RotoGuru Auto Racing Forum

View the Forum Registry


Self-edit this thread


0 Subject: Green let go...

Posted by: Revvingparson
- Donor [211232220] Mon, May 05, 2003, 20:55

It makes you wander why Richard put Harvick and Green together in the first place. link
1KrazyKoalaBears
      Donor
      ID: 513102216
      Tue, May 06, 2003, 19:31
Park out, Green in at DEI!!!

All I can say is HOLY CRAP!!!!

Personally, I think this is a bad move for DEI. Everyone knew Steve Park was likely out soon, but why Jeff Green? He doesn't fit their team "image" at all, IMO. Why not take someone like Tony Raines who at least has some room to be molded?

2KrazyKoalaBears
      Donor
      ID: 513102216
      Tue, May 06, 2003, 19:36
For those who may have missed all the irony in Green replacing Park, it was Park who replaced Green at DEI back in 1997.
3Sludge
      Sustainer
      ID: 561241214
      Wed, May 07, 2003, 15:45
Green's probably better off at DEI. My guess is that Childress just let the least talented driver go after the Richmond incident. It probably wasn't good form for Green to lose his cool and go after Harvick's crew chief like that, or to make public his comments, but I thought his rage was justified. You can hear Harvick getting back in the gas when everyone around him was letting up.
4Sludge
      Sustainer
      ID: 26073119
      Thu, May 08, 2003, 15:25
I figured you'd be all over this, KKB.

RCR signs Park to drive No. 30 Chevrolet
5KrazyKoalaBears
      Donor
      ID: 25337310
      Fri, May 09, 2003, 10:01
Sludge, I have to disagree about Green/Harvick. As with any incident where people in front are slowing down, it takes a second for the drivers behind them to figure it out. I'm not sure how you know "everyone around [Harvick] was letting up" when the only view you can see while hearing his engine is out the front windshield. So all you know is that the people in front of him were letting up and you really only know this because of the results, not because of anything you can see from Harvick's view. If you look at the tape, the 2 cars were going the same speed when Harvick got into the gas and it was only then that Harvick gained on Green and, presumably, figured out that Green was letting up. Up until that point, everything was normal from the view of Harvick. But after he figured out he was gaining on Green (and thus figured out that Green was letting off the gas) he instantly got out of the gas and tried steering down (something difficult to do when you had previously been planning on gassing it out of a corner) and ended up getting into the back of Green. So what? That kind of bumping and tapping happens all the time, especially at shorttracks, and I'm sure it happened many times that night in Richmond without incident.

However, the main point here is that the difference between normal drivers and Jeff Green is that Green likes to blame everyone but himself. In all the times I've seen him wreck out of a race, I've never heard the guy say, "I screwed up," or "it was just one of those racin' deals," even when it obviously was. Richmond was "one of those deals." No, it's always some other drivers fault. Always.

As for Park, I am all over it, but I didn't find out until this morning (busy day/night yesterday). Personally, I think this is a huge gain for RCR and a huge step backwards for DEI. Forget driving, especially since they're separated by just 7 points in the standings, because Steve Park is by far the bigger fan favorite. Now DEI is going to have to deal with a crybaby while RCR has one down and one to go (though Gordon has been getting better this year). In my opinion, I don't see Green staying at DEI for long. I could be wrong, but I just don't see him being a good fit there. They want guys who are going to the track to race, not trying to figure out their next excuse. At least with Park, he would admit when he messed up. I don't see that happening with Green.

Then again, I've been wrong MANY times in the past. ;)

6Sludge
      Sustainer
      ID: 26073119
      Fri, May 09, 2003, 10:22
Sure it happens all the time, KKB. Drivers at this level aren't perfect, but years and years of driving (without brake lights) have taught them to instinctively judge distances and relative velocities very well (I would guess). Of course Harvick didn't intend to hit Green, but I still think he jumped the gun when a bit more caution would have probably been prudent.

And it's not "one of those racin' deals", it's "one o' doze racin' deals" or "one o' dem racin' deals." I wouldn't even want to guess what Wahd's version is like, as that would be making fun of his speech impediment. :)
7KrazyKoalaBears
      Donor
      ID: 25337310
      Fri, May 09, 2003, 10:39
Sludge, "a bit more caution would have probably been prudent"? Why? There was nothing, at the time, that suggested that Harvick should do anything except drive the course like normal. Being "prudent" leaves you at the back of the field while everyone else is racing the race.

Green checked up while Harvick had JUST gotten into the gas out of the corner. Harvick tapped him, completely unintentionally, and Green lost it like a 14-year old in Driver's Ed. Green then goes over and hollers at Harvick's crew chief and says that Richard Childress only has one driver. There was nothing justified about what Green did because it WAS "one of those racin' deals." It happened and Green needed to get over it. You didn't hear Rusty Wallace crying like a little baby when Jeff Gordon bump-and-run'd him to win Bristol last year, did you? He said his peace and left it on the track. Then again, Rusty Wallace didn't crash because he knows how to drive, not just how to put the pedal to the metal and turn left.

Every driver complains to some extent, but Green does it excessively and never points the finger back at himself. That's just being a big crybaby.

8Sludge
      Sustainer
      ID: 26073119
      Fri, May 09, 2003, 11:17
Dang, KKB, you take this seriously, don't you?

And maybe an additional reason Wallace didn't crash was because Gordon knows how to apply the bump and run.
9KrazyKoalaBears
      Donor
      ID: 25337310
      Fri, May 09, 2003, 15:03
Sludge, nah, I don't really take it too seriously, but I do follow the sport and the drivers quite a bit and I enjoy talking about it (obvious). :)

Anyhow, my overall point, which I'm sure you got by now, is that Jeff Green is a big crybaby and it's hard to take the word of anyone who is constantly pointing fingers at everyone but himself. You see other drivers crash out and say stuff like, "I'm not sure what happened, but we just lost it and got into the wall," or "So-and-so checked up in front of me and So-and-so behind me just couldn't avoid us" or even the Ricky Craven & Kurt Busch battle when Busch came out of his car, in second place!, with a huge grin and said something to the effect of, "that's what racing is all about. That was great!" If that were Jeff Green, he would have been livid and screaming about how Craven was all over his car and trying to spin him out and everything else. Then again, Green probably would have spun out with 2 laps to go the way Craven and Busch were battling.

I just have no respect for the guy because he never considers anything other than some other driver having a beef with him and crashing him out. Then again, the way he makes enemies, maybe that IS the case. ;)

10Sludge
      Sustainer
      ID: 561241214
      Fri, May 09, 2003, 15:32
Crybaby he may be. I haven't followed him close enough to notice, really. Regardless, drivers at this level are expected to make split second decisions like this all the time, and Harvick made the wrong one in this case. One o' dem racin' deals? Sure it is, Harvick didn't set out to spin him out. I just think it was one that was more avoidable than your average racin' deal.
RotoGuru Auto Racing Forum

View the Forum Registry


Self-edit this thread




Post a reply to this message: (But first, how about checking out this sponsor?)

Name:
Email:
Message:
Click here to create and insert a link
Ignore line feeds? no (typical)   yes (for HTML table input)


Viewing statistics for this thread
Period# Views# Users
Last hour11
Last 24 hours11
Last 7 days11
Last 30 days44
Since Mar 1, 2007496303