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Jimmie Johnson it's time to shut up
I doubt I'm alone when I say this. Jimmie Johnson needs to shut the hell up when it comes to IndyCar racing. Sure he's a great driver in his own series, but I don't think this series needs his opinion. If one of the drivers from this series made that statement, then that would be different. I don't remember anyone from this series making a statement after Dale E. got killed. If they had, maybe they would have said. I think the cabs need to get back to racing instead of blocking and rubbing.
On a different note, I agree with Sam Schmidt. He said he doesn't blame the track. He said "racers are racers and they are going to push the envelope no matter what the circumstances." I am posting the website so you can read it yourself.
http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/50919-schmi...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by P. Niggity on -
Dude is entitled to his opinion. It's a fraternity that I'm not a member of and I'm looking at this with that in mind. Whether it's F1, Nascar, Sprint Cars - whatever- the drivers know and respect each other. Everyone is still grieving over this tragedy. This is how JJ is dealing with it and that's ok by me. As long as it's a lesson that makes all racing safer then I say fine. Let the racers say whatever they want to say.
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Permalink Reply by Joe on -
I get what you're saying, but we will have to agree to disagree. No one from this series stuck their nose in the business of blocking and rubbing when Dale E. got killed. I just don't think anyone from the cabs should have a voice in this series. IndyCar can police it's self. We don't need Jimmie playing judge over this series.
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Permalink Reply by Gary Lee Cox on -
Foyt, Andretti defend oval racing, slam Jimmie Johnson
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/indycar/story/2011-10-18/Foyt-...
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Permalink Reply by P. Niggity on
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Will Power says the old drivers should have a cup of Shut The Hell Up and listen to the drivers that are in the cars now.
""I think that the officials in the series really need to sit down with the drivers themselves, not the team owners, not the old drivers, not the guy that used to race in a different formula. And I think they need to sit down with the drivers that race this current car with this current formula and listen to what we think should be done and, you know, where we should race." -Will Power
There was no mention of eliminating ovals...still topical though...
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Permalink Reply by Squall on -
Tomas Sheckter is one of the current drivers. He has gone on record saying that he's willing to run in cars that go faster, as long as they separate, end quote.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Eugene Johnson on -
I agree, but Foyt and Andretti have driven both and won in both, I will defer to them.
I agree also, about IndyCar not budding in and telling NASCAR what to do ( although I did think at the time that I was glad the IndyCar safety team was much better and faster responding).
Hate to point this out, but Wheldon did not cause his wreck (Earnhardt did, trying to block Sterling Marlin).
Both are tragedies and every time this happens (I hate to say it, but it will someday happen again) as long as we use it to improve safety, then they are deaths not died in vain.
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Permalink Reply by Joe on
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You're right about Earnhardt blocking Sterling. But Sterling also bumped him and caused the accident. But that's nothing new with the cabs. Watch their next race and you can see bumping and banging all day. To me, that's not racing. The whole term rubbin is racin is stupid.
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Permalink Reply by Iowa Guy on -
I was probably the first on this board to tell Jimmie to shut up in a post in a different thread yesterday. Prefaced it by saying "he may mean well, but...." And I still feel the same way.
The only way to ever make racing totally safe is to ban racing. We can and will continue to work on safety. Rules can be tweaked. New inventions to perhaps one day replace traditional catch fencing may come along (as in the SAFER barrier). But to ban Indy Cars on ovals would be a knee-jerk reaction that is not needed when things like this happen. In 1973 after a carnage and death-filled Indy 500 there were politicians calling for all auto racing to be banned.
We will recover and move on, maybe a little safer as time goes by. I'm sure many racers from many series were sad to hear of Wheldon's death. But we'll work it out on our own. We don't need lectures from self-appointed know-it-alls, thank you.
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Permalink Reply by Joe on
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I couldn't agree more Iowa Guy. One safety option I was thinking about was this. I'm not sure it would look all that great, but it would be functional, and we would all know why it's there. I think some kind of a roll bar over the head would be a good idea. The only draw back I can think of is it would make getting in and out of the car a challange. Especially if there were a fire and you needed out fast. I'm sure someone could design something that would work. If nothing else, they could mount a camera on top of it to make it a duel purpose roll cage.
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Permalink Reply by Squall on
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The first call for a ban on auto racing was in Europe at the turn of the 20th century. Just to keep everyone informed of what kind of an argument it is. Basically, "don't take risks."
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Permalink Reply by Gary Lee Cox on
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Jimmie Johnson Clarifies His Oval Racing Statements
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-jimmie-johnson-clari...
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Permalink Reply by Linda Willareth on
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Yes, it is true Jimmie Johnson called Randy Bernard to apologize for the insensitive remarks he made--however, I think Jimmie should have just commented on the sorrow he felt over Dan's death--and left it at that. I will never be a Johnson fan in any form of racing--besides he looks like heck with that beard.
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