Published: August 15, 2007 11:18 pm            

de la BASTIDE: Worried racers ganging up on Juan Pablo

Harvick was mad at the wrong guy at Watkins Glen

It certainly seems that the “good ole boys” have decided to take on the role of bully, but I doubt that Juan Pablo Montoya is going to play along.

Kevin Harvick, who blasted through the car of Scott Pruett two weeks ago in the Busch Series race at Montreal, decided to go mano on mano with Montoya following an incident during the Nextel Cup race last Sunday at Watkins Glen.

The incident all started on a restart when Martin Truex slammed into the back of Montoya’s Dodge entering turn one at the Glen. That contact pushed Montoya high in the corner and he collected Harvick.

Montoya’s car then rolled back onto the racing groove following the spin and was collected by Jeff Burton.

Once the cars came to a stop Harvick decided to play the role of bully and confronted Montoya on the track. Montoya grabbed Harvick by the helmet and then pushed him away.

It is unclear if Harvick was going to continue with the confrontation or back down, as he has done in the past, when NASCAR officials intervened.

The problem wasn’t caused by Montoya, known for aggressive driving. The root cause of the multi-car accident was Truex. The New Jersey native was attempting to gain a spot on the restart and when Montoya drove low to protect the position, Truex made heavy contact with the Dodge.

It was interesting to observe the ESPN coverage of the incident. They had comments from Harvick, teammate Burton and car owner Richard Childress, all of whom placed the blame on Montoya.

The other person with a legitimate beef was Burton, whose car was damaged when Montoya lifted off the brake pedal and rolled back onto the track.

Harvick, who somehow escaped a penalty following his rough driving at Montreal, is of the belief that other drivers should get out of his way during a race. Kevin, you’re not good enough for that to happen.

It was refreshing to watch Montoya, who was taken out of the Busch race at the Glen by Steve Wallace’s blunder on a restart, stand up to the bullying tactics of Harvick.

The real problem for Harvick, Truex and a number of other Cup drivers is they realize that Montoya came to stock car racing with a huge amount of talent and tons of experience. They know that next year Montoya will probably be competing for wins with Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and trying to stay out of the way of back markers.

Truex should have admitted fault in the incident and Harvick should have remained planted in his Chevrolet.

With the Cup series heading to Michigan this weekend, it will be worth observing to see if there is any bumping and banging between Harvick and Montoya.

In other racing news

It was hard to believe that Indy Racing League points leader Dario Franchitti went flying for a second race in a row in his Andretti-Green car. What was even harder to image is that the accident that sent Franchitti into the air came after the race was over.

How did Franchitti not know the race was over?

Franchitti’s teammate Danica Patrick proved once again at Kentucky that she lacks what it takes to win in the IRL. Running in the top five, Patrick spun exiting pit road and then destroyed her car when she smacked the wall during a caution period. The team tried to cover for her by saying they should have warned Patrick not to drive fast on tires that were flat spotted following the spin. At that level of racing Patrick should have known that.

Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com

        

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