Most disliked racing drivers?

[RazorSharkz]

Full story

Spencer slams Toyota entry

By Richard Oliver
San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 01/29/2004 12:00 AM

FORT WORTH — Veteran NASCAR driver Jimmy Spencer, whose nickname on the circuit is "Mr. Excitement," caused a stir during Wednesday's media day at Texas Motor Speedway when he took a swipe at the entry of Toyota, a Japanese firm, into this season's Craftsman Truck Series.

"I was raised with Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler, so I don't know," said Spencer, who drove a Dodge truck to one series victory last year. "Those sons of bitches bombed Pearl Harbor, don't forget. As long as it's good for the economy, I guess it's OK. But I hope that Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge kick their ass."

Spencer, a 46-year-old Pennsylvania native who lives in Cornelius, N.C., made the statement during a question-and-answer session before roughly 100 media members, facility guests and officials. Texas Motor Speedway will host truck series stops on June 11 and Oct. 16.

"We stand by what we said all along, that NASCAR is interested in companies who manufacture their products in the U.S.," said Owen Kearns, Jr., manager of communications for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. "Toyota's trucks are built in Indiana, the engines are made in West Virginia, they employ a lot of American workers in production.

"Jimmy's going to be Jimmy, and he's always going to be Jimmy. He's old-school."

Les Unger, who represents Toyota manufacturing on the Craftsman Truck Series, could not be reached for comment.

Construction is under way on a Toyota production plant in San Antonio. The complex, which will employ 2,000 workers, will produce up to 150,000 Tundra pickups per year.

"What I'm getting at is that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, but times have changed and our sport has changed," Spencer said later when asked about the comment. "I know that people take that stuff out of context, but it doesn't bother me."

The introduction of the company to the truck series, he added, was a positive one. "I think they'll get a lot of support. It's going to help the truck series more than anything. It's going to be good. Our times have changed, and we have to be a world economy."

As for a potential backlash, Spencer shrugged. "It doesn't bother me," he said. "I can handle the Toyota people."

Spencer was suspended for one NASCAR Winston Cup event last year after punching fellow driver Kurt Busch during an altercation following a race. He is one of the few drivers to win on the Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup), Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck series. Spencer has tentative plans to race in all three series this year, if he lands sponsorships.

He's won two Winston Cup races, at Daytona and Talladega in 1994. Spencer has 12 career Busch triumphs. He had his first victory in the Craftsman Truck Series last year at New Hampshire.

That's disgusting. So disgusting

 

[Dennisch]

That's disgusting. So disgusting

It was 2004. Different times man!

 

[Bo]

I'll be adding him to the top of my list after reading that. What a 🤬.

 

[IforceV8]

It was 2004. Different times man!

Not really any different, you have heard of some guy with a squirrel pelt hair piece named Donald Drumpf havent you? I would bet Jimmy is a big fan.

 

[Blitz24]

To be fair, some people are upset that Japan has never apologized for it's role in WWII, Spencer might be one of those.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

To be fair, some people are upset that Japan has never apologized for it's role in WWII, Spencer might be one of those.

...Doesn't excuse anything he said though. Jimmy has always been known for opening his mouth before he thinks.

 

[Dennisch]

Not really any different, you have heard of some guy with a squirrel pelt hair piece named Donald Drumpf havent you? I would bet Jimmy is a big fan.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Joke>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

your head​

 

[wolfsburgraz]

I see a few people have mentioned Michael Schumacher in here, I would've agreed but for his post-retirement career at Mercedes, he wasn't getting results but you could still see how happy he was to be there just for the love of the sport, it made him a much more likable character imo.

I felt the same way about Shumacher as I do Vettel now. Vettel was insufferable [to me] during his dominating years at Red Bull. After Ricciardo kicked his behind around the track for a season and a tough start with Ferrari I find him much more humble and likeable.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Ayrton Senna - for reasons I already posted in this thread.

Michael Schumacher - Crashed, and broke his own car and then deliberately took out his championship rival.

