Do Winston Cup drivers double as spin doctors?

In stark contrast to the restless strip of sin 10 miles south of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the vast majority of Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 was quite docile.

Borderline boring, even.

Then Sterling Marlin put the bumper to Jimmie Johnson in the race's final turn, and suddenly Matt Kenseth's runaway victory got far more interesting.

Drunks from Turn 4 to Tallahassee were jarred awake by the flailing appendages of inquiring buddies yearning to know whether or not it was intentional.

We wondered, too: Do drivers ever wreck other competitors on purpose? It sure looks like much of the time, but does it really happen?

I'm no driver, but I can answer that query plain and simple.

You're damn right they do.

That's not to say they're out to physically harm one another. Not even. It's not about that, especially with today's intensified safety consciousness.

It's about making a pair of unambiguous statements:

1. Don't dish it out if you can't take it.

2. Move or be moved.

Radracing3: It happens at just about every race. I don't think they are trying to hurt anyone but that is a part of NASCAR. That's racing. If you are going to move someone, you better expect to get moved in return.

The Last Lap  Email Marty

Obviously, Double-R-3 didn't leave all his luck in Vegas, because he just hit the jackpot. Whether or not you choose to accept it, it's an eye for an eye out there, folks.

Eaglemom: Drivers bump every chance they get. They are so restricted by the upper management of NASCAR that they can no longer be 'human or have human emotions'.

Therefore, it's the only way these drivers can stand up for themselves, and NASCAR has a hard time proving it was on purpose.

Eagle makes an excellent -- not to mention very relevant -- point, here. No longer can drivers express themselves in post-race skirmishes a la Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough, circa 1979.

	Harvick vs. Biffle, 2002

Fines, probation -- the repercussions are too great. (Ask Kevin Harvick. He tried to "Roy Jones" Greg Biffle last year at Bristol, but was intercepted by a hoard of crewmen and officials, then slapped with a $15,000 fine and probation).

Unable to retaliate with fisticuffs, payback comes subtly between the white lines. Lay the bumper on a guy, then try your hardest not to smile when asked about the incident in post-race interviews.

Example:

"Yeah, man, we got into ol' Billy there. Hate it. Sure didn't mean to. Just washed up a lil' bit there comin' outta 3 and got him in the left-rear. We's racin' awful hard there. Hate it. Just one'nem racin' deals, I guess."

Mmmm hmm. Riiiiiiiight.

Here's a young lady that wholeheartedly disagrees with my stance, and seems to be well past due on returning the Sopranos' first season DVD to Blockbuster:

DJsalliegirl: I don't think this happens at all. What in the world. If every driver got in their car on Sunday thinking that they are going to deliberately wreck another driver as payback from another race ... you'd have all 43 drivers running around a track at 180 mph with chips on their shoulders.

It would look more like a crashin' up derby than a race. They're athletes and fierce competitors, not mob bosses from Sicily with payback on their minds. They get over it and a heck of a lot quicker than their fans do!

Now there's an absolute truth. (Mob bosses? Interesting comparison). Though Alliegirl discounts my theory, I do agree with her in one aspect: Aside from the continuing Jeff Gordon/Rusty Wallace feud, it's rare that drivers carry frustration over to the following race.

	Green vs. Waltrip at Rockingham, 2002 Credit: AP

In talking to various competitors about this topic, it seems as if intentional wrecking is usually due to frustration with a particular guy in the particular event currently being run. After the race, they raise mortal hell. But come Tuesday, they're over it and chummy again.

This next guy still has me scratching my head, not to mention delving into college textbooks in an effort to comprehend his in-depth analysis of the Marlin/Johnson accident.

I never knew Mr. Wizard's first name was Johnny.

Johnny: Your opinion is fine with me, but don't confuse opinions with the laws of physics. There is no gray area in those laws.

There was a car in the near vicinity and the uphill side, (48). When the cars closed into each other, they developed a low-pressure area between the cars. That automatically set up a situation where both cars wanted to gravitate towards the lower pressure area.

They were committed at that point. Both were closing towards each other. Add to the mix the banking of the track (i.e. centrifugal force) and finally Newton's Law (Objects in motion tend to stay in motion) and the Linear Law of Motion (things moving in a straight line tend to go straight), (then) it is a miracle that both cars weren't wrecked.

The 40 should have went up into the wall and the 48 should have came down. Only very precise driving on both drivers parts prevented it.

	Credit: Autostock

Wow. NASCAR might want to get this cat in cahoots with Dr. Dean Sicking and the boys at Nebraska developing the S.A.F.E.R. barrier. I don't even know what to say in response to this one.

My intelligence level isn't adequate enough to rebut or concur. Thanks for the lesson, Johnny. I'll keep studying.

This one's a little bit easier to comprehend:

Bugninva: When moving to the Late Model ranks, my mentor and friend, Joe Wallace, took me for a walk through the pits and told me that if I remembered nothing else, remember that if a driver crowds, pinches you down or up, or leans on you, and you give the ground, all other competitors will see it and you'll be history.

It has little to do with anger, but more with marking territory, (and) staking your claim to that portion of the racing surface to which you are entitled. This, of course, works if both drivers share common sense. And there are idiots competing at all levels.

When running somewhere near the lead, or actually leading, it is usually a bump to let slower traffic know I was coming, then give them the opportunity to get up or down, out of the way. If this was something they couldn't grasp, then the (give them) a "boost on entry" and move by while they were gathering it up.

Despite the handle, that response is far from buggin'. More like right on. Competitors must show that they mean business, or they'll get run over their entire career.

	Credit: Nate Mecha, HSP

If a driver is disallowing the advance of another competitor, he gets bumped. If that means he spins out, so be it. It's the old 'go or get off the pot' adage.

Dale Earnhardt was the master at this tactic. Sure, he wrecked some people and pissed people off, but he didn't care. He was all about the bottom line - winning races. Off the track, he was as loyal a man as you'd ever meet to those who earned it. On it, he knew no loyalty.

FiberDood: There will always be intentional punting in NASCAR, and there will always be UNintentional 'rubbin' is racin'' deals in NASCAR.

To the casual fan, I'm not too sure you can see the difference. To those of us who have been avid NASCAR fans our whole lives, we know.

I know this much: Punting is as much a part of NASCAR as it is football.

Marty Smith's mailbag appears every Tuesday afternoon on NASCAR.com.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.