Not getting paid enough for this.
Now, I don’t know how much NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series spotters actually get paid, but if you’ve seen some of the questionable driving in the Truck Series you know it’s probably not enough.
The Truck Series is one of NASCAR’s lower series that’s supposed to serve as a development league of sorts for the sport’s top series, the Cup Series. But recently, with sponsorship at a premium and the high cost of running a truck, it seems like anybody who can bring some sponsorship money to the table can get a Truck Series ride, whether you actually have talent or not.
And the result is you get races that look like demolition derbies after drivers who probably shouldn’t even be out on the track end up making boneheaded moves.
I mean, it’s entertaining, even if it’s not the best racing.
But anyway, with all that in mind, one Truck Series spotter was apparently fed up with the moves that his own driver was making during the race – and even threatened to walk out mid-race after a heated argument on the radio.
I assume if you’re reading this you’re already familiar with the job of a spotter, but if you’re not, the spotter is on the roof of the racetrack and is responsible for keeping the driver aware of what’s going on around him on the track. Telling him where other cars (or trucks) are, when there’s an accident, when he’s cleared the cars around him…basically, he’s the driver’s eyes above the track.
But apparently Truck Series driver Daniel Dye didn’t appreciate the information he was getting from his spotter, who I believe is veteran Cup Series spotter and former driver himself, Kevin Hamlin.
The 20-year old Dye is in his second year running full-time in the Truck Series, after finishing 18th in the points during his first full season. And he’s also the son of Randy Dye, who’s a prominent businessman and former driver who owns several car dealerships and has served on the board of the NASCAR Foundation. So naturally, Dye has faced accusations of being a “trust fund baby” or a silver spoon driver as he attempts to make own name in NASCAR.
Oh, and he was also arrested a couple years ago on felony battery charges after allegedly punching a classmate in the balls…
Kevin Hamlin, meanwhile, spots for Alex Bowman in the Cup Series, so he could be an invaluable resource for a rookie driver like Dye. But when he tried giving Dye some advice during last night’s Truck Series race at Martinsville, the driver didn’t want to hear it.
The spotter was trying to let Hamlin know that he was racing his teammate, who had new tires, too hard, and was hurting his own lap times:
“Teammate with tires, you can’t drive him to the f*cking apron dude.”
But Dye didn’t think he did anything wrong, and let Hamlin know about it on the radio:
“I was lifted up, you can kiss my ass.”
And the spotter was quick to fire back:
“You and I are gonna have a chat when this is over, because there’s a reason you’re six spots behind where we started.”
Hamlin then switched over to the team’s second channel, which the driver can’t hear, to talk directly to crew chief Blake Bainbridge:
“This motherf*cker tells me to kiss his ass one more time Blake, and you guys are going to be on the box because I’m going to be headed to the house. 10-4?”
Yikes.
Dye ultimately finished 13th in the Long John Silver’s 200 (yes, that was really the name of the race), while his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammate Christian Eckes won the race. So maybe Dye should have listened to his spotter a little more…
