This Ain’t Your Diddy’s NASCAR
“They oughta fine that son of a bitch and suspend him the rest of the year, I say.” Strong words issued by a man in a late season championship hunt after being taken out while leading the race by someone out of the championship picture. If you guessed those were Joey Logano’s words following this week’s Martinsville race, you’d be completely wrong. No, those were the words of Dale Earnhardt, following the Fall 1989 North Wilkesboro race, after he and Ricky Rudd got tangled up in a “quintessential” NASCAR moment.1 I didn’t have to look up that quote, it sticks out in my memory, among the many former great moments of a former great sport. Cable TV was still fairly new, so hearing Dale saying a cuss word on TV was a pretty big deal for me. It was my Steve Harvey’s Sister Odell moment. I don’t think I’ve missed a Cup race since.