News items: Michael Waltrip accused of using jet fuel to boost
his car’s capabilities. Jeff Gordon’s car fails inspection. Four
crew chiefs suspended.
News items: Michael Waltrip accused of using jet fuel to boost his car’s capabilities. Jeff Gordon’s car fails inspection. Four crew chiefs suspended.
Sakes alive! Could it be?
Could it be that the NASCAR publicity machine is in high gear with the season-opening Daytona 500 this weekend?
Yep!
Not that NASCAR needs the boost. After the NFL, auto racing is the No. 2 watched sport on TV.
You know why? One reason is that NASCAR’s PR machine is better than anything this side of the Super Bowl and March Madness.
It’s all marketing, and it doesn’t hurt that the racers have bought into the “clean living” concept. After all, other than the Busch boys (that’s Kurt and Kyle, not the racing series), when is the last time a name NASCAR driver was accused of even a misdemeanor?
That brings us back to the current situation. One day it’s the crew chiefs of Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs, Elliott Sadler and Matt Kenseth being suspended. The next day it’s Waltrip and his alleged jet fuel. And then it’s Gordon.
Nothing like some controversy to stir the pot and pump up the ratings for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Again, not that NASCAR needs anything to boost its ratings.
After all, the Daytona 500 is already one of the biggest spectacles in sports. It can stand on its own. And the good ole’ boys who run the sport are constantly tweaking the system to keep people excited. And yet, what keeps people more excited than a little controversy?
Bottom line: NASCAR drivers have been looking for that extra edge for years. Restrictions allegedly give each driver an equal chance. And yet we know better. We know that the “name” teams with all the money behind them (Hendrick, Roush, etc.) have an extra edge.
So to keep the fans’ minds off of the unequal racetrack that the drivers who are not on the money teams use, why not stir in a little controversy?
If NASCAR was so gung-ho about cleaning up cheating, it would suspend the drivers rather than the crew chiefs, or hit the team owners with something more than a monetary fine. Does anyone really believe that the drivers and owners are unaware of what their crews are doing to the cars?
If so, I know some prime swamp land in the Everglades that is a great investment opportunity.
Thus, don’t look for NASCAR to suspend its cash cows any time in the near future. They may not be named Earnhardt, Johnson or Stewart. But the guess here is that NASCAR is just as happy using scapegoats (crew members) to suspend for illegal holes in a wheel well or modifications that allow air to leak out of the trunk area.
Cheaters in NASCAR? Say it ain’t so?
