Boos for winning
You're in a race. Now, you are in a position whereby you either take the crown for yourself or help your teammate win it? Which one would it be…for you. On Sunday, Brian Vickers stood on the podium to take his prize winning while many jeered him off it. Brian Vickers took the crown after nudging his teammate Jimmie Johnson into rival, Dale Earnhardt Jr and sent BOTH his teammate and rival into a two-car crash!
It was an inglorious win.
Dale Earnhardt Jr looked set for the podium all the while and the two Hendrick drivers had something in store for Earnhardt. They had a gameplan to oust their rival… MINUS the crash. However, things turned awry and the result is a small mistake, a crown and an angry teammate. To many, we understand that although Brain Vickers really wanted to win the race but he isn't heartless. He wouldn't be as nasty as to intentionally send his teammate crashing into their rival so that he can get on the podium. Jimmie Johnson who was hoping to win so that he can revive his ailing career as a NASCAR driver is quite disturbed with Brain Vicker's uncalled-for move.
When asked about the incident, Brain Vickers says that he had no other options open to him. He had to give Jimmie Johnson a push…otherwise, they (both the Hendrick drivers) would have had no chance of pushing Earnhardt down. But it wasn't supposed to land both the cars in the ditch. It was a small nudge that he intended and he apologized for the mistake.
Since his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, is not too pleased with Brain Vicker's small error of judgment, how does Dale Earnhardt Jr. feel about it? Earnhardt Jr. feels that (surprisingly) there is nothing wrong with what Brain Vickers did. He understands how excited Brain could have been and although he's a little cheesed off about not winning, he's not all that upset. A good driver, like Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows that this is what racing is all about. Things like that happen.
We say that if you're not ready for a crash all the time when racing, you're probably better off sitting behind the desk doing clerical work. But since the incident, Brain Vickers will be under a lot of heat. What will become of this fresh but talented driver…we'll have to wait and see.