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Again, I think the biggest reason for the penalty was the recurring theme of Brad Loyet's driving. As I said before, I would not have penalized him on Saturday as the move was not all that ridiculous, but I would have never let the situation get to this point. I really like the Loyets, so this has nothing to do with them off the track as they are a bunch of really nice people, but someone should have done something about Brad long before Saturday.
I've seen Brad drive over his head and out of control for a couple years - I've seen quite a few instances, and I don't even see that many POWRi events. That has led to some absolutely ground-pounding crashes of his own in that span. I can also remember his driving prompting Brady Bacon to snap and spin him out at McCool, for which Bacon was parked by POWRi. I also remember Brad Sweet come very close to launching a flattened tire at Loyet after an Eldora incident. Long story short, Loyet has a long history of racing much like he did on Saturday. But before then, there should have been some warnings....there should have been some long talks and maybe a little physical intimidation....there should have been a suspension if things didn't get better! Don't take away a race that a guy just ran - instead, tell him not to even bother showing up at the next one.
For someone like Loyet, maybe a fine won't do the trick. Maybe taking away this win won't get the point across. But if you take away his opportunity to race, it will hurt him more than anything. Anyway, I wish Brad a lot of luck this year and I look forward to watching him race a sprint car this season. I just hope he stays safe and becomes better at racing within himself...
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