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Earnhardt, the Prodigal Jerk

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Race summary

Question of the week comments

The points race

1. The nauseator
2. Jimmy Spencer
3. Ricky Rudd
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Tony Stewart

If you saw the race at Bristol on Saturday night, you know two things: Terry Labonte should have won that race, and Dale Earnhardt is the biggest jerk since Ty Cobb. If you were like me, however, and you didn't catch any of the race, let me fill you in.

After a race of bumping and rubbing, several of the big boys were out of contention. Jarrett wrecked twice, and Texas Thunder, who was on his way to an awesome finish, lost his transmission. As they entered the final 30 laps, Texas Terry Labonte emerged as the man to beat. But instead of getting beaten, Terry got nemechecked by DW. As they entered a caution, everyone on the track except Darrell slowed down. Darrell, about 80 laps down and going about 80 miles an hour, rammed the back of Terry's car. Race over for the Ironman, right? No way. He pitted under caution, got four tires, and got back out before he was lapped. Then it was fishin' time. The number 5 car reeled 'em in and kicked 'em to the curb. That car was dialed in. With a couple laps to go Terry was back up front, hounding the Nauseator for the lead. They fought, Earnhardt employing his usual unsportsmanlike conduct the whole time, until Terry finally got sick of it and put Earnhardt in his rearview mirror.

Then, in turn 2 of the last lap, the nauseator made a desparate and despicable move: he bumped Texas Terry's car right in the license plate. No excuses here, folks, Earnhardt was aiming to spin Terry out, and that’s what he did. I guess shaving stripped him of what little integrity he had left. Even the meathead Earnhardt fans knew their hero was a jerk, because you could hear more boos than cheers when the nauseator pulled into victory lane. There's also a report that Jimmy Spencer, who came in second, tapped Earnhardt after they crossed the finish line, perhaps to let Dale know that his tactics were not appreciated.

In other news, Ricky Rudd posted his best finish of the year. We'll see if he can step it up even further at Darlington next week. Jeff Gordon had another good race, but any race he doesn't win is a defeat for him. Stewart was fifth, but he would've finished higher if he hadn't been too close to the Earnhardt/Labonte mess.

Question of the Week

Nemechek's been cut by Sabatco, his team owners. I asked y'all what the deal was. Is it a good move? How will Bell South feel? What were their reasons for cutting him? Here's what Tim had to say:

Pretty interesting. Andretti would be a good choice, but I don't know how King Richard would feel about Joe. Kevin had a different, Don Wrickles-esque take on the situation:

Ouch, I'd hate to be Joe right now. Nathan, the man voted "most likely to never realize the seventies have ended," had these simple things to say:

I love the Nemechekemania thing. I can just see the T-shirts. But it is Duncan who comes closest to the right answer:

I say it is a mistake. Bell South should demand his return. Sabatco will soon find that trying to replace Front Row Joe with some other hack (this nickname is an enigma I am assuming it originated due to his ability to put part of his car into the stands every other week)was like the Dukes of Hazzard trying to replace Bo and Luke with Vance and Coy -- end result ratings plummeted. Sabatco is not going to get a top ten driver they are all wrapped up. So they are going to get a second tier driver that at best puts them around 20th every week. So what?! NASCAR is about advertising and exposure and I guarantee Front Row driving into a wall sending that Baby Blue BellSouth hood flying across the track every other week provides BellSouth with much more TV time than some dude of a ride that finishes unscathed but 24th. Simple economics dictates his return.

That's right, Duncan, BellSouth would probably love to have Joe driving for them. He gets on TV more than Ted Koppel, and he's never won a WinstonCup race. But the trick here is that BellSouth isn't firing Joe; Sabatco is. BellSouth is getting their name all over the TV, and for them, any press is good press. But when it's YOUR car and YOUR engine that gets scrambled every week, you start to look bad. That's why they cut him: he keeps ruining their reputation and their cars. Look for them to pick up Wally Dallenbach. You heard it here first.

The Points

As is often the case on the short tracks, there were more surprises in the top five than you normally expect (hence the term, "surprise"). As a result, people scored less in the points than usual. Just as the old veteran Earnhardt managed to get a win this week, Sean F turned in some incredible picks for some awesome points. He recaptured his hold on second place, and now Kevin's in a battle with Tim for third. What a week!