Bristol larceny by Juan Pablo Montoya

The night started out with such promise. Night races at Bristol are always exciting. I never dreamed that less than 200 laps into it, all hope and promise would be dashed.

I am a Ryan Newman fan and Saturday night was devastating! Not only did my favorite driver, Ryan Newman, driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing #39 car get wrecked, but his chances to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship were likely wrecked as well.

It would be one thing if it were as crew chief Tony Gibson had noted in the aftermath of the melee, which included a desperate attempt to repair the devastated race car, but I just don't think he or Newman really knew what had happened.

When asked what Ryan had said, Gibson replied, "Well he just said somebody got into the left-rear of him and cut the left-rear tire. The lap before that he started getting really loose and then the very next lap, it just turned around on him. So, he didn’t say anything about the No. 42 car. I think we were going to spin out no matter what with that left-rear tire. By the time we saw it he has already spun. It’s a shame.

The following video of the incident tells a very different story.

I heard the radio transmission and can verify that is what Newman said, but that isn't what my eyes saw.

We all saw Juan Pablo Montoya intentionally run into Newman. And it isn't the first time. It also happened last year at Darlington. This time though, Montoya's antics were really costly to Newman, probably costing him a spot in the Chase.

Newman isn't the only Target of the driver of the Target car. Montoya, in my view, is a menace!