Did Patrick have good reason to wreck Hornish?

A quote from NASCAR.com:


Danica Patrick and Sam Hornish Jr. renewed their 20-year rivalry Saturday at Talladega as the duo were racing for 12th position coming to the checkered. Hornish was on the inside and able to beat Patrick to the line, but as they crossed, Hornish's No. 12 drifted up into Patrick's No. 7, squeezing her into the wall.

Patrick wasn't happy with how things transpired and bumped Hornish going into Turn 1, sending him into the wall. Both drivers had vastly different explanations -- not only about the wreck but their post-race discussion -- in their televisions interviews afterward. NASCAR has said neither driver will be punished, although both will have a discussion before practice at Darlington this weekend. We've seen drivers lose their tempers before, but was Danica out-of-line on this one?

Whether Danica's reasons were "good" or not depends on your personal definition of good. Hornish put her into the wall in (what most would say) was a deliberate move. Does that warrant being put into the wall in return? I don't know. What I do know is: I'm sure many of the fans who dislike Danica for being Danica wouldn't be so angry about this if it was Trevor Bayne who punted Hornish...

In my mind, both have no excuse. Sam had absolutely no reason to slide up into Danica as he already had what looked like drafting help from Sadler and was guaranteed to finish ahead. Likewise, Danica had no reason to make that childish retaliation move. Both were in the wrong if you ask me.

Danica's in the wrong, and it's not cause I hate her or anything like that, it's because of one simple thing: The race had already ended. Drivers used to get fines and point penalties for causing an accident after the race had been completed, and boys have at it or not, that needs to be brought back.

Most of the people saying Danica was in the wrong and Hornish wasn't were probably the people who cheered when Carl dumped Kyle after the 2008 night race at Bristol. The people involved definitely affect your judgment on a situation.

Ok, here's my take.

First, the answer to the question in the post. Did Danica have good reason to wreck Sam?

Absolutely, she did. If Sam did in fact have a flat tire as he said he did, why the hell was he still drafting with Elliot Sadler? Ok, it's the end of the race I get it. But, then look at it from Danica's seat. She is riding along makes a move to the outside of Hornish and he runs her to fence. Doesn't matter what Sam says after the fact when he gets out of the car. At that moment, all she knows is that he ran her to wall for no reason.

Second, was what she did right?

No. While I understand the reasoning behind what she did and that she did it, I don't agree with wrecking race cars. I honestly think that if a driver does have an issue with another driver that they should settle it one on one out of the cars after the race.

Third, does the drivers involved affect how people look at a situation?

Hell Frickin' Yeah. The best example of this I can find is the Jr./Busch incident at Richmond in 2008. Everyone was immediately jumping on the fact that Busch had this wheels turned as that he meant to wreck him. Even though it was obvious Kyle's car got loose. Point is everyone has drivers they hate and drivers they like. When those drivers get into a incident, they are going to take sides regardless of what actually happened.

Never is there a good reason to turn crash another driver. That's against both rules of motorsport, and can endanger a drivers safety.

RACECAR wrote:In my mind, both have no excuse. Sam had absolutely no reason to slide up into Danica as he already had what looked like drafting help from Sadler and was guaranteed to finish ahead. Likewise, Danica had no reason to make that childish retaliation move. Both were in the wrong if you ask me.

This.

No. She came down trying to get the side draft off of Hornish, They hooked fenders and were stuck together until they got into the wall. Danica was being whiny little girl and wrecked Hornish. I generally don't have to much of an issue with Danica with the exception being of the media coverage (Out of her control though) but she came off as being an absolute bitch, If she wanted to tell Sam she was annoyed go talk to him after the race instead of wrecking him because "WAAHHH HE HIT ME AND I LOST 1-2 SPOTS WAHHH."

Alta wrote:No. She came down trying to get the side draft off of Hornish, They hooked fenders and were stuck together until they got into the wall. Danica was being whiny little girl and wrecked Hornish. I generally don't have to much of an issue with Danica with the exception being of the media coverage (Out of her control though) but she came off as being an absolute bitch, If she wanted to tell Sam she was annoyed go talk to him after the race instead of wrecking him because "WAAHHH HE HIT ME AND I LOST 1-2 SPOTS WAHHH."

This

But im not fully taking Hornish's side. If Hornish "blew" a tire like he claimed, then Goodyear must make one hell of a tire. But considering the tire wasnt ripped to pieces by the time it made it back to pitroad after the race, im throwing that explaination out.