What they said, it’s a jig down the straight to try to get the driver pulling next to you to back out. I’m assuming it was started in Europe before and drivers here saw it happening and picked it up. There’s some videos of it causing wrecks and I find it as a disrespectful move to make. Homestead is a good example of it going wrong, I’d consider it blocking/a reactionary move and deserving of a penalty whether there’s contact or not.
@Bimodal_Rocket realistically, it wouldn’t phase a good national driver, but the newer kids that aren’t used to moves like that could be scared by it enough to back out or make a mistake. A good driver will probably retaliate and move the offending driver out of the way with no hesitation, so my drivers know my thoughts both on them doing it and having it done for them. If they try to Euro a competitor and get cleaned out on retaliation, I’ll say “well, you brought that on yourself. You can go talk to the kid you Euro’d and apologize or just sit here, but don’t go expecting an apology for what they did in response.” Thankfully they’re all pretty good about racing standards so it doesn’t come up.
Well, thanks. Then I agree 100% with Burpo. You “euro” me, I am “yardsaling” you. There is no place for either in racing, but two wrongs often make you feel better…
Swerving on people down the straight (aka “Euro’ing [new term to me]) either makes you look like:
An Idiot- if the the other driver is unphased, then you made a useless move for no reason.
An Asshole- using scare tactics to bully a less experienced driver in order to gain a position is foolish. If you’re faster, just pass them.
A Target- if someone does this to me and makes contact or drives me off the track then they’re going to have a problem, maybe multiple problems.
It’s one thing to squeeze someone, and/or maximize “your portion” of the track. Totally acceptable, but abruptly swerving on someone is not acceptable.
Yeah I’ve never heard anyone call it “euro’ing” before either. I agree with all Evan’s points.
Swerving into people on the straights is one of the worst pieces of racecraft to come up in the past 10 years in my opinion. I’m sure it was a thing before that, but I don’t recall it ever being a major common issue. I remember the first time a guy looked over and swerved at me and made contact, breaking my tie-rod was 2008. That guy was just an asshole. It really became a prevalent thing in the past 5 or so years, since we introduced all the bodywork to protect idiots from going on their heads.
It’s a chicken-shit move in my book, so if someone does it to me, I’m with @fatboy1dh , @CrocIndy , and @Muskabeatz that someone tries that on me, they’re getting sent into the stratosphere.
There are a few pieces of “driving” that will absolutely set me off and cause me to sacrifice my entire race to ensure someone else’s race is ruined. I’m old, idgaf anymore, this isn’t a career for me. As one of my favorite shirts says:
Depends on the race director. If I catch it, I’m throwing a penalty. Most will if they see it and can. I’d take the move out of your playbook, my dude.
Even if you don’t make contact and don’t get a penalty, you’re still running a risk of meeting good ol’ Barry R. within a lap. Kind of a “don’t throw the first punch but make sure you throw the last one” type situation.
So let’s say some guy does this to ya intentionally (egregiously so) and causes significant damage to your kart. You are done.
Has anyone taken a sledge to the offenders karts in the pits? No drama just walk up to it and bend the crap out of their axle or something.
Then we are both done. I suspect a vacation would be given but it might be amusing. That or a big fight. Or both. Either way.
I would probably never do this but there are plenty of folks with anger management issues. Seems to me like Euroing someone is a good way to get wrecked afterwards.
Violence begets violence. See Luca for more ideas.
That’s a wild idea that I imagine would turn ugly, but I do like it. I’ve seen the pull-the-spark-plug-wire off the other kart when two guys crash in the infield before, but stuff like that generally gets you a DQ on the day.
If you went into another pit area and did some hammering on someone else’s kart, I would imagine that you would be escorted off the property and asked not to return.
I got absolutely cleaned out at the start in a national race when I was a junior, bruised my ribs I got hit so hard, and my dad took my crumpled sidepod and sidepod bar and went to the offender’s tent and chucked it in there. Unfortunately, with my name sticker and number on the side, the race director was pretty easily able to figure out who put it there, and we were summoned to the tower for a stern talking-to.
