Warped Wednesday: Put the block on blocking
Welcome to Warped Wednesday. On this, we'll put out the rush to judgment mat, go a little too far and have a little fun. Will it be funny? Sometimes. Will it be crazy and largely unbelievable? Probably. Will not everyone get it? Definitely.
The concept of a driver’s rear bumper serving as his offensive line is absurd. It’s NASCAR and not NASCAB for a reason. There’s no place for blocking in NASCAR.
Blocking, otherwise known as the technique that Joey Logano used to fend off Tony Stewart last week with 11 laps to go and, subsequently, get Stewart to go after him is a dirty tactic that shouldn’t be used at any point in a professional auto race, whether it’s the first or the last lap.
There’s a saying that the best defense is a best offense. That statement should be a universal truth in NASCAR. Don’t want to get passed? Just drive faster than the driver behind you. If he can’t catch you, he can’t pass you. If a driver makes a move to the inside or outside to pass another, the driver ahead should simply let that driver go and hope that he can get past him sometime soon.
Plus, it creates better racing for the fans. If drivers didn’t prevent other drivers from passing them there would be more passes. More passes would equal more entertaining races for the fans. That’s a winning combination. Imagine how the lead change record would be challenged at Talladega if drivers didn’t move in front of each other when a line started making a run at the front of the field?
Racetracks are wide to encourage passing. Much like a driver on the highway, a driver on the racetrack should remain committed to a single line for an entire lap and if a driver takes a different line and is faster, then so be it.
And if you’re going to block, well, you should be crashed. Tony Stewart professed that and also experienced it last year at Talladega. His words met his actions. Let that be a lesson for everyone.
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