Nico Rosberg - in a race after his first win - drove a rival car clean off the track into the run off and when said rival completed the pass, complained to his team that he'd passed him whilst off the track. His own team set him straight on it.

 

[ALO14]

Nico Rosberg - in a race after his first win - drove a rival car clean off the track into the run off and when said rival completed the pass, complained to his team that he'd passed him whilst off the track. His own team set him straight on it.

So he did one thing wrong in Bahrain 2012 and that's enough for you to dislike him. You must dislike the whole grid then.

 

[Tired Tyres]

So he did one thing wrong in Bahrain 2012 and that's enough for you to hate him. You must hate the whole grid then.

Where do I say HATE? That's right. I DON'T. It's about dislike or can't you read the thread title?

 

[JC_Dude]

I felt the same way about Shumacher as I do Vettel now. Vettel was insufferable [to me] during his dominating years at Red Bull. After Ricciardo kicked his behind around the track for a season and a tough start with Ferrari I find him much more humble and likeable.

Ahh... The result of the PR machine (Mark Webber).

 

[SagarisGTB]

His post retirement at Mercedes just further cemented the fact that the cars at Benetton and Ferrari were built for him and him only, IMO.

That's what you took away from Schumacher's Mercedes stint? I think you'll find that most of us got the impression that Schumi got old and his reactions and coordination declined.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Where do I say HATE? That's right. I DON'T. It's about dislike or can't you read the thread title?

Because he and others "hate" certain drivers and thus by extension pass the same degree of judgement on to others. Which is why I find the entire hate thing funny, cause you can't really hate someone you know nothing about other than what media wants you to see.

 

[Earth]

Michael Schumacher said some things later in his career that really rubbed me the wrong way. He trashed Indycar and NASCAR, then there was the stopping on track at Monaco stunt...combined with the Hill incident, Villeneuve incident, Barrichello, the list just goes on and on. Growing up I was a big fan of his, but as I got older I realized he was a brilliant driver, but had a personality I did not care for at all.

I never liked how Jorge Lorenzo handled Ben Spies as his teammate, saying he wanted somebody who could push him, and then when he gets that with Rossi he wants penalties to decide the championship not on track performance.

Tony Stewart has a real, very serious temper problem like Robby Gordon, the difference between the two is Stewart is more talented so he gets off the hook and is forgiven by some fans for having a rotten temper.

Joey Logano is one of those guys who bought into the 'find the biggest guy and pick a fight with him to prove your tough' myth. Hes like Danica Patrick, always getting in somebody's face to try and prove hes not a pushover.

Fernando Im the best Alonso despite getting beaten by a rookie Hamilton in which he resorted to trying to sabotage his pit stop and who knows what else

 

[RazorSharkz]

Jeremy Mayfield is one, usually a mid pack guy in Nascar during his career. In 2009 he failed a drug test for methamphetamine and had it overturned only to be drug tested again fivw days later and fail again for the same thing.

He also had a nasty falling out with Ray Evernham Motorsports where he would blame his lack of performance on an affair between Evernham and developmental driver Erin Crocker. This was all before his release from the team.

 

[McLaren]

Full story

"I was raised with Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler, so I don't know," said Spencer, who drove a Dodge truck to one series victory last year. "Those sons of bitches bombed Pearl Harbor, don't forget. As long as it's good for the economy, I guess it's OK. But I hope that Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge kick their ass."


"What I'm getting at is that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, but times have changed and our sport has changed," Spencer said later when asked about the comment. "I know that people take that stuff out of context, but it doesn't bother me."

The introduction of the company to the truck series, he added, was a positive one. "I think they'll get a lot of support. It's going to help the truck series more than anything. It's going to be good. Our times have changed, and we have to be a world economy

I think the thing that disgusts me the most is that pitiful excuse of a response to his original comment, that "people take that stuff out of context". Hard to take it out of context when you comment on Toyota entering the sport as being relevant to Japan attacking the US. Seems pretty straight forward ignorance to me.

The other comment about being a world economy isn't much better when he originally said he guesses Toyota entering is ok if it's good for the economy.

