Brian Vickers is currently 13th in points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and has no problem with a teammate lending a helping hand. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
On Monday at Indianapolis, 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force was widely perceived as throwing a semi-final race to teammate Robert Hight, a defeat that allowed Hight to advance to the NHRA’s playoff round.
Force had an unusually slow reaction time in his race with Hight and smoked the tires halfway through the run, a loss that knocked defending NHRA champion Cruz Pedregon out of the NHRA playoffs and got Hight in.
Cruz’s brother Tony and Force got into a protracted shouting match after the race, with Pedregon insisting Force lost on purpose. Tony Pedregon called Force a cheater, something Force angrily refuted.
As to losing the race on purpose, Force issued something of a non-denial denial about the incident, saying, “You ain't ever going to make the world happy,” he said. “I know that and I'll go down the road and hope my sponsors understand that I'm doing what I do.”
But with eight berths to the Chase for the Sprint Cup still on the line this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, most NASCAR drivers they wouldn’t throw a race to let a teammate into the Chase.
Several did say, however, that they would allow a teammate or even a friend to pass for the lead and pick up five bonus points.
“If you’re running for a Chase spot and you catch a teammate, you hope to think that he would at least let you go,” said Brian Vickers, who enters Saturday night’s Chevy Rock ‘N’ Roll 400 13th in points. “Do I expect to see teammates causing harm to competitors over something like that? I don’t think so. We race with each other, I’m not going to say that it couldn’t happen, but we race with each other too much, too often for stuff like that to go down. It just never seems to work out in the long run. I think most of the drivers at this level in the sport know or realize that. There are still 10 races left, if you wreck someone to get into the Chase – you may be in the Chase, but you probably won’t win the championship.”
“Everybody is trying to get the best run they can,” said 2003 Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth. “Certainly, if you have a teammate or a friend or somebody you respect or they respect you on the track, and maybe you have a chance to lead a lap and get points – just like any other week all year – that stuff probably happens, but I certainly don’t think you’re gonna see teammates or anybody do anything goofy to change the outcome (of the race).”
