long after they happened, but is this the kind of thing that the sport needs moving forward in addition to great racing itself?