It’s really a shame that we have to have another conversation about the lack of respect in NASCAR.
For a couple years now, the sport has devolved into complete anarchy when it comes to respect. Drivers have started to run through others to win races, make dumb moves on an overtime restart thinking they can win from eighth, or just flat-out wreck someone when they feel they weren’t raced the way they wanted to be raced.
If you’re thinking that the Craftsman Truck Series is the primary culprit of such lack of respect, I wouldn’t be able to fault you based on the way that last season spiraled out of control with intentional crashes or disrespectful driving.
This season, however? Surprisingly, the Truck Series has not seen a ton of dirty driving. Most of the rough driving has come in the Cup Series, in part thanks to the rigid construction of the Next Gen.
The 2023 championship race at Phoenix Raceway for the Truck Series was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster, with paybacks, crashes and just plain poor driving from the drivers, resulting in 29 additional laps of overtime before Ben Rhodes could capture his second championship.
That seemed to be a wake-up call to the entire field, because, while there have been wrecks of natural cause, there have been limited cases of purely intentional disrespectful driving.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, though. Naturally, there have been cases of drivers frustrated with each other, resulting in short tempers and hurt feelings.
Perhaps the most prominent incident came at Nashville Superspeedway, when Layne Riggs and Stefan Parsons engaged in a fierce, contact-filled battle for several laps throughout the race. The battle ended when a frustrated Riggs ended up sending Parsons up the hill and into the wall to bring out a caution.
Riggs was then held two laps for rough driving, then talked through the incident with Parsons after the race.
The only other rivalry of note in the Truck Series has been between the two championship leaders this season, Christian Eckes and Corey Heim. A combined eight wins on the season has solidified them as the favorites for the title this season. As such, their battles on the track have been quite fierce.
Fortunately, the two have raced each other cleanly and with respect for most of the season.
The key word there is “most”. They did have a little dust-up at…
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