10 Comments
Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumblePublished Wednesday, April 22, 2009 | 10:29 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, April 22, 2009 | 11:17 p.m.
Every time NASCAR places a Sprint Cup driver on probation, I’m reminded of the scene from “Animal House”, where the fraternity hoodlums are placed on “double secret probation.” There’s something that sounds ridiculous about placing star athletes in one of the most popular sports in the country on probation.
Nevertheless, what other options would NASCAR have? How else can NASCAR send a message to drivers that they can’t use their cars as weapons during the cool-down lap or on pit road? Obviously the infraction wasn’t serious enough to risk angering a sponsor by sitting the drivers out for a race. Imposing a fine or a reduction in points would also have been extreme in this case since, in this season, it was a first-time offense.
I image that I would be tempted to respond the same way Dale Jr. and Casey Mears reacted if I were behind the wheel of 3,400 pounds of steel, had a helmet on and were very angry. And, considering the year Dale Jr. is having, I bet some of his overall frustration was coming out in the altercation with Mears. What happened to the days when drivers got out of their cars, took off their helmets and confronted each other man to man?
I know there are fans who think NASCAR is being politically correct in using the probation technique, but if this had been a verbal altercation after the race or if they had traded a little paint during the race, NASCAR would have been less inclined to take action. But in this instance the sanctioning body felt it had to send a message that actions like these on pit road have the potential to be unsafe.
Is this resulting in a more sanitized NASCAR? No. Overly polite, corporate-speak by drivers and a lack of hard, fender-grinding racing are what sanitize the sport. NASCAR has also loosened up on taking action regarding colorful displays by drivers. Bumping and banging is part of the sport, but this case was about stopping behavior before it escalated into something that could be unsafe.
Hey, it’s not called the cool-down lap for nothing.
Let the NEOCONS have AK-47's in car.
I have to respectfully disagree. This IS sanitizing the sport. driver feuds are the very thing that helped make NASCAR so popular. I truly believe one of the reasons people are tuning NASCAR out is because the drivers have mostly become corporate robots.
Come on -- no one's going to get hurt banging into the back of another guys car on the cool-down lap. You sound like my mother warning me not to run with the scissors.
It's about time Jr. grew a pair.
But running with scissors IS dangerous.
If this were the Intimidator or Smoke or Kyle Busch, this would just be seen as part of the persona. Junior should let other drivers know that he won't be pushed around (just ask Vickers). NASCAR wants it both ways - they do not condone these actions yet footage is shown countless times in post-race clips and before the next week's race. Every year at the beginning of the season we are reminded of the great Daytona "finish" of 1979 with Cale Yarborough brawling with the Allisons. Let the boys be boys.
BTW, can race fans put NASCAR on probation for plucking races from worthy tracks (The Rock, one from Darlington) and replacing them with snoozers (California)?
Yes, running with scissors IS dangerous, mom. So is racing a car at 180 miles an hour. If you're worried that poor Casey Mears might get a boo-boo from being bumped, why don't you turn on the PGA Tour on Sunday afternoons and leave the racing to the real men.
So you don't think a spinning car on pit road after a race has ended could be dangerous for a NASCAR official? Real men race aggressively on the track where it counts and don't make a spectacle of themselves in the pits after the competition is over.
First of all he didn't spin him on pit road, he tapped his rear bumper. And all you johnny come latelys to the sport want to sanitize it like the other boring stick and ball sports. NASCAR became popular as much for the on track racing as the off-track "spectacles." Have you ever seen footage of the 1979 Daytona 500? Do you think people remember that race because of who won or because of the fight?
Footage?! I watched it live.
not a big fan of him, but let robbie gordon run nascar, at least he drives every race like it's his last. these vanilla races are boring.