5 "You Dummy!" Moments in Auto Racing

5 "You Dummy!" Moments in Auto Racing

By Brian H Cotnoir

Racing is a sport that relies heavily on strategy and teamwork, but sometimes that goes completely out the window, due to a momentary lapse in judgement or due to someone else's dunderheaded mistake.  These are 5 such of these moments.   

1.)  Spencer Gallagher suspended after his first NASCAR win

Spencer Gallagher's father is Maury Gallagher, the CEO of Allegiant Air, Maury helped get his son's racing career going from a young age.  Gallagher had backing from his father and Allegiant Air throughout his time in the ARCA Series and NASCAR Trucks and Grand National Series.  In 2018, Gallagher scored an upset win at Talladega Superspeedway; his first career win in any of NASCAR's Top 3 Series.   Gallagher gave one of the best Victory Lane speeches where he told his friends and family he was going to "Party like it's 1999".  Spencer Gallagher partied a little too hard because he failed a drug-test 4 days later.  Gallagher would be suspended by NASCAR but would successfully complete NASCAR's "Road to Recovery" program.  Gallagher would return to his family team, but it unfortunately would be the end of his NASCAR career.  He has since moved into a managerial role with the team.

2.)  Kevin LePage takes out the field on a re-start

Another infamous moment that happened at Talladega Superspeedway occurred when NASCAR veteran Kevin Lepage pulled in front of an oncoming pack of racers during a Grand National Race and wrecked a dozen cars!  The journeyman Lepage was quick to point the finger at other spotters after the wreck but would eventually own up to his mistake.  I could understand if Lepage was a rookie driver making this kind of mistake at Talladega, but he was a seasoned veteran with over 350 starts (including 2 wins) in the Grand National Series at the time!

3.)  J.J. Yeley ends Mark Martin's championship hopes at Charlotte

So let's talk about J.J. Yeley: While I can respect him as a person and an open wheel driver, but as far as NASCAR, he is one of the Worst Drivers I've ever seen.  During his first full-time season in the Cup Series, Yeley attempted to pit late at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.   This last second decision would prove to be very costly, and not just for Yeley.  As Yeley made a quick maneuver to attempt to get to pit road he drove directly into the path of title contender Mark Martin and sent Martin's car head on into the wall, ending his race and sadly his title hopes too.  Fellow competitor Robby Gordon would also be collected in the wreck as well.   While I cannot deny the talent J.J. Yeley displayed in USAC, this awful attempt to get to pit road is one of the few moments that most fans remember J.J. Yeley for in NASCAR.

4.)  Alex Kennedy drives "across the d@mn racetrack"

Alex Kennedy is no stranger to dumb moments in NASCAR.  Two years before he wrecked on pit road before his first Cup Series start, Alex had made a particularly bad decision on Dover.  After being involved in a single car wreck, Alex Kennedy, attempted to drive back to pit road, however, Kennedy did not realize how badly his steering was and he wound up driving into the path of Kevin Swindell's Ford Mustang, which unfortunately eliminated both drivers from competition.   

5.)  Joe Cooksey crashes into the pace car

Now, I thought Alex Kennedy's move at Dover was stupid, but this last incident takes the cake! The pace car is supposed to go out whenever there is a wreck, not become part of the wreck.   At the 1999 ARCA FirstPlus Financial 200 at the Daytona International Speedway, driver Joe Cooksey crashed into the back of the pace car under caution!  Now, I can recall times in racing where I've seen the pace car driver spin out the car in NASCAR (and actually I can recall two times in IndyCar where the pace car driver wrecked the car on their own), but this is the only time I've ever seen a stockcar driver, crash into and destroy a pace car!