But yeah, that's a pretty strong reason to dislike a driver making those kind of comments.

 

[mustafur]

Besides if he knew history, the US Military saved Toyota from bankruptcy by giving them the contract for war vehicles for the Korean war.

 

[Ettick]

Schumacher and Senna.

Not going to take away from their talent or their results, but they were incredibly dirty.

 

[Tak[TEC]]

As for your comments about Mark Skaife, you really need to do a little more homework on the guy.
He first came to note in the Ford Laser Series, drove a Nissan Gazelle (Silvia for those outside of AUS) for the factory Nissan team winning the 2-litre ATCC, moved up to the outright class in a R31 Skyline & put the runs on the board against all the Sierras before the R32 GT-R became the car to have. Once that was banned, he had to race a Commodore and well & truly stepped up to the plate winning the title in '94.
You don't win 5 titles by being a muppet. Yes, he could have a whinge but that's what comes with being a perfectionist.

My bad i'm not very knowledgeable about mid-early 80's ATTC. I just really didn't like his ego,defensive driving style or holier then thou attitude towards the public and some other drivers (I've actually seen this first hand, although he might have gotten better at this with age). I don't mind people who are fans of his since he never did anything really questionable or dirty, I'm just not a fan. Although this has gotten worse with his abysmal commentary

 

[Pete05]

My bad i'm not very knowledgeable about mid-early 80's ATTC. I just really didn't like his ego,defensive driving style or holier then thou attitude towards the public and some other drivers (I've actually seen this first hand, although he might have gotten better at this with age). I don't mind people who are fans of his since he never did anything really questionable or dirty, I'm just not a fan. Although this has gotten worse with his abysmal commentary

That's ok but if you ever get the chance to listen to the commentary from the old Channel 7 days, his efforts are gold compared to what we used to have to put up with.

 

[-Fred-]

That's what you took away from Schumacher's Mercedes stint? I think you'll find that most of us got the impression that Schumi got old and his reactions and coordination declined.

Oh that is absolutely true, not to mention he had not driven on proper slicks since 1997. But the first Mercedes was not an incredibly competitive car, nor was it a car that could race at the front every race, something he was quite used to with Benetton and Ferrari... I don't think it was just the reflexes and the age, I think there was something missing from the package. It just strikes me as odd that he lost so much talent in the 3-4 years he took off.

 

[ALO14]

Where do I say HATE? That's right. I DON'T. It's about dislike or can't you read the thread title?

That doesn't make a difference to the point I made. You're just going to pick up on a petty thing so you can detract from the point I made.

 

[Scaff]

That doesn't make a difference to the point I made. You're just going to pick up on a petty thing so you can detract from the point I made.

Yes it does make a difference, and if your going to quote someone do so accurately rather than projecting what you think they mean onto them.

The AUP is quite clear that false and misleading posts will not be tolerated, so use the actual words a member did when you quote them, and not the ones you think will strengthen your point despite not being used.

The point you were making may have been valid, but by misquoting someone and falsely assigning a different position to them you have effectively undermined your own position and credibility .

 

[DK]

I'm currently reading through "Prost versus Senna" by Malcolm Folley at the moment (I'm currently in the middle of the 1987 chapter), Senna comes across is quite the bad loser at the moment.

 

[Pete05]

I'm currently reading through "Prost versus Senna" by Malcolm Folley at the moment (I'm currently in the middle of the 1987 chapter), Senna comes across is quite the bad loser at the moment.

1987 - his 3rd year at Lotus and things aren't going as he would've hoped....again.
Redemption would come in the strongest form possible the following year

 

[The Chosen One]

Jarno Trulli

Remember the Trulli train?

He infuriated racers and spectators alike by becoming arguably the hardest slow person to pass in the history of motorsport this side of Andrea De Cesaris.

Great qualifier, but really lacking in race pace.

 

[Liquid]

I'm currently reading through "Prost versus Senna" by Malcolm Folley at the moment (I'm currently in the middle of the 1987 chapter), Senna comes across is quite the bad loser at the moment.

Don't worry, he'll profit from dropped scores soon enough.