Carl Edwards post race wreck last Saturday night caused me to wonder if GRM readers like or dislike the tire burning, rev limiter rebounding, do-nut spinning shows which now seem to be mandatory in many forms of American racing series?? Who started this? Alan Kulwicki with his Polish victory lap?
My take - I could do without it.
Can't blame Kulwicki. Turning right isn't destructive to the car, even in NASCAR. It's a long way from that to blowing the motor doing a burnout.
There have been allegations that post-race winner shenadigans, i.e. blown motors, were done to destroy evidence for any following teardowns.
Spinning across an infield drainage system seems much less intentional than it does, ummmm, stoopid.
plus how dumb the destroying of the Nashville guitar ... can't remember who (Edwards maybe)
Depends. The Polish Victory Lap was pretty classy. The Castroneves fence climb is cool. Destruction not so much.
Earnhardt's donuts in the grass after finally winning the Daytona 500 are a pretty good standard of good enough to show your elation without being ostentatious or destroying the machinery.
My absolute favorite has got to be when Sprint Cars do the front-stretch wheelie though. Epic.
In reply to wbjones:
What is this destroying of the Nashville guitar you speak of?
I was int he dark about this because I don't follow NASCAR, but after some googling:
It's entertainment to a degree. The crowd likes it. It gets him attention, thus it's good for him and his sponsors. His victory outweighs any damage to the car.
The conspiracy theorists need to put a cork in it. Low diffuser + hump in infield = front end carnage.
Tim Baxter wrote: In reply to wbjones: What is this destroying of the Nashville guitar you speak of?
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/105711-busch-smashes-nashville-trophy
I blame ESPN for this. It started with the stupid endzone dances and slam dunk celebrations. A few race drivers felt they too needed to do something to stand out on Sportscenter clips, thus the donuts, burnouts till the tires blow ect.
I don't care for it myself. It's kind of like the football guys who have to have a huge celebration every time they make a touchdown - they have to keep one-upping each other with stupider dance moves.
I forget which coach said it, but I liked what he always told his players: "Act like you've been here before."
Don't care one way or the other. If a guy wants to tear his crap up on national TV, it's no skin off my back. I usually change the channel right after the checkered flag flies.
Ah, OK. So long as it was just some Gibson with a nasty paint job, and not a Nashville guitar
Had me scared there.
stuart in mn wrote: I forget which coach said it, but I liked what he always told his players: "Act like you've been here before."
Vince Lombardi 
I say have at it as long as it is genuine and not manufactured.
What I hate most about victory lane ceremonies is they make the driver sit in the car till they come back from a commercial break and the driver has to act all excited (again)
I think they do it so we will talk about it on the Internets.
stuart in mn wrote: I don't care for it myself. It's kind of like the football guys who have to have a huge celebration every time they make a touchdown - they have to keep one-upping each other with stupider dance moves.
I like touchdown dances.
Graefin10 wrote: Carl Edwards post race wreck last Saturday night caused me to wonder if GRM readers like or dislike the tire burning, rev limiter rebounding, do-nut spinning shows which now seem to be mandatory in many forms of American racing series?? Who started this? Alan Kulwicki with his Polish victory lap? My take - I could do without it.
Edwards normally doesn't do a burnout. He will stop the car and do a backflip off the window ledge. He thought he would spice it up for the All Star Race and that was the result. I think he should stick to the backflips.
Kevin Harvick started smokey burnouts right after he took over Sr's place.
Like others have said, I don't care one way or the other. If I had to choose, I'd say I kind of like it. Is some of it over the top (Kyle Bush smashing the guitar)? Yep. But at the same time, I don't see a problem with someone showing their excitement after winning a race.
To me, the driver should have to answer to the team about any stupid post race celebration that damages the car. Somehow, I don't think Carl Edwards was in the shop Monday morning banging on his car...
I dont mind. Its become so mainstream now, that it even included in some NASCAR video games when you win. I know that Carl didnt want to tear up his car celebrating, he just usually does his back-flip and wave. I do remember years ago, a driver had to teach Jeff Gordon how to do a "proper" burnout. He won at Watkins Glen and almost got laughed out of victory lane.
This and half the drivers are in their low-mid 20's. I was doing worse to cars around that age.
For me, falls in the category of: "Neat the first guy who thought it up, but the second time, it's tedious." Same for spraying everybody on the podium with champagne.
Klayfish wrote: Like others have said, I don't care one way or the other. If I had to choose, I'd say I kind of like it. Is some of it over the top (Kyle Bush smashing the guitar)? Yep. But at the same time, I don't see a problem with someone showing their excitement after winning a race. To me, the driver should have to answer to the team about any stupid post race celebration that damages the car. Somehow, I don't think Carl Edwards was in the shop Monday morning banging on his car...
But he did bring $1,203,300 in for the team. I would let him do the car in the exhaust if he is going to help make my race team profitable.
I like it, adds to the spectacle a bit. Everyone needs to remember that racing/sports aren't solving world hunger, they are ENTERTAINMENT!!!!
I like end zone celebrations and stuff as well. My favorite was when TO pulled out the sharpie after scoring the touchdown. That's a great show!
If you take sports so seriously that you can't find enjoyment in things like this, my personal opinion is that you are taking it a bit too seriously.
John Brown wrote:Klayfish wrote: Like others have said, I don't care one way or the other. If I had to choose, I'd say I kind of like it. Is some of it over the top (Kyle Bush smashing the guitar)? Yep. But at the same time, I don't see a problem with someone showing their excitement after winning a race. To me, the driver should have to answer to the team about any stupid post race celebration that damages the car. Somehow, I don't think Carl Edwards was in the shop Monday morning banging on his car...But he did bring $1,203,300 in for the team. I would let him do the car in the exhaust if he is going to help make my race team profitable.
actually, the driver gets paid the money for the all star race.. the owner gets a trophy.. but i'm sure Carl gave his crew a pretty good payday. his little offroad excursion on saturday was a result of a spontaneous decision to do a high speed donut in the grass.. he didn't know about the elevation change...
one thing Carl Edwards has started doing lately is pretty neat.. after doing his backflip, he runs up into the stands and celebrates with the fans for a while- but only if there is a gate somewhere in the vicinity of the start/finish line. if there is no gate, he just climbs the fence and celebrates with the crowd from up there.. i think he started doing that when he broke his almost 2 year long winless streak at the end of last year, and it's kind of become his "thing"...
after Kyle Busch wins, he gets out of the car and dramatically bows to the booing crowd when he picks up the checkered flag...
OK who here thought that NASCAR was a serious matter, come on now
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