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There's a difference between ranting at your crew to either gee them up or cos they've given you a bad car, and being abusive towards fans & media. It's not really a case of Corporate America wanting polished people representing their name, it's simply they want someone who is respectful, when that persons attitude is "get this fucking kid away from me" in relation to a kid waiting to get his autograph, nobody in their right mind is going to stand for that.

As for ESPN being at fault - you've got to be kidding me right?

It's also bull about the 70's and 80's too, I sat outside the Rothmans transporter once for an hour to get Jacky Ickx's autograph, he was inside, mad as a bull at the team (this would make one of Kurt's rants look like a tea party), but I waited with my Dad, he came out with a look of thunder on his face, saw me, gave me an autograph, posed for a photo (still have it, signed) and chatted for a couple minutes - there was no childish "get this fucking kid out my face" rant or anything, because the guy was respectful to the people who put him where he was, the fans.

As I said, there's a massive difference between shouting off at the team, and shouting off at the media/fans - the latter is not what is acceptable and it never has been.

Interesting story, Ian! Very cool.

I can definitely see both sides of the "if this was the 70's-80's argument" regarding sponsorship, but the sport pretty much has always been this - if you're seen doing ANYTHING that goes against the values of the sport (i.e. towards the fans, respected media members, whatever) with that company's emblem all over your chest, and there's a shitstorm that comes with it... well, it's definitely their right as a business to be pissed.

Yeah, Rusty and (in particular) Dale Earnhardt were hard on their crews, and hard on other drivers or even NASCAR in their day, never would they have a public outburst as vivid and harsh as Kurt's. A driver can dish it out all he wants, about other drivers, and possibly even his crew, but the minute he shits on someone just looking to do his job (like Jerry Punch), that's another thing.

And I believe Slyder mentioned earlier, the whole social media thing wasn't around back when Tony was having issues, but he was definitely on the hot seat with Home Depot back in the day. Tony's reporter shove in '02 at Indy was caught on camera, as was his outburst at Daytona the summer of '01. That didn't strike a chord as much as Kurt's tirade. Still, you could tell even then that a sponsor's say in what driver represents them (and how) is definitely of the utmost importance.

Doesn't Rusty have a mild form of Tourette's?

That might explain some of his in-car behaviour, and why the team tolerated it.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

someone needs to learn to read an autocue without moving their eyes from side to side....

I'm pretty sure Steve Wallace does, not sure if it's hereditary.

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Gael

[youtubeidiot]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR7GUiiKEz0[/youtubeidiot]

http://www.facebook.com/JeffGordonsMustache

I'm all for this, that 'stache was awesome.

From Jayski


So long Red Bull Racing. Its a shame, they were the Toyota team I rooted for since they entered into NASCAR and was so happy when they started to become competitive instead of just fighting to make it into the field, even contending for wins a few times. Im glad they got another win in their final season, but its a real pity they couldnt continue further.

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Design Consultant at C2C Racing Designs
http://c2cracingdesigns.t83.net/#

Compare NASCAR to the NFL, for an interesting example.

In the NFL, players say ALL SORTS of nasty and inappropriate things on the field. Coaches curse over the radio to their coordinators in the press box. Coaches curse at the officials. These things all happen in the heat of the moment.

In NASCAR, drivers say all sorts of nasty and inappropriate things to their crew over the radio, and in the car to no one in particular (or perhaps that d*** that just almost wrecked them).

The difference? There are two. In NASCAR, the radio channels are public and people are increasingly listening in and making public the discourse. Also, the NFL has enough sense to censor any on-field microphones they have such that the public rarely hears the truly nasty things (though sometimes you can lip read easily). Again, NASCAR's complete and utter incompetence shows and the drivers are the ones paying the price.

Again, these are all things being said in the course of battle, mid-game/race, when emotions do bubble over. These are sports, after all. It's not like Kurt Busch waited until the post-race interview to say "And I'd like to thank my fucking sponsors, Shell and that piece of shit oil Pennzoil."

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We are witnessing the pussification of America.

What's funny is watching the NASCAR show on Showtime?, everyone is always swearing. I remember hearing Jeff Gordon swearing a bunch along with many other drivers. Heck we've all seen post game news conferences where the losing coach lights up a member of the media for a question they hated. I guess I just understand how Kurts rant was worse. Imagine a coach being interviewed at the bench, on the sidelines just as his call cost his team the game.

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Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

You guys are missing the point, it wasn't that he was ranting, it was where, when and to who that eventually got him the sack*.

Even if everybody says otherwise, it was still Jon's video that was the final straw.

On a side note, I would find it hilarious if the Busch brothers showed up on Dr. Phil to deal with their anger issues.

Wait, who's Jon? I know he's the guy who took the video, but is he a member here, or something? Just curious.



"YOU ARE JUST A SHOELACE WITHOUT A SHOE, UHM-KAY."

Honestly, NASCAR shouldn't let fans (or other teams) listen to the radios. It'd would make the racing a lot more interesting when it came to strategy towards the end of a race.

I loved that last line that I bolded. It made me Laugh.

That's the frigged up part. What's so fun about NASCAR is that it's so accessible. From the stands at a race, you can listen to that chatter, and from the days of the King, leading all the way up to Kurt's rants, people hearing rants directed at a crew (from a driver) is nothing new. It's that accessibility that's so great about the sport, but has the ability to get its stars into trouble fairly easily.

The only thing that's really evolved has been how the TV broadcasts say "Here's what Kurt had to say a few minutes ago... entertaining stuff!" Even back in the 90's, networks would only listen in live from time to time, and then back out if it was getting too R-rated. It's not like they'd keep an ear on driver radios, and play back something kinda juicy.

I can definitely agree that that current aspect of the sport sucks.

Dale Jr. had a rant directed towards Lance McGrew at Bristol last year (although not in a terribly harsh way), and fans jumped all over McGrew for even saying anything to his driver.

Shit's whack.

Won't ever happen though, reason being: $$$

If you have been to a NASCAR race since 2007 when they introduced the fanview, they make bank renting those things out, and not to mention selling the frequency sheets and scanners/headsets for the fans.

David Ragan had already signed with Phoenix Racing, but the contract has an out if he got a better opportunity, so of course he's talking to Penske.

I was on KurtBuschNation's fb page and they posted, taken with a grain of salt, that at childress's vineyard today, Richard and Kurt were seen stepping out of an office together per Jeff Gluck's Twitter... Just posting something I read. Like I said, a grain of salt.

Also, Idk who Jeff Gluck is.

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Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

I would think Childress wouldn't want to put up with Kurt's shit.

James Finch would fire his ass the first time he bitched about a slow pit stop or the cars sucking.