Earlier this weekend, NASCAR Whelen driver Julia Landauer made her NASCAR Xfinity debut at New Hampshire. Sadly, it came to an early end when she tangled with Justin Allgaier. Sometime during the race, she was running around the outside of the corner, when Allgaier snuck down the inside. Unfortunately, he got a touch too close to her and spun her into the inside wall.
When the commentators highlighted the incident, they observed that she didn’t get as close to the outside wall as possible. According to Steve Letarte, there were probably a couple of feet between her and the outside wall. His justification was that Allgaier assumed that she would press further towards the wall.
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The fact that the booth is blaming Julia for not being closer to the wall is insane. Gibbs is even lower than she is. Absolutely ridiculous to put the blame on her. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/8E68aotvJN
— Robby Lyons (@RLRacing2) July 16, 2022
Think of who's in the booth calling the race
You really think @SteveLetarte & @DaleJr is gonna put blame on Jr/Hendrick driversNOT
I mute the tv cause I HATE bias race calling
Tomorrow all we will hear about @TeamHendrick drivers as if they are only 4 cars on the track
— Sonya (@Sonya_192039) July 16, 2022
She's closer to the wall than the cars directly in front of or behind her and the 7 still drove into her. Her rookie status had nothing to do with it.
— Jacob Sampson (@Jacob_Sampson) July 16, 2022
Look at the picture again please. She was running her line.
— // Zach // (@Seretive) July 17, 2022
Dale is in the booth and they don't wanna hurt his feelings ig
But fr they've been blind when it comes to more wrecks than just ones involving JRM cars.
— Victor Vallee (@Victor_Vallee) July 16, 2022
We spent a lot of time talking about how Julia Landauer could have been closer to the wall here, yet she appears to be driving the same line as everyone else pic.twitter.com/O6tfwbbP1v
— Alanis King (@alanisnking) July 16, 2022
However, many fans did not appreciate his criticism of Landauer’s driving. Their observation was that there were many other drivers who were further away from the wall.
Some believed that the commentary was biased because Justin Allgaier, a JR Motorsports driver, was involved. At the time, Steve Letarte was in the commentary booth and the fans were of the opinion that he would not blame Allgaier.
What else did fans say about the Julia Landauer incident?
The general consensus is that the commentators were deflecting blame off of Allgaier. They firmly believe that the #7 driver simply did not see her as he drifted towards the wall. All in all, they firmly believe that she was simply on her line and it was Allgaier’s fault. In the end, Landauer could not finish her first ever Xfinity Series race.
@NASCAR_Xfinity @NASCARonNBC @JeffBurton @SteveLetarte
It's a really bad look when you deflect blame off of @J_Allgaier and onto @julialandauer for "being too far off the wall" when she was closer to the wall than anyone else in frame.
How much closer is she supposed to be? pic.twitter.com/hywmqxU9Xw— Christopher Weil (@Chrisw265) July 16, 2022
The booth was wrong, again!
Clearly Allgier kept drifting without noticing Julia. That could be a spotter problem, too— The Artful Roger. Diamond of many Facets. (@Rojodi) July 16, 2022
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Gee maybe employing people with vested interests in some of the teams on track could warp perceptions and coverage. An issue that goes beyond JRM.
— saved by the pump (@pattmatters0n) July 16, 2022
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Meanwhile, at the front of the field, it was pretty ironic that Allgaier went on to win the race. Behind him were Trevor Bayne, Brandon Brown, Jeremy Clements and Sheldon Creed. With this victory, Allgaier has snatched his third win of the 2022 Xfinity Series season and is looking strong for the championship.
