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Full of respect Despite skirmish, Wimmer honors opponents, sport
Updated: Saturday September 08, 2001 1:15 AM
By Stephen Thomas, CNNSI.com RICHMOND, Va. -- About an hour after running over Greg Biffle on the cool-down lap following last week's South Carolina 200 and not five minutes removed from a tongue-lashing at the NASCAR Busch series hauler, a seemingly sheepish and obviously contrite Scott Wimmer explained both the accident and its immediate consequences. "Mr. Triplett and Mr. Darby weren't too happy with me," Wimmer, 25, said in reference to Kevin Triplett and John Darby, Busch series director of operations and division director, respectively, and the gentlemen who reprimanded him for his post-race behavior. "I'm sure Mr. [Jack] Roush isn't too happy with me either," Wimmer acknowledged -- a safe bet, too, given that it was a Roush car that Wimmer destroyed. But if Wimmer's use of the formal "Mr." in each case seems to serve primarily to point out his youth, it's an impression belied by what Wimmer says next. "I apologized," he said. "It was my fault." Young, yes, but immature? Clearly not.
In his first full season driving in the Busch series, Wimmer is 12th in the race for the championship and second to Biffle in the race for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award. He was 15th in Friday's Autolife FRAM 250 race at Richmond International Raceway. "His year might not have been everything we'd like for it to have been," says Bill Davis, owner of Wimmer's team, "but at the same time, he's made a lot of progress. He's learned a lot about these big cars, he came to the Busch series with no truck experience, no previous Busch experience and we just threw him out there." Wimmer could be as unassuming a race car driver as any who has ever turned a wheel. Even more than his decision to stand on formality with people who are older than he is - "My dad wants me to respect people," Wimmer says -- there is the wide-eyed look in his eye, as if to say, "I can't believe I'm here," that he seems to wear at all times. "He may not be the meanest racer out there," Davis says, "but he's tried to earn [drivers'] respect, he gives up a lot of room, a lot of ground. That beats the heck out of some of the other young rookies we've got going around here now, running over everybody and knocking them out of the way. I'd certainly rather have him race the way he's raced than some of the other guys are."
Davis knows a bit about good young drivers, having had both Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon in his stable at one time or another. Though sponsorship for the No. 23 car in 2002 is still undecided, Davis is hopeful that he not only has Wimmer for another year in Busch racing, but that he can run some Cup races next year as well. "I personally think that two years in Busch should be a requirement," Davis says. "If our sponsorship package comes together like we expect it to, we'll run five to seven [Cup races] with him next year." Those would not be Wimmer's first. In November, Wimmer went to Atlanta to run an ARCA race. When problems kept him from that race, his team threw a Cup engine in his car ... and he made the show. Even more impressive, he led nine laps, at one point holding none other than Dale Earnhardt at bay, on a restart no less. That experience notwithstanding -- which he simply calls "neat" -- Wimmer feels no pressing need to run Cup sooner rather than later, nor is he bothered by the success that his fellow youngster Kevin Harvick is enjoying. "I'm not ready," he says. "I don't yet have the experience. I've raced OK in Busch, but I have qualified poorly. If I was to win the last five races of the season, maybe I'd have to go to Cup. But unless I learn a whole lot in a short amount of time, I'm not ready."
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