23 replies to this topic

[Czarny]

What an awesome finish! 

 

Topher, that was some serious chaos going on from your view!!  Looks like Skip's car had a target on it!  LOL

[Caveman-kwebb99]

You mean what was viewed from Tophers camera wasnt top notch driving?????

[Sam Barnett]

As many of you know there were some on track incidents between me and Skip Brock on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  I did not want to comment publicly until Skip and I had a chance to speak about it.

 

During the course of the race I went too deep into the turn 1 braking zone while following close behind Skip and hit the left side of his rear bumper hard enough to push him way past the braking zone and causing myself to spin.  On the last lap of the race I pulled to the inside to do a late braking pass but didn't have Skip quite cleared before he hit the brakes.  The result was a nearly identical hit to his car.

 

These incidents were completely unintentional.  In fact when I hit him the first time I pointed him by between turns 3 and 4 to give him the position back.   I would have done the same thing the second time but he was in front of me out of turn 1 anyway.

 

Skip and I had been working together in the draft and were making a lot of progress catching the field.  There was absolutely nothing for me to gain by taking him out, not to mention we are friends.  I had been trying to make up some time in the braking zones to catch back up with the field but unfortunately I pushed it too far.  I will be taking Skip's suggestion to offset myself from the car in front of me in high speed braking zones

 

Skip and I had a very constructive conversation this afternoon and both feel like we came to a positive resolution.  We will remain friends as we always have and look forward to racing together again soon.

 

Sam

[Brocodile]

Now that Sam and I have talked it over, I am free to acknowledge that, after the second hit in the same spot in the Turn 1 braking zone, coupled with an almost identical incident between Sam and Junior (driving my car) in the Saturday night race, I suspected malice on Sam's part. There was no apparent motive, but the circumstantial evidence looked awfully strong. After the race, I was in no frame of mind for a constructive discussion, and I had a plane to catch besides. So I left as quickly as possible. Before I left, Sam sent a message that he wanted to apologize. I appreciated the conciliatory gesture, but didn't trust myself to be gracious about it. It took me until today to sort through my thoughts, settle down, listen calmly, and take a constructive approach.

 

Today, I suggested to Sam that we try to learn something from this, and he agreed. A very rational discussion followed. I'm not sure I learned anything new (I'm a really old dog), but the experience re-enforced what I already believed about the wisdom of resisting the impulse to speak in anger and avoiding emotionally charged confrontations when possible. I believe Sam has made an honest effort to determine why he repeated his mistake multiple times. I am fully satisfied that Sam had no malice toward me personally, but, in his competitive desire to move forward, failed to balance the risk/reward equation. The red mist afflicts us all. It's how we deal with it that defines us as racers. I think there's a reasonable chance Sam will make better decisions in the future. We're square. Let's race.