Opinion: To heck with All-Star Race snoozers; the boys must have at it
OK, boys, time to take the gloves off and have at it.
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race is always one of the best nights on the schedule and Charlotte Motor Speedway certainly is one of the sport's finest venues. No arguments there.
In the early years of the All-Star Race, we had some hellacious controversies: Did Darrell Waltrip deliberately blow his motor at the end of the 1985 race? Should Dale Earnhardt have been penalized for rough driving in '87? Was Rusty Wallace a bad guy for wrecking Waltrip in '89? Did Davey Allison and Kyle Petty go too far when they crashed on the last lap in '92? Should Jeff Gordon have been allowed to pull out a back-up car after wrecking in the rain in 2001?
But the truth of the matter is, in recent years, more often than not, the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race has been devoid of the drama and controversies that have made it so popular in the first place.
The last time the race lead changed hands on the last lap? That would be 1998, when Jeff Gordon ran out of gas and Mark Martin became the most surprised all-star winner of all time.
The last time the race lead changed hands in the last two laps? That would be 2009, when Tony Stewart won for the very first time with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Last year, Jamie McMurray led all 10 laps in the final segment.
In 2013, Jimmie Johnson led all 10 laps in the final segment.
In 2012, Jimmie Johnson led nine of the last 10 laps in the final segment.
In 2011, Carl Edwards led the last 15 laps.
In 2010, Kurt Busch led the last eight laps.
Well, you get the idea. For all the talk about "checkers or wreckers" and "bring me the trophy or bring me back the steering wheel," the drivers have been unfailingly polite in the last segment of the All-Star Race in recent years.
That needs to change and it needs to change on Saturday night.
There's $1 million on the line to the winner, and basically squat for the other 19 drivers. No points to win or lose, no Chase spots to gain. For the love of all that's right and true, drive it like you stole it over the final 10 laps; don't drive it like you can't wait to get home to Lake Norman.
I don't want hear the driver who finishes fifth say, "We had a great Pepto-Bismol Chevrolet that the guys back at the shop worked really hard all spring on." Forget that. Instead, I want to hear a driver say, "I'm going to go put a big ole' can of whupass on that no-talent sumbitch who put me in the wall on the last lap."
I've said it before and I've said it again, in racin' as in wrasslin', hate is great. Let's face it: The All-Star Race is as close to the WWE as NASCAR gets, and as such it needs to be over the top.
So to get this event back on the map, we need some big hate at the end of Saturday night.
I'm talking Matt Kenseth-puts-Brad-Keselowski-into-a-headlock hate. Or Kevin Harvick-pushes-Brad-Keselowski-back-into-the-fight hate. Or even Kyle Busch-goes-berserk-after-getting-stuffed-into-the-wall or Danica-threatens-to-kick-someone-below-the-belt hate.
That's what we need on Saturday night.
I know it's in you, boys, because I've seen it before.
And you damn right well know that it's time to have it. So let's do it and let's have a race that folks talk about for the ages.
