Shots Across The Bow

NASCAR Has Lost All Credibility

I don't know how many of you are NASCAR fans, but for those of you that are, do you think they can sink any lower?

They revamped the points system to placate NBC, who cried all last year that they didn't have a points chase to drive viewership. Never mind that the overwhelming majority of the fans hate the system, as well as most of the drivers. (Well, those brave enough to defy NASCAR's gag order, anyway.)

They moved races around to spread the sport to the north and west, destroying decades of tradition like Labor Day at Darlington.

They injected new scoring rules into the sport that are so ill-considered and implemented that drivers spend 40+ laps waiting while the scorers try to figure out where everybody should be. And still get it wring.

They pay drivers to run a race just to keep up the illusion of a full field, despite the fact that many of these field fillers retire after 3 laps. Hell, Kirk Shelmerdine ran out of gas a few weeks ago because it was the first time he lasted long enough in a race to need to pit, and he forgot how.

They've started considering restricting who can sponsor a team, even though there are teams and drivers screaming for new sponsors, because of TV advertising restrictions.

Veteran drivers are running in second rate machines because the emphasis in NASCAR has switched from the driver's performance on the track to his appearance on camera. A great driver can outrun most of the young guns, but they can't outspend them.

So yeah, things are looking pretty bad for NASCAR, but it could be worse, right? I mean, sponsor and TV money may be altering the rules left and right, but at least there's still a semi-level playing field, right?

Nope.

For the entire first half of the season, Tony Stewart has been a driver out of control. He's spun other drivers repeatedly, both under the green and the yellow; he's been involved in a pit road mugging; he's broken NASCAR rules by walking out of driver's meetings. It's been a rare race this season where Tony hasn't sent somebody spinning into the wall.

And NASCAR has let him get away with it all.

A couple of weeks ago, after a race, Tony went over to Brian Vickers, and hit him. Just flat out hit him while he was strapped in and unable to fight back. A man does that and I think it's fair to call him a coward. I also think it's fair, particularly in light of a continued pattern of misbehavior, to sit his butt down for a race to demonstrate that this kind of behavior is unnacceptible.

And NASCAR agrees. They did exactly that to Kimmy Spencer a few years after he got into a fight with Kurt Busch.

Well, they used to agree. Tony Stewart was fined $50,000 and a meaningless 25 championship points. The points are meaningless because, under the new rules, the top ten drivers will have their points reset at the start of the last ten races. a loss of 25 points will mean at worst a change in position of 1 place and more likely mean no change in position when the championship run begins. In short, NASCAR did nothing to Stewart, and then NASCAR President Mike Helton said:

This action we've taken speaks for itself. Tony Stewart is well aware of what is expected of him going forward.

And he was right; Tony Stewart did get the message. Last Sunday, on a restart where he started in third, he jumped the restart and passed Sterling Marlin on the outside. Because he jumped the restart, he had the advantage of momentum as he came up on race leader Kasey Kahne, who was held up by traffic in front of him. Stewart tagged Kahne from behind, sending him spinning into the wall, along with several other cars. At the end of the race, Stewart tossed the race sponsor's product (Tropicana Orange Juice) to the ground as he got out of his car, with a smug smile for the cameras.

Just business as usual for Stewart.

And business as usual for NASCAR, who saw nothing wrong with the move, and will not penalize Stewart. Kahne's team, on the other hand, likely faces penalties of their own, for going to Stewart's pit, where a brawl erupted betweeen the crews. I'm sure NASCAR will make very grave and solemn announcements about how this behavior won't be tolerated, as they impose fairly severe penalties on Kahne's team. Of course, Kasey is running 14th right now, and isn't in serious contention for the points championship, so I'm sure NBC will allow NASCAR to penalize him.

Because that's what NASCAR has come to. Tony Stewart is untouchable because his sponsor, Home Depot, is a major NASCAR sponsor, and NBC, who owns the remaining races, wants him in the points race. Unless his actions hurt, or God forbid, kill another driver, he will continue to act like a bully on and off the track.

Since NASCAR lacks the spine to stand up to and control Stewart, it will be left up to the drivers to do so. What we saw in the pits Sunday afternoon is just a taste of what's coming. Drivers will not continue to risk their lives with an undisciplined brat like Stewart, and one way or the other, they will make that clear to him.

Posted by Rich at July 13, 2004 12:20 AM | TrackBack