No Class of the Field

They say to act like you've been there before when you reach the top level of your profession.

Obviously Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer haven't made it yet.

Both drivers showed an incredible lack of class in their comments over the weekend at Dover in response to Bob Dillner's report on SPEED TV last week about the alleged modified wheel rims used on Harvick and teammate Jeff Burton's cars.

While NASCAR and RCR denied the claims and the report at this juncture seems to have been a plant of information by another team, the comments Harvick and Bowyer spewed on Saturday toward Dillner were to say the least childish and classless.

All both have to do is take a look at teammate Jeff Burton for a lesson in class, who also addressed the issue without getting into a name calling shoving match.

Harvick reportedly went after Dillner Friday in the garage area at Dover, reverting back to the bully-like behavior he has been known for during most of his NASCAR career.

The report may have been erroneous, but the response by Harvick and Bowyer was worse.

 
Posted: 9/24/2006 5:10:00 PM
Comments:
How is Harvick and Bowyer's response worse than Bob Dillner's erroneous report?  The perception that an athlete's success was achieved through less than legitimate methods can stick with them for a long time.  Look at Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.  They were never caught using steroids but the perception is that they did and now many people will never accept their numbers as legit.  In racing, look at Jimmie Johnson.  Many people still feel that he got his Daytona 500 win by cheating even though the illegal modifications to the car were caught and corrected before the race.  If Harvick or Burton win the championship a lot of people will undoubtedly discount their title because of Bob Dilner's report.  As for Bowyer, he's had a solid rookie season that will also soured by this scandal.  All the while Bob Dilner and Speed refuse to admit that  they did anything wrong. That is not fair to Harvick, Burton, Bowyer,or Richard Childress and they have a right to be very upset.
Posted On: 9/24/2006 5:10:00 PM
Geez Pete, you aren't a reporter by any chance are you?

You know what these guys go through. They're not all Jeff Burton and that's not even remotely close to being a bad thing.

Maybe Dillner was played and maybe that angle should be critically examined.

Posted On: 9/24/2006 5:10:00 PM
Pete,

Bob Dillner has no CLASS.  He should have said later that whether he stands by his story or not, he didn't validate it with anyone else. How are we suppose to believe anything if we don't even know the source. The actual parties who would know anything didn't find anything wrong. If Bob had class he would have admitted his story was wrong and apologized. Everyone knows he's doing his job, but when your wrong your wrong.  These drivers are indignant that all the teams hard work has to be scrutinized for no reason. Though Burton chose wiser words he wasn't any less mad.  "Pissed" is the word he repeated many times himself..  Not exactly Sunday School vocabulary either. So get over your piety and leave these drivers alone.
Posted On: 9/24/2006 5:10:00 PM
In my personal opinion, Dilner (and Speed) deserve the wrath of RCR. He reported information without checking through on it, going with the juicy tidbit that Speed wants rather than holding back and trying to be a real reporter. As a result, RCR is now under scrutiny because of this false report.
You and your fellow RacingOne reporters (who do your jobs right) know the ethics of reporting. You don't go flying off the handle just to get the story. You always try to make sure the source is credible and correct. Dilner did neither, and RCR is paying for it.
Posted On: 9/24/2006 5:10:00 PM

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