Cheating No Longer Funny Opines Long-time Racing Writer Larry Woody
Current NASCAR
I really wrestle with having a one-size-fits-all new hard-line policy. As we can all agree, the history of the sport was written through innovation and creativity. It not only made for lots of great stories, laughs, memories, and writers' copy, but it also pushed the sport forward competitively. And I'll also acknowledge most of the shenanigans we've all come to laugh about happened before big TV coverage, before the web, before 100,000 fans in the stands, before a boo-coodle of multi-million dollar car owners, before mega-dollar sponsor deals & so on.
So do we now squelch all of that creativity and rules-bending because those new variables are here en masse? Lowe's is likely not particularly happy seeing its logos on TV as b-roll footage of Chad, Jimmie & the 48 are aired. But likely only mildly so. The indictment isn't against them - its against the 48 team. Consumers and fans are smart enough to know that. But if you suspend a team from competition, then the sports marketing folks of those companies WILL blow a gasket. If Matt's and Woodhead's positions were put into practice, the sponsorship agreements would suddenly have car-oriented 'morals clauses' riders bounced between the attorneys of the companies and the teams. Sponsors would likely want a pro-rated refund of support if their emblazoned cars were forced to stay home.
The NFL has penalty calls for holding, roughing the kicker, pass interference, etc. Baseball has a penalty for a balk. Fail to sign your score card following 18? Pay the piper. Hack a Shaq? Put him on the line for 2. Cross-check: sit for 2. Drop the gloves: sit for 5 and maybe take a 10 minute game misconduct. Bottom line: blow the whistle, throw the flag, assess the penalty, and play on. I kind of think that's where racing is with rules about the cars.
Perhaps some want to equate Chad's tweaking to a corked bat, a smaller golf ball, a tomahawk chop with a hockey stick or something similar that's so blatant to the integrity of the game that a player (or a team) has to be tossed. If so, I'll hear your opinion. But I bet it differs than mine.
I'm hardly a fan of any HMS driver. Outside of Tim Richmond, I've never pulled for any driver on Rick's roster. But at a higher level, I think points and dollars are probably about the right type of punishment.
If folks want a zero tolerance policy towards car design, I think we'd be destined for a type of racing series that fans have already rejected: IROC. Have the sanctioning body provide all the cars and crews with the only variable being the drivers and a blind draw for a weekend's ride.
Whew, that's too much to read isn't it?
