Tommy Kendall wins 2015 Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award - MotorSportsTalk

Multiple Trans-Am champion and sports car racing legend Tommy Kendall has won the 2015 Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award, from a host of qualified candidates. The release is below:

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Tommy Kendall was presented with the Justice Brothers- Shav Glick Award (Sunday) at Auto Club Speedway. Named in honor of legendary Los Angeles Times sports writer Shav Glick, the award is presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to motorsports in California. Kendall, a Santa Monica native, is a four- time SCCA Trans-Am Series champion who dominated the series from 1995 through 1997. Since retiring from full-time driving in 1998, he has worked in racing as a TV announcer and test driver, sharing his commentary and analysis in a witty and informative manner.

Ed Justice Jr., president and CEO of Justice Brothers quote
“This year’s competition was extremely tough, each nominee deserving in their respective ways. Tommy Kendall’s selection is truly reflective of the amazing career he has had, both in and out of the cockpit. He receives the Justice Brothers-Shav Glick award on the heels of being inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.”

Tommy Kendall quote
“To be honored with the Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award is quite incredible with all the history behind it. Parnelli Jones and Dan Gurney were my heroes before I got into racing and were my heroes when I was in the sport. My admiration for both of them only grew greater as I drove for a longer period of time and continued to learn about them and the sport. If you reflect on the Shav Glick tie-in to this award, he wrote a piece on me for the L.A. Times when I was just 19 years old, which was my breakout year when I won the GTU Championship and the Firehawk Championship at the same time in 1986. I‘m very grateful for the light that Shav shown on me. He was a real gentleman and a great journalist who is missed by those in the sport. One of the things about California is the roots of racing go way, way, back and that obviously applies to the Justice Brothers in California. In this day and age you can have huge companies created almost overnight, but the one thing they don’t have is heritage. You can’t match the heritage that Justice Brothers has in motorsports. Kudos to Ed for keeping that heritage alive by supporting this award. History is an important part of getting young folks involved in the racing.”

Parnelli Jones (2002 Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award recipient) quote
“I’m very happy to see that Tommy Kendall is the 2015 recipient of the Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award. Tommy was a hell of a driver and a great personality in the sport. It seemed like no one could beat him in Trans Am for years and years when he was at the top of his game. I always had fun watching him race. He really knew what he was doing behind the wheel.”

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Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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