A year or two after NASCAR was founded in 1948, Marshall Teague — one of its first stars — broke a rule and was fined $300. It may have been NASCAR’s very first fine, and the sanctioning body made much of it, sending photocopies of Teague’s $300 check, made out to NASCAR, to the media as proof. Teague did, in fact, pay his fine. That photocopy appeared in this newspaper. Things are different today, with much publicity generated when fines and suspensions are levied, but no data on if, when and how these fines are paid, nor what happens to this vast sum of money collected from errant participants. Methinks this year’s NASCAR fines total could easily approach the $1-million mark. Ye ed recalls years ago NASCAR announcing money collected via fines goes into each particular series’s championship point fund, but no accounting has ever been seen. It is hard to envision a crew chief, sitting down to pay his monthly household bills, including a $25,000 or $50,000 check to NASCAR to satisfy his fine. So, tell us NASCAR, do all these fines get paid? How are they paid? In cash? Financed? Deducted from team prize money? Or might they, over time, be forgiven and/or forgotten? Our suggestion: Add a “fine” line to weekly race box scores which includes the yearly total to date of dollars fined and a weekly tally of fines levied. Also, is there a driver who has accumulated more fines than any other, a “fine champion,” so to speak? If so, who is he and what is the total amount he has been fined?

The arrest of driver Aaron Fike and his indefinite suspension by NASCAR on possession of drug paraphernalia and heroin was the major topic of discussion on Thursday’s daily 30-minute ESPN2 TV show, “NASCAR Now.” We were very much taken aback when Tom Cowlishaw, a regular on the show, opined that there has to be one or more other drivers along with Fike using drugs, feeling there has to be more than one, and that Fike is unlikely to ever get another drive if the current charges stick. To this reporter these are shocking statements. My sympathies go to Fike’s dad, who has spent oodles of time, energy and money furthering the racing careers of both his sons, Aaron and his brother A.J.

A recent front-page New York Times story headlined “The Gilded Age” dealing with activities of America’s wealthiest individuals included a huge oil painting of a NASCAR car in action, which served as background in a photograph of Leo Hindery, Jr., the cable TV impresario. Hindery is seen regularly at auto raceways and, on occasion, drives. We spied the peripatetic Hindery at the recent Lime Rock ALMS event, as well as his lovely wife, the always-smiling Patty Wheeler, whose TV production company was on duty there that weekend.

Unique. Some promoters will try anything to lure more fans to their tracks. Donnie Clack, who runs Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, Ga., held “Home-Grown Tomato Night” Saturday, knocking $1 off each ticket for anyone bringing a home-grown tomato to the vintage racing program. The individual who grew the biggest tomato got $25, while all on hand could enjoy tomato sandwiches and fried green tomatoes at track refreshment stands.

Now that Jamie McMurray is again in the public eye, thanks to his Pepsi 400 victory at Daytona — a long wait from his initial triumph in the fall of ’02 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway — writers are digging up items of interest from his past. Provoking a smile is discovering McMurray spent $50,000 of his hard-earned money for a shock dyno so he could learn all there is to know about shock absorbers. “It didn’t help my career at all,” he says, noting, “And I still have it.” By the way, have you seen today’s racing shock absorber prices? Like, between $150 and $200 each, and we all know there are four needed on each car, with spare sets required as well.

Downtown Indianapolis business owners agree the Speedway’s loss of the annual June U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race will be a serious financial blow. Many restaurateurs say the F-1weekend has been their biggest of the year, rivaling the second week in December, noted for its many holiday parties. Several restaurant managers report the biggest Saturday night of the year came on the F-1 race weekend, while one said the annual loss to his eatery will be $70,000. The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Ass’n reports that in its eight Indy visits, the F-1 race has pumped more than $1 billion into the local economy. Oil-rich middle Eastern countries are now offering $30 million to $35 million for a grand prix weekend, and these are prices IMS chooses not to match, having been paying far less. Yet, there are those who say, “Don’t give up hope,” feeling there is a good chance F-1 will eventually return to Indianapolis.

An interesting, though disappointing, e-mail from George Bristol of Cookeville, Tenn., reports the sad state of some Middle Tennessee short tracks. He tells us the former Tennessee Motor Speedway in Baxter reopened in May as Cookeville Speedway but closed after two weeks. And the “Mini-Bristol” Riverview Speedway in Carthage remains closed, and Golden Mountain Speedway, which closed in 2004, has yet to reopen. He says Crossville Raceway, however, is alive and well and recently aligned with ASA.

A lengthy fax update from New Jersey teenager Paulie Harraka, now deeply involved in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, stresses the value of Legends Car racing for those with driving ambitions. Harraka, who will start his senior year at a Wayne, N.J., high school in September, explains in detail his experience of recent months driving a Briggs & Stratton late model for Bill McAnally (a satellite entity for Richard Childress Racing) at All-American Speedway in Roseville, Calif. He said he was bug-eyed at a street-stock preliminary race held on the track after it had been watered down and sloshed with soapsuds to make it slippery! His own race followed after the track had been rinsed off, which he said made for interesting difficulties. Harraka posted his first feature victory at AAS on June 30th and now leads the Whelen All-American Series Rookie of the Year standings by a sizeable margin and lies second in overall points. When school begins he plans to resume his incredible cross-country travel schedule but is determined to maintain his uninterrupted straight-A average. Good luck, Paulie.