Columnist Ron Kantowski: Haunted by costs, NASCAR turns to spirits

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004 | 10:44 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Let's see if I have this right: This past weekend in NASCAR began with the stock car sanctioning body lifting its ban on hard liquor sponsors ... and ended with it abolishing "Happy Hour" at most tracks.

This sounds like the beginning of one of those old Bob Newhart routines.

For those who don't refer to the drivers by their car numbers or aren't related to a Foxworthy, Happy Hour is NASCAR's misnomer for two 45-minute practice sessions that are on Saturday of race weekend. Like a lot of auto racing traditions, the term was lifted from the Indy 500, where the fastest speeds generally are set during the last hour of practice after the sun drops behind the grandstands and the track cools off. But NASCAR has decided to do away with these practices (which cost money and manpower) at tracks where people don't spend money to watch them.

At first glance, it might appear that the scenario outlined above was strictly coincidence, that one had nothing to do with the other. Which might be the case, were NASCAR still a sport.

But NASCAR stopped being a sport the day Winston became better known for its championship trophy instead of the cigarettes that drivers rolled up in their T-shirt sleeves before starting their engines.

NASCAR is a business now, and a big, big one at that. If it wasn't, they'd still be engraving "Winston" on the winner's cup instead of "Nextel."

There also would be no need to put Budweiser or Miller or, starting next year, Crown Royal and Jack Daniel's decals on the hoods of the cars where the local Conoco station or salvage yard used to advertise. And there would be no need to abolish Happy Hour -- or even have one in the first place.

There are those who will have you believe that NASCAR has made a deal with the devil. But the decision to mix drinking and driving has nothing to do with moral obligations. It has everything to do with financial considerations.

There's a reason NASCAR began promoting itself as a family sport a few years back and extending its fan base beyond the Fram Oil Filter guys and Lynyrd Skynyrd fans who have always supported it. There's money to be made by selling Mom and the kids a ticket, too. Not to mention T-shirts and die cast cars and lunch pails with their favorite driver's picture on the little thermos.

Like the races themselves, the influx of big sponsors has become a vicious circle. While they help pay the bills, they also have driven up the price of competing to where there aren't enough sponsors to go around.

I mean, do you actually think Mark Martin wants to spend 36 weekends of every year dressed in a Viagra suit?

The concern a lot of people both inside and outside of NASCAR have with inviting hard liquor companies on board is understandable. But it's also a bit hypocritical, given the sport was founded by moonshine runners, and that the last time I checked, you could still legally buy a fifth of Crown Royal or Jack Daniel's over the counter in all 50 states -- although you might have to look pretty hard in Utah.

"We felt the time was right to allow distilled spirits companies into NASCAR," said series president Mike Helton, which is the politically correct way of saying, "If there's more money out there, we want some of it."

And they'll surely get it. In the time it takes to order a double on the rocks, Crown Royal was on car owner Jack Roush's doorstep with a blank check following last week's announcement to sponsor his previously sponsor-less No. 99 Ford.

"We feel like the pros in this case outweigh the negatives," Helton said. "We can open up a business that benefits the garage area and the participants of the sport economically, but do it in a manner with a requirement to promote responsibility."

NASCAR was diligent in meeting with anti-alcohol crusaders such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving but admitted it was "less than 100 percent behind" the decision. Which is sort of like saying that Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick are less than 100 percent friends.

Still, if NASCAR is serious about educating its fans about the evils of excess alcohol consumption and even one spectator among the tens of thousands in the grandstands who already imbibe receives the message, then perhaps even some off-the-track good will come from this. Maybe as early as on the drive home from the track.

That's something with which even the most outspoken NASCAR prohibitionists couldn't find fault.

"I can't say I'm jumping for joy, but I understand it," said veteran Morgan Shepherd, a devout Christian who drives the No. 89 Racing With Jesus Dodge, which is about as far as you can get from the Viagra Ford, both in terms of spiritual connotation and in the standings. Shepherd always finishes in the back of the pack. "NASCAR is in business, and all these race teams are in business.

"From my standpoint, there won't be alcohol sponsorships on my car, no matter what. That doesn't mean I look down on those who do have (those) sponsorships."

NASCAR insists it's not sending a message by allowing the hard liquor companies into the sport -- er, business. But that's where I have to respectfully disagree, because I think it is sending a message that resonates loud and clear:

It's getting to where it costs a bunch of damn money to run those cars.