The Stress of Pursuing a ChampionshipIt's tough to keep your cool when you're in the hunt for a championship. The pressure, I'm told, can be incredibly overwhelming. It takes a real cool head to maintain your balance and keep things in check to allow you to perform at your very best. Sometimes, words come out of your mouth without your brain kicking into gear first.
I've tried very hard to not name names when I do a blog entry like this, but it would be virtually impossible for anyone who's following the championship battle in the NASCAR Late Models at La Crosse to NOT know who I'm referring to in this one.
Todd Korish has professed that his friendship is "over" with Shawn Pfaff and Kevin Nuttleman, because the two teammates are, in his opinion, in cahoots with one another to stymie his charge to the front of the field.
I don't necessarily fault Korish for making the comments he did after Saturday night's feature. He was mad. I just think his anger is misdirected. His car was not performing as well as he had hoped or expected it to do. That was fairly obvious if you watched the race or the video of it, which I have on the RacingNuggets.com website. Korish was struggling to pass on the outside--as was everyone else.
Despite a notable "hiccup" in Nuttleman's forward progress at the start of the feature, Korish took five laps to decide to finally go to the outside groove and eventually roll around Tim Nelson. When he got to Nuttleman, the elder racer actually moved to the upper groove and gave Korish the preferred lower lane as the two entered turn one.
If Korish still felt that he was cut short of time to improve his position, he could have chosen to move to the outside groove when the laning cone came out after the caution. But he didn't.
In a discussion with some people after the races, we all agreed that the collective jaw dropping was audible, when first, Pfaff, then Steve Carlson, Brent Kirchner and finally Korish all opted to stay in the low groove when the laning cone came out after the caution in Saturday night's feature. It wasn't until Cole Howland came from deep in the pack, that the outside pole was finally filled for the restart.
Astounding? Hell yes! So suffice it to say--Korish, Pfaff, Carlson and Kirchner were not feeling the love with their cars on Saturday night--at least when it came to the outside groove at the La Crosse Speedway.
But this point aside, there's another factor that has played a role in the tightening points battle. Qualifying. We've stated this countless times on our pre-race radio show. Championships are won with solid finishes, coupled with solid qualifying efforts. This season alone, Pfaff has made up 15 points on Korish, just in qualifying.
Mind you, I'm not trying to bash on Korish here, regardless of what you think. I'm just trying to illustrate that when a driver is in the heat of a points championship, they find all kinds of reasons why their success is not what they expected. An "off night" can sometimes cause one to engage their comments before considering it thoroughly in their brain. It was incredibly obvious that Korish (and many of the racers for that matter) wanted nothing to do with the outside groove on Saturday night.
I'm a firm believer that Korish will reconsider his harsh comments toward his one-time friends, Pfaff and Nuttleman and realize that this is just stiff competition. Korish is a hard-nosed competitor and he has a great sense of humor. Just look to the whole "Insane Clown Posse" on the hoods of their team machines. Plus, I've witnessed him shuffling around a dance floor on occasion after having a few cocktails. He can be a fun guy. He's just embroiled in a very high pressure situation right now.
We haven't seen a cooler head than Korish this season, since the years of Nuttleman's dominance in the division. Unfortunately, he slipped and lost his cool on Saturday night. He let the pressure get to him and went off like Yosemite Sam at his former friends and competitors.
I'm hopeful he can gather up his emotions and get things realigned in his mind, so that he can be fully prepared for the championship battle that he has worked so hard to garner for so many years. Pfaff won't make it easy on him. No one should. What's the joy in earning a championship if you didn't have some blood, sweat and tears involved? Victory will taste even sweeter because of it.
Good luck to both drivers. I'm not pulling for either of you. I just want to enjoy the on-track battle as a fan and hope that friendships can stay solid off the track.
