CBS.SportsLine.com's Brian De Los Santos and Charlie McCarthy provide analysis on three weekly racing topics.
| 1. Who's to blame for the wreck between Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch? | |
| Brian De Los Santos | Charlie McCarthy |
Looking at the replays, I'm not sure how you don't pin this on
Busch. Maybe Biffle could have waited until he had a bit more room
before pulling in front of Busch, but that's being awfully picky.
Busch has a brake pedal in his car like everybody else, he needs
to learn how to use it. Or how's this for an idea: Lift his foot
off the gas pedal. If Biffle did check up, I'd assume he did it
with good reason, not to play games with Busch. Now I don't
believe Busch ran into Biffle intentionally, I just think he
doesn't use the best judgment and that gets him into trouble. It
seems he loses more and more respect among his peers every weekend
because of his over-aggressiveness.
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Whether you're considering what happened on the track or looking
at the track record, Busch is the guilty party. He was a lap down
and should have eased off the gas a bit. Instead, he added Biffle
to the list of Busch-wacked drivers this season. So far, Kurt
Busch has tangled with former Roush teammates Biffle, Jeff Burton
(now driving for Richard Childress Racing) and Matt Kenseth. He
also met up with his Roush replacement, Jamie McMurray, at
Daytona. Warning to Carl Edwards and Mark Martin -- keep your eyes
on the No. 2 car.
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| 2. Biffle's girlfriend had words with Busch's fiancée after the wreck. Is this out of line? | |
| Brian De Los Santos | Charlie McCarthy |
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While one of the funniest things I've seen happen at a race in a
while, it was a bit ridiculous. At least it didn't
degenerate into slapping, scratching and hair pulling (though I'm
sure a few people out there were hoping for just that). Seriously
though, I'm all for supporting your significant other, but
Biffle's girlfriend, Nicole Lunders, got a little carried away
visiting Busch's pit to exchange unpleasantries with his fiancée,
Eva Bryan. One, it wasn't Bryan's fault. Two, whatever message
Lunders had for Busch wasn't about to be passed along by Bryan
anyway. It was all just so silly.
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Hey, if it's not out of line for family and friends to be in a
driver's pit-box area during a race, then a war of words between
significant others certainly isn't either. Personally, I would
limit pit-box access to team members only -- let family and
friends of all the teams watch in a confined area in full camera
view. That would make for some great action.
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| 3. Which of these female drivers is most likely to win a race first: Danica Patrick, Katherine Legge or Erin Crocker? | |
| Brian De Los Santos | Charlie McCarthy |
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I'm going to say Patrick, because basically she has one more year
of experience in a top series under her belt than the other two.
Some even think it could happen in Japan, though I won't go as far
to predict that. Legge might not be too far behind, though. In her
debut in Long Beach last weekend, she finished eighth to become
the highest finishing female in Champ Car history. Crocker? She
appears to have a lot more work ahead of her before she starts
challenging for victories in the Truck Series.
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Let's see, Patrick has the talent and her car is good enough, but
she competes against some of the world's best drivers. Legge
finished eighth at Long Beach, but can she (or anyone) take a PKV
Racing car into Victory Lane? Crocker, 25, drives quality trucks
for Ray Evernham, but she lacks experience. All that said, I'll go
with Patrick.
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