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Post Michigan RacinDeals

Jun 19

Posted by Glen Harness in NASCAR, RacinDeals | Comments off

RACE, WHAT RACE?: I completely missed the Michigan race the other day. From what I hear it was another one of those that was won by the engine builder, not by the driver. NASCAR doesn’t have a problem throwing out “competition” cautions, unless it’s to actually increase competition.

KENTUCKY CURIOSITY: Didn’t really see much of the Kentucky race either. They had it on in the suite at the Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville, and every now and then I’d take a look. I was kind of hoping that Busch would win, just to see if he smashed the Kentucky trophy.

BRICKYARD TIRES: We’re promised, promised, I tell you, that this year’s Brickyard 400 race will be better. Heck, all Goodyear has to do is make the tires go 12 laps instead of 10, and it’ll be a better race by default. Last year’s Brickyard race was a perfect example of why the Cup series needs more than one tire manufacturer.

NISSAN/HONDA: NASCAR is apparently talking to other foreign car manufacturers, or at least ones who manufacture cars in the US. I’ve never understood why they limited eligible cars to US-owned manufacturers before, and I don’t think I understand why they’re now limiting it to US-made cars. But NASCAR does a lot of stuff I don’t understand.

Actions Detrimental

Jun 17

Posted by Glen Harness in drivers | 2 Comments

NASCAR has this catch-all rule they call “Actions detrimental to the sport of stock car racing.” They can use it to pretty much do anything they want to a team or driver that does something they don’t like.

For example, they can use it to suspend and fine a driver $200,000 for being a few thousandths over the engine displacement while competing in an exhibition race.

They can use it to justify suspending a driver indefinitely for violating an unknown substance abuse rule.

So NASCAR can be pretty free with this rule when they want to be.

The question is, why haven’t they suspended Kyle Busch? His actions in victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway last week were certainly detrimental to the sport: you don’t disrespect one of the race sponsors by smashing their product in victory lane, especially if that product is the unique trophy awarded for winning the race.

Awarding a guitar in Nashville (and I’m being generous in saying that Nashville Superspeedway is in Nashville) goes back at least 25 years. It didn’t catch on until Bob Harmon started giving one to the winner of the All American 400. Better men than Busch (from both a talent and personality perspective) have won that trophy: Sauter, Balough, Wallace, Waltrip, Miller, Purvis, St. Amant, Garvey, Query, Anderson, and Gill all have won one of those trophies (some have more than one), and I daresay they would tell you it’s one of their most prized possessions.

What pains me the most about this is that I saw the talent Busch has and became one of his (few) fans. He reminds me of Earnhardt, Sr. on the track. He’s done some incredible things in that race car. But as his former teammate Tony Stewart learned the hard way, what he does outside the car also has ramifications; he just doesn’t seem to know that yet. For example, I was at a snack machine the other day, and I intentionally did not buy candy produced by Busch’s Cup car sponsor.

Busch has a lot of growing up to do. And I think it amounts to just that: growing up.

NASCAR should have stepped up to the plate and either fined or suspended him from competition. By not doing that, they’ve created a precedent that now allows any driver to show blatant disrespect to a sponsor. And in a sport that exists because of sponsorship dollars, I don’t think NASCAR can afford let that precedent stand.

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NASCAR Has Jumped the Shark

Jun 15

Posted by Glen Harness in NASCAR | Comments off

It’s all downhill from here. NASCAR has officially jumped the shark.

Whether it be punishing drivers and teams way out of proportion to their infraction (see Carl Long), holding drivers to an unknown standard on drug use, or suspending a crew chief until he goes through “sensitivity training”, NASCAR has abandoned their roots and is turning into something that’s not very interesting.

And their ratings show it. NASCAR confused the increased ratings they got when Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was killed at Daytona with actual fan growth. The bump in ratings after Earnhardt’s death was not increased interest in racing, but a macabre interest by the public to see who would get killed next.

NASCAR’s latest idiocy is called “NASCAR Green Clean Air”. It’s supposed to capture the carbon emissions that come from racing. They’re going to plant 10 trees each time they throw a green flag.

This is just another sign that NASCAR is out of touch with reality. Don’t get me wrong, I think planting trees is fine…for the right reasons. But to use a bogus reason like climate change is, well, bogus.

NASCAR has gotten too big and has gotten away from Big Bill France’s vision. There’s nowhere to go but down.

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