It seems that a lot is being said about cars bumping others in a way that takes them out of the competition. A lot is said about Tony Stewart’s bump of Jeff Gordon that spun him out, or Junior bumping Michael Waltrip out. I think a lot of this bumping is accidental. Some bumping is on purpose, like when Jeff Gordon put Kurt Busch into the wall this year, or when Earnhardt Sr. deliberately spun Terry LaBonte to take the win away after Terry had passed him cleanly at Martinsville. That was just plain dirty driving done intentionally and this does take place.

But consider how on the edge of control these cars actually are. The announcer Boogity Waltrip says that you could spin out a car at speed just by pushing it with your hand. This is true; these cars are on the very edge of control. This is why they call it racing and not riding. A real racer will take it to the edge every chance he gets.

Now hang on a second before you get all steamed and start sending me poison e-mails and let me finish. I’ve done some racing, mostly on short tracks, mostly dirt and have learned sometimes that it is not always that easy to control a race car and maintain a the interval to the car in front of you. There are no brake light or turn signals to indicate a lane change. You poke your nose in and take your chances.

Take this for example. Try walking a foot behind someone without trying to keep in step and not step on the person in front of your feet. Not so easy hey? Try pushing a cart in the grocery store a foot behind someone without bumping them. Now go to a Play Station and race a Nascar game and do a lap without hitting something. Try an arcade simulator and be able to do the same thing. If you can do these things maybe you should try a driving school, you may have some talent. Now do this at speeds between twice and 3 times the speed you drive on the freeway. At that speed a miscue of 1/1000th of a second will cause a bump.

Does bumping take place? All the time, but bumps that indicate annoyance or bumps that are intended to transmit a message to the car ahead are done on the straightaway, not in mid corner.

There was an old time dirt racer when asked how hard do you bump a guy, his answer was just till his goggles come loose. So before you start bashing Tony Stewart or Junior or insert the driver’s name, here give this some thought.

ronoso@wi.rr.com