NASCAR fans typically get very excited and riled up when drivers express emotion in races, such as following the incident that took place between Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth last week at Bristol, Tenn., when both wrecked and Stewart tossed his helmet at Kenseth's car.
Earnhardt's answer:
"I’m sure everybody watching the race has somebody’s neck they would like to ring. Maybe they live vicariously through that emotion in some way. There is probably a co-worker or two they wouldn’t mind running their fist into his face. It’s probably more likely than you imagine. I assume they live vicariously through it. I do when I watch football. I see what the players do on the field (and) I kind of get into the emotional side of it when somebody is upset or a player gets real physical and plays really hard," he said.
"That is what you like to see and I think the fans really like seeing that out of the drivers. Especially, we are inside the cars and we are limited to our physical emotions and physical body language driving the car. But when we get out and do things such as Tony (Stewart) did the fans really connect to that. They really connect to that emotion and driving down the road somebody cuts you off on the highway you would love to shoot them a bird or something. Maybe you do.”
Who doesn't?
No, I don't connect with this unprofessional outburst of irrationality that Junior and others are calling "emotion." Here is how real competitors act - they've been there before; they put the bad stuff behind them and go on to the next competition; they get out of the car, go to the garage, refuse to comment about the incident beyond, "Talk is cheap, it's over, we're going to the next race," and that's it. No helmet throws, no tantrums, you're supposed to be adults: Grow up and become them.
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