Nascar Brouhaha

Pet Peeve #37 - When the only thing the national news reports about NASCAR is a "scandal".

This post could go on and on, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

As many of you may have heard on national news there have been 5 NASCAR Nextel Cup crew chiefs suspended after last weekend's qualifying for this Sunday's Daytona 500 (the season opening race). The infractions resulting in the suspensions (as well as fines and loss of points) that these teams have been handed are varied in degree of severity.

I won't bother explaining all the details (this article on ESPN.com lays it out pretty well), but suffice it to say 4 of the 5 were fairly minor infractions (by historic NASCAR standards). Two related to having the wrong type of bolts holding the spoiler to the trunk - keep in mind these were the same bolts they used last year and were never questioned about, so to suspend the crew chief and dock points from a pre-qualifying inspection seems a little harsh. I'd equate this violation to being accused of stealing the opposing pitchers signs in a baseball game. We all know it goes on, no one admits it, but it doesn't really threaten the integrity of the game. In fact, it's part of the culture of the game. You can fairly assume every crew chief is looking for ways to give his driver even the slightest advantage (within the confines of the rules if possible) because the competition is so tight that a slight advantage may make all the difference.

NASCAR has come a long way from the days when "good-ole-boys" did all sorts of underhanded things to their cars to gain an advantage. I would argue that no major sport monitors the competitors and the equipment more closely than NASCAR. But they have to, that's what the sport is about - 43 "equal" cars competing, thus the difference is supposed to be about the driver and crew (if you've seen Days of Thunder some would argue it's not quite that simple). NASCAR isn't like IRL, Cart, or F1 where car technology separates the teams and only a few of the best funded teams can realistically compete at an elite level. NASCAR has created a rules system that results in incredibly competitive races. If you watch the race Sunday you'll see dozens of cars racing inches from one another at 190 mph for 200 laps and the winning margin will probably be less than a half second over second place.

My point? Well I've got a couple (as usual).

1. Of the 5 suspensions only 1 (Michael Waltrip's team) appears to be a major violation that represents a threat to the integrity of the sport. And Waltrip - the car owner and driver - is doing everything he can to apologize for it, he is telling anyone who will listen he had nothing to do with it. I'd like to believe him, he has been a respected driver for years and I'd hate to think he stooped to putting illegal substances in the fuel (I would compare this to a baseball player taking steroids).

2. The 2 suspensions I haven't mentioned were a little worse than the bolts on the trunk I talked about above, they probably did deserve a penalty of some kind. I'd liken this offense to scuffing the baseball. It'll get you thrown out of a game, but not banished for life. It was sneaky, but not outside the realm of what old school NASCAR crew guys have done to gain an advantage.

3. NASCAR is a great sport (hey, it's not their fault your attention span is short). Much like baseball or football there are several levels of complexity to it. You can watch the race and see what's happening as a novice and never realize the strategy and intricacies that are going on behind the scenes. I've been watching for years and learn something new almost each time I watch a race. If the sport itself doesn't interest you that is fine. But you have to respect the way it has gone from a regional way of life (in the southeast) to a national phenomenon. From a marketing perspective it's fairly amazing that this has happened in a national culture that isn't particularly interested in things from the old south. Someone figured out how to make it appealing to people around the country without destroying it in the process.