{"id":1558756,"date":"2023-04-22T13:55:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T17:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1558756"},"modified":"2023-04-22T13:55:19","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T17:55:19","slug":"kyle-petty-never-more-embarrassed-nascar-darrell-waltrip-daytona-500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/kyle-petty-never-more-embarrassed-nascar-darrell-waltrip-daytona-500\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Petty Was Never More Embarrassed for NASCAR Than After Darrell Waltrip Won the Daytona 500"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s not often that Vince Lombardi\u2019s name comes up in NASCAR<\/a> discussions, but Kyle Petty<\/a> watched last weekend\u2019s Xfinity Series<\/a> race at Martinsville and wondered if maybe John Hunter Nemechek should have heeded the advice of the legendary NFL coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though certain critics will lambaste Petty, mostly for no other reason than they don\u2019t think eight Cup Series wins qualify him as a racing expert, the driver-turned-NBC analyst was spot-on when he raised questions about burnouts this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Act like you\u2019ve been there before\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Darrell
Darrell Waltrip celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19, 1989. | ISC Archives\/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The difference between the burnout celebrations by John Hunter Nemechek<\/a> and Kyle Larson<\/a> last weekend was the difference between night and day. Larson smoked his tires for an entire lap on a half-mile oval after his Cup Series win but managed the rubber the whole way so that he was riding on more than just rims when he got to Victory Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nemechek would have done well to follow the advice of Vince Lombardi regarding the end zone celebrations following touchdowns. \u201cWhen you get in the end zone, act like you\u2019ve been there before,\u201d Lombardi (and many who followed in his footsteps) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nemechek celebrated on Saturday by pulling his car up against the wall and gunning the tires long and hard. It started a fire in the rear wheel well, and the flames started spreading as crew members scurried to the scene with extinguishers. Afterward, officials inspected the track to be sure there was no damage that would affect the next day\u2019s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyle Petty rightfully points out celebratory burnouts have become a clich\u00e9<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Darrell
Darrell Waltrip celebrates following his Daytona 500 victory by performing the Ickey Shuffle, a dance created by NFL player Ickey Woods. | ISC Archives\/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Appearing on the NASCAR Motormouths<\/em> podcast<\/a> this week, NBC racing analyst Kyle Petty tackled the subject of post-race burnouts and made a compelling argument that they\u2019ve ceased to be interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI grew up working on cars. I grew up putting bodies on cars and hanging them, putting them together, changing springs and changing shocks and engines and stuff,\u201d Petty explained. \u201cThis is just destruction to me every time I see it and always has been. I want to say this: I think the burnout has become like spiking the ball in the NFL was. Everybody did it, so what's special about it? There's nothing special about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoey Logano does a great job with his burnouts and the way he takes his steering wheel off and holds it out the window. That\u2019s different, that's a little bit of a twist. The way Kyle Busch does his burnout and then emerges through the smoke and bows to the crowd, that's a little bit different. Everybody else is just doing the same thing, man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyle Petty found Darrell Waltrip\u2019s \u2018Ickey Shuffle\u2019 embarrassing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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