FONTANA, Calif. - Denny Hamlin turns Brad Keselowski. Juan Pablo Montoya runs into Tony Stewart. Carl Edwards wrecks Keselowski. David Reutimann slams Kyle Busch.
Each payback within the last year happened not at a short track, but at a 1.5-mile oval where speeds exceed 170 mph. This recent spate of paybacks at big tracks leads to the question: Is NASCAR's version of road rage out of control? With five of the season's final seven races - including today's event at Auto Club Speedway - on tracks 1.5 miles or larger, that is a key question.
"It's a different mind-set and a different landscape," said former champion Dale Jarrett, now an ESPN analyst, about paybacks at bigger tracks.
"When ( NASCAR) opened things up this year with 'Boys have at it,' they just changed this sport totally. The mind-set that these drivers have now is just so totally different from the past that I don't think it's a matter of what type of race track you're on or anything else. I think it's a matter that they have in their mind if there needs to be a payback done, then they're going to do that."
Jarrett said past paybacks often were administered on short tracks such as Martinsville, Richmond and Bristol. Of course, sometimes lessons had to be taught elsewhere. Such incidents, though, were not as common as they appear to be now.
Jeff Gordon says paybacks at bigger tracks are merely the consequence for one's actions.
"Listen, we have to be big boys," Gordon said. "If you're going to go out there and race at this series and at this level and do the things that we do, make the choices and decisions that we make, then you're going to have to recognize that's just part of it. You can't pick and choose when paybacks are coming or where or what or how."
Gordon considers it only a coincidence that such paybacks have taken place at the big tracks.
"To me, the way I've always looked at paybacks is it just happens when it happens," he said. "It depends on how ruthless you are."
So far, NASCAR has allowed such actions to take place with only modest penalties in most cases. Series officials parked Edwards after he sent Keselowski's car airborne at Atlanta in March. Edwards later was placed on probation for three races. Officials did not penalize Reutimann for his payback of Busch last week at Kansas. Series officials did speak with Reutimann and Busch this weekend, though.
Busch remains angry with Reutimann for their incident. He admits he's wary of retaliations at high-speed tracks.
"There is a concern there with the speeds we carry," Busch said. "Obviously, there was a malicious intent in what he did and had it happened a little differently than what it did, who would have known what could have happened.
"If he would have spun me out, who's to say at that speed I couldn't have gotten upside down or something down the backstretch."
Jarrett wonders if the sport's safety record encourages a rogue attitude among some drivers. No Cup driver has died in an event since Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. His accident led to a series of safety changes throughout the sport.
"I think the mentality out here now is that these cars are so safe ... that nobody is going to get hurt at any speed, so they're willing to take that chance and just get it over with," Jarrett said. "Before, I think you looked at where you made that happen."
That goes back to the drivers and their attitudes. With NASCAR giving them more leeway in policing each other, some drivers have pushed the limits. Hamlin, after previous run-ins with Keselowski, publicly proclaimed he would wreck Keselowski in the Nationwide season finale at Homestead last year. Hamlin did that and received a minor penalty for his deliberate act. Other drivers took notice.
"It's hard for me to say it without being a hypocrite because obviously I did retaliate against Brad, but I gave Brad a lot of chances to make that up," Hamlin said. "I just don't agree with just paying back somebody for an isolated incident. I just think in my opinion, it's not the best character thing to do."
Jeff Burton questions the idea of wrecking anyone at all.
"Anytime you intentionally try to spin somebody out, you are putting them in jeopardy," he said. "Things need to be really, really bad to intentionally start wrecking somebody. If it gets to that point, you really need to check yourself and think about what could be the consequences."
Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long @news-record.com
NASCAR Today
Race: Pepsi Max 400
Time: 3 p.m.
Site: Auto Club Speedway
Distance: 400 miles (200 laps on 2-mile oval)
Defending winner: Jimmie Johnson
Pole-sitter: Jamie McMurray
Estimated pit window: 40-44 laps
TV: ESPN
Radio: WBRF-98.1, WTQR-104.1, WBAG-1150
Forecast: Sunny with a high of 91 degrees
THREE THINGS TO WATCH:
1. Jimmie Johnson has won four of the last six races at this track. Can he keep his hot streak going?
2. Jamie McMurray was fast in practice. Can he return to Victory Lane?
3. Mistakes. Who will make the miscues that could cost them a championship?
* An increase of paybacks at big tracks leads to the question: Are things are getting out of control?
