Ambulance Abuse to Finger Pointing, NASCAR’s Unearthed “Naughty” Era Leaves NASCAR Fans in Splits

The Bristol Night Race has been an iconic event ever since the lights were installed at the 0.533-mile short track. All races at Bristol are expected to deliver some of the heated racing battles, but one particular from the year 2002 stands out among the rest. This was the race that saw NASCAR Hall of Famers, Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace, engage in a fierce battle for the win.

Gordon, after his championship win in 2001, was on the lookout for his first win in 31 races, while Wallace was on a hunt to break his winless streak of 49 races. With the final few laps into the race, the driver of the No. 24 car took advantage of lap traffic and bumped into the rear bumper of the #2 car, Wallace. Making the use of good old-fashioned bump-and-run, Gordon snatched the lead and the victory from his opponent that day.

This particular race was a feisty one, while Gordon and Wallace raced each other pretty cleanly and took no offense. However, the same could not be said for the others. Robby Gordon was involved in a scrap with then-rookie driver, Jimmie Johnson. He intentionally bumped into Johnson’s car, causing a big wreck and ultimately taking multiple race cars out of commission. Riled up and frustrated, Johnson was caught on camera showing a middle finger to Gordon’s car and walked into the ambulance.

Even Dale Earnhardt Jr was in on the act that day as he bumped into Ward Burton on Lap 403, resulting in caution number 15 for the race. Frustrated with the treatment, Burton got out of his race car, took off the heel pads of his shoes, and threw them at Dale Jr’s race car as it went by on the racetrack. Broadcasting the event, TNT Sports saw the funny side of all the heated exchanges and came up with an interesting graphic for the viewers on TV.

Rather than displaying regular race statistics, it read, “Mouthing Off – 2, Finger Pointing – 3, Car Bumping – 5, Heel Pads Thrown – 2, Ambulance Abuse – 1.”

After all these years, it seems like the graphic has surfaced once again online, and NASCAR fans couldn’t control their laughter and shared their personal experience catching the graphic on live TV.

NASCAR fans react to the comical graphic from the Sharpie 500 Bristol night race

NASCAR fans seem to thrive on the good old days of racing when it was in its golden era. Usually, fans like to pick sides with their favorite driver in an on-track conflict, but that wasn’t the case with this one. “it was such a fun race overall, and one of my favorites! it had just about everything and it’s one of the few times i actually enjoyed conflicts instead of being indifferent or not caring for it. everything was so funny 😭.” This comment all but sums up the story that unfolded that night.

It was clear that the broadcasters had an interesting choice of words in summing up the fender-bending heated incidents on the track. And those who came across this graphic for the first time did note down how they felt about TNT’s idea of unique race stats. “Car bumping sounds naughty.”

Highlighting Elliott Sadler’s incident with him hitting the ambulance along with Jimmie Johnson’s rant against Robby Gordon, a fan added, “LMFAO THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST PART. my two other favorites were whoever hit the ambulance (i think Sadler?) and when Johnson sounded off in an interview after a crash Robby Gordon caused with him on a restart.” Everybody seems to have their favorite moments from that day, including this fan.

This graphic prompted some of the new fans to watch the entire race, and they were baffled to hear the commentator’s take on Sadler hitting the ambulance. “Ambulance Abuse”. What the hell did someone call it the weewoo wagon on TV? 🙄.” 

Ward Burton’s interview after being wrecked out by Dale Jr was indeed one of the highlights of the day, and this was pointed out by one of the Reddit users online. “The best was Ward’s interview where he had to self-censor himself from saying “I wish I had something to shoot through the (goddamn) window” and then he walked off”.

Lucky were those fans who were able to see even telecasters have their sarcastic take on the race. It is indeed difficult to see FOX Sports pull off a stunt like this. Despite all the flak they receive from the NASCAR community.