Hey, Mikey, why don’t you park it!
May 6th, 2008, 2:27 pm · Post a Comment · posted by rhoeft
It’s so hard not to talk about Michael Waltrip. I mean, recently it seems like every time we turn around, he’s in the headlines for one reason or another.
The most recent controversy swirling around Mikey involves his being “parked” by NASCAR for intentionally ramming into, and then pushing Casey Mears down the track following a wreck that involved the same two drivers Saturday night at Richmond.
Translated, that means Mikey was told to go home, that he wasn’t welcomed to play anymore with the big boys at Richmond.
And then he comes out on Monday during testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and says, ” … I lost my cool for a split second and ran into the back of (Mears).”
Mikey, Mikey, Mikey, you pushed him down the track for a few hundred yards. That’s a bit more then a “split second.”
But that’s not all. Mikey also said, “I’ve never gotten parked before. I read in the paper where people got parked, but I didn’t know how you did that. Now I do.”
What? Really? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Maybe it was tongue in cheek, I don’t know. But my first reaction was he believes he’s never done anything wrong, until now. My second reaction was he’s trying to make us believe he doesn’t hang around the type of driver who might or has been parked, hence, he didn’t know what it takes to get parked.
Give me a break! He hangs out in the NASCAR garage, and so does Kevin Harvick, and Robby Gordon, who, as we all know, have both been parked, so Mikey must have a clue as to what’s going on when NASCAR tells you it’s had enough of your antics for one day, or night, or whatever.
The disturbing part is, if Mikey was just screwing with us, making light of the situation, that’s even more serious. I mean, first of all, I don’t believe any penalty handed down by the front office should be taken lightly.
Secondly, he was off the track for the last 58 laps, which calculates to somewhere around 60 points lost in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. And if he thinks NAPA or some of his other sponsors are laughing at or are happy with that little development, well, then I just don’t know what I’m talking about.
Lastly, I’d like nothing more than to see his happy, smiling face replaced by someone else on Speed TV’s “This Week In NASCAR.”
