And Usually Someone Gets Punched in the Pits

That was a comment I made to a friend of mine in describing why he should attend an auto racing event. Eventually, the temper’s flare to the point where someone wants to punch someone and it usually happens along pit row.

After this weekend’s race South of the Border (no, not the tourist trap along I-95 in South Carolina, but Mexico) someone wanted to punch someone in the pits.

That someone was Scott Pruett and Pruett wanted to punch Juan Pablo Montoya. His teammate.

Here’s the situation. With only a few laps remaining, Pruett was in the lead with Montoya giving chase. Going into the turns, Montoya punts Pruett sending the road course ace for a ride and leading Montoya to his first NASCAR Busch Series victory.

Pruett gave Montoya a “friendly” bump after the race and even booed his teammate after the race. Imagine if, in NFL terms, Reggie Wayne pushing Marvin Harrison out of the way to catch a touchdown pass to win the Super Bowl.

Pruett was hot primarily because he lost a chance to win and he won’t have too many more opportunities. He is a ringer, a road course specialist brought into give team owners a better positioning on tracks where their regular drivers don’t fare as well.

Regardless Montoya could have waited to get around Pruett. There were still plenty of laps left. Besides, team representatives from Chip Ganassi Racing told the drivers not to wreck the equipment.

I don’t think Montoya got the memo on that one, chief.

Gerald Henderson and the Forearm of Death

Gerald Henderson will sit out Duke’s first-round ACC tournament game and Tyler Hansbrough is feeling the aftershocks with a broken nose. The flying forearm smash that would’ve made “Macho Man” Randy Savage proud if it came off the top rope onto a lying Hulk Hogan, came with only a few seconds left in the annual season-ending Duke-Carolina game.

Before we get more into Henderson’s future career as Vince McMahon’s latest superstar, I want to look at comments by Billy Packer last night. After the punch, Packer criticized UNC coach Roy Williams for having Hansbrough in the game when it was out of hand. Of course, the same could be said about Henderson. For Packer to say that the officials made a poor call in tossing Henderson was ridiculous and out of line.

This is a rivalry game. I don’t care if I’m up 50 points with 10 seconds left, my starters are in the game.

Regardless, the fact Hansbrough was in the game is no justification for a cheap shot. That’s like saying if the car in front of you is stopped and you plow into the rear end that it’s ok, because the car shouldn’t have been stopped. You pay the ticket then and the insurance costs and Henderson will pay the price by sitting out a game.

Ah, you have to love rivalries games. I didn’t even have a dog in the fight yesterday and just knowing that there was a “fight” at the end of the game (I watched it on a long delay) made the game worth watching.

Can we have steel chairs and bring back the old basketball cages for the next game?