Competitors, fans, and media alike are still shaking their heads at last Saturday’s Xfinity Series debacle at Martinsville Raceway. Not only did the yellow flag come out 14 times for over 100 laps of racing under caution, but the closing laps were nothing short of a demolition derby.
Advertisement
It was an ugly mark on NASCAR and an even uglier mark on sportsmanship in the sport. To correct some of today’s impetuous and downright bad habits in NASCAR by young drivers, sometimes you have to go back to school — old school, that is. One of the best practitioners of gentlemanly old-school racing is Mike Skinner.
Skinner won NASCAR’s first-ever Truck race as well as Trucks’ first-ever championship, both in 1995. He knows what it’s like to race cleanly, closely, and most importantly, professionally and gentlemanly.
“These kids are talented, God gives you the ability to drive a racecar,” Skinner told Frontstretch.com during this past weekend’s Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. “The problem is they get in there because their father or their grandfather or somebody can afford to get them there in a good top-shelf ride, but they have no race craft.”
“Once again, God gave them the ability to run fast laps. They can go fast, but they don’t know how to pass, they don’t know how to walk through the garage … a lot of them haven’t figured out you need to cut your hair and brush your teeth to do this thing.”
“You’ve got to be a little bit politically correct, and you’ve got to represent NASCAR. If you’re not able to do that, it tarnishes the brand.”
Skinner smiled when he quipped how conflicts were resolved when he raced: “Back in the day, we’d go to the motor home and punch ‘em in the nose. Nowadays, you get a big fine for that.”
One of the best ways for young drivers of today to un-learn bad habits is to ask older drivers like Skinner or Ron Hornaday for advice or instruction. Skinner and Hornaday were fierce rivals on a racetrack, but friends off it — and that’s something young drivers of today need to understand, that NASCAR is not just sanctioned road rage.
“(Drivers) have tools today that we did not have,” Skinner said. “They have sports psychologists, they can hire coaches, people like myself. (Hornaday) Does that as well for a young man named Landen Lewis.”
“And they need some coaching from guys that’s made those mistakes, that’s been there and done that.”
The Best Solution to Road Rage in NASCAR May Also Be the Simplest Solution
As much angst and handwringing have occurred since the Martinsville Xfinity race, Skinner remains optimistic that the problem is going to take care of itself.
“It’s going to get better as we go because whether NASCAR wants to or not, they’ll probably have to get involved and hand out some big fines,” Skinner said. “They may have to park somebody once in a while.”
And that could be the biggest key of all, Skinner noted: “I feel if you have to sit out for a race and watch somebody else drive your race car, man, that hurts, that’s a deep cut.”
