NASCAR’s Waltrip, Mears make nice after Richmond wreck
Quote selected text Published May 6th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Michael Waltrip was allowed back on the track Monday, two days after getting his first taste of NASCAR’s harshest penalty.
After Casey Mears knocked Waltrip’s car into the wall late in Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway, Waltrip retaliated by ramming into the back of Mears’ car and pushing it several hundred yards.
NASCAR parked Waltrip for the final 58 laps, a penalty that cost him as much as 60 Sprint Cup points.
“I’ve never gotten parked before,” Waltrip said Monday during a break in testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “I read in the paper where people got parked, but I didn’t know how you did that. Now I do.”
Mears, also at the track for an extra testing session for the Car of Tomorrow, said he had a breakdown in communication with his spotter.
“I don’t know if we just had a radio problem or what happened there, but we were kind of running by ourselves there for quite a while,” Mears said. “I think the 55 came out on new tires and was running us down and I just wasn’t aware of it, and I came off of (turn) 4 and hit him. I had no idea he was there.”
He certainly knew Waltrip was there when Waltrip slammed into the back of his car after they both came off the wall.
“It was just an accident and Casey’s a good dude,” Waltrip said. “I know he didn’t do it on purpose and sometimes when somebody does something that I viewed as being pretty stupid, that will make you madder than if someone did something on purpose.
“It was unfortunate for me that I got wrecked and as soon as he came off the wall he was just right there in front of me and I lost my cool for a split second and ran into the back of him.”
NASCAR said Waltrip won’t face any further penalties, and Mears believes Saturday’s punishment was sufficient.
“I can understand why he’d be upset, because it definitely wasn’t really his doing,” Mears said. “But obviously afterwards what he did wasn’t right. I can understand the emotion and being upset, but you definitely don’t want to do something like that. Obviously he realizes that, too, and we’ll all move on.”
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Hadn’t seen Mikey act like that since he punched Lake Speed….
Anyone catch Mikey on Victory Lane on Monday? He half apologized and half justified his actions. He made it clear that the initial contact was Mearss’ fault, and Waltrip felt there was no excuse.
His throttle stuck…….
l0l
Frustration, that the culprit here. Every thing he does on and off the track seems to be in the wrong direction and it’s really getting to him… His only saving grace is he is not quite as dumb as his asinine older brother…yet !!
Why can’t they park Busch when he gets wreckless?
My thoughts exactly JAG!!!!!
i thought it was about time mikey gave it back to someone on the track, he does take a lot from some drivers. i’m surprised he hasn’t lost it more than he has. busch can’t get all thee bad boy press lol!
Mikey is as stupid as he is tall. That happy doofus act only goes so far. He deserved to be parked. End of story.
i sure wish mikey had a good hot rod. then he could go out there and run in the top 5. where he is more then good enough to do. yea the way to go mikey yhr best driver in nascar.
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LOL
well one good thing came outa Mikey having to sit out of the last 50+ last off the race is he saved a lot of gas. now mabe he can hire a good driver for the 55. like tony or kenny wallace, or even lake speed.