Every racer needs passion

By DAVID GREEN

It's good to have the fireworks, Dale Jr. says in reflecting on the cool-down lap during which he and Casey Mears weren't so cool.

So how do we feel about this? Is it good to have these little incidents once in awhile? Or does it set the wrong example for fans of all ages? Does it add to the spectacle or diminish it?

It's not so easy to make that call.

On the one hand, there's the subject of self-control. We have control over so little in our lives, it's a good thing to try to control what we can, including our temper and our behavior. (DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know, I'm not the best example of one who does a great job of this.)

As any counselor or good friend will advise you, any time you react in anger to something somebody else says or does, you are turning over the running of your own life to that other person, whether they were trying to provoke you, just being stupid or inattentive or whatever.

If your antagonist is attempting to play games with you, you're letting him win if you let him get your goat.

Then there's the image thing. Does your multimillion-dollar sponsor want you acting out like that?

Also, there's the danger factor. While scuffles in all sports can result in injuries to the combatants, the consequences are magnified when the "players" are wielding 3,500-pound, 750-horsepower machines.

Let's debate those points in reverse order.

Neither Earnhardt nor Mears did anything that, in a realistic sense, put the other in any particular jeopardy. And, as Junior pointed out, he didn't even add a burden for the crew members who have to repair the car; it was, he correctly noted, already torn up.

As for the sponsor's preferences, the opposite extreme of the raging maniac is the robotic, unflappable (and uninteresting) Mr. Bland. The corporate spin doctor might think the latter is preferable, but then again that might not be the case.

The behavioral psychology argument is the hardest to debate. The best I can do is to suggest that, for an athlete, so much of what you do is dictated by your competition. Retaliation is merely an extrapolation of that dynamic.

Certainly nobody wants drivers using their cars as weapons. There have certainly been instances -- the scrap between "Iron Man" Jack Ingram and Mike Pressley at New Asheville Speedway in 1986 is one -- in which the line was crossed. There have been times -- the feud between Bobby Allison and Richard Petty comes to mind -- when one of the combatants suggested the other was trying to harm him.

Personalities vary, but most racers have a good degree of passion for what they do. Sometimes, that leads to flare-ups.

In the final analysis, I come down on the side of passion. With some restraint, of course.