Steve Grissom went about his business as usual Wednesday morning.One day after learning he would be replaced in the Petty Enterprises No. 44 car by Jerry Nadeau, Grissom was on a pretty even keel.
“It’s just one of those things,” Grissom said. “It’s nothing to get upset about really.”
The thing is, it pretty obvious Grissom really means it.
Where most of us would probably have been yelling and screaming about bad breaks and raw deals, Grissom accepted things in matter-of-fact fashion.
“I’m still staying here, I’m just not going to drive the 44 car anymore,” Grissom said.
That handwriting went on the wall on June 23 when Nadeau almost won the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sears Point. If it hadn’t been for a broken drive train two laps from the end, Nadeau would have won his first time out for the Georgia-Pacific team and team owner Kyle Petty didn’t rule out any possibilities at that time.
You had to figure then that didn’t bode well for Grissom. Still, it would have been nice to see the Gadsden native get a shot at least through the end of the season.
Grissom said he understand the circumstances, however.
“There’s a lot to consider, sponsors and that kind of thing,” Grissom said. “They told me going into this that it could be a one-race deal, a three-race deal or maybe the whole season. They just didn’t know.
“So this didn’t come as any surprise to me.”
Grissom will once again help with research and development for the team’s three Winston Cup cars and its Craftsman Truck team – the same thing he was doing before he got back in the car at Talladega in April.
“I was there before they ask me to do that and I’m still here doing whatever they want me to do,” Grissom said.
¤ ¤ ¤BURN, BABY, BURN: Several winning teams have gotten popped pretty good in recent weeks for their cars being too low in post-race inspection and some are suggesting that post-race victory burnouts may be part of the problem.
The drivers will quickly tell you, however, that they hope that’s something NASCAR doesn’t ever try to regulate.
“If I ever win one, I’m going to burn the tires off of it,” said Jeff Green, who finished a career-high second last Sunday at Loudon. “I don’t care what they say. That’s part of the victory.“We’ve seen some great burnouts over the years and if the fans leave with that memory fresh in their minds, hopefully they’re going to buy memberships to AOL and all our sponsors.
“After you win a race, there’s no doubt in my mind, at that particular moment there’s no higher high in the world. If you can’t show a little excitement, I think that’s taking life away from you.”
