March 28, 2008 - From The Complaint Dept.

In talking to some NSSN readers, reading emails and scanning Public Forum, there are some who are unhappy with those of us who are critical of the goings-on in our sport. They seem to think everything is fine. Well, you know, it isn't.

Us "old schoolers" tend to be the biggest gripers. That is because we go back to the days when the starter threw the green flag, everybody barreled as hard as they could into the first turn and raced.

To enjoy racing, we went to the track itself. There was little or no TV. I'm not saying there shouldn't be TV. I think TV should adapt to racing instead of the other way around.

Years ago you didn't have to be a millionaire to race. We were a bunch of guys wearing old t-shirts and all we had was a box of old tools. There was no technology to speak of. You didn't win because you had the best tires. If the car didn't handle, the driver had to readjust, not the car.

Now it's a sport for millionaires. The Saturday night racer is fading away because hardly anyone can afford $60,000 cars that run for $2,000 to win. The pits and the stands are emptier and there are fewer tracks to race on.

All of the racing in those days was better. The drivers won on their grit and their talent. Most of that is gone away. Us oldtimers are very sad about that. Many think that because big money is in racing that things are better. They are not. All most of us want is side-by-side racing again. No because of "aero" they can't follow, they can't run abreast anymore.

NASCAR has taken the heart and soul out of our sport. They no longer feature "stock" cars but they heavily penalize anyone who tries to bend the rules a bit. The whole NASCAR scene seems choreographed. If there were other choices, that would be OK but all the money is in NASCAR Cup racing. Owners in every other NASCAR series are losing money.

Yes, we complain. Many of us have spent years (56 for me) devoted to this sport. We hate to see where it's headed. Will there be any short tracks left in five years?

I don't think there's much to be complacent about. Some of this can be fixed. Sadly, some can't

March 7, 2008 - No One Has Lightened Up

When Brian France said NASCAR would "lighten up" this year, I didn't believe him for a nanosecond. Apparently, I was right.

The ridiculous penalty put on Carl Edwards and his No. 99 race team shows that NASCAR is only interested in manipulating the box score. Edwards was fined 100 driver points, owner Jack Roush the same and crew chief Bob Osborne was hit with a six week suspension and a $100,000 fine. All for a missing oil cap.

Does anyone with an inch of sanity believe that Edwards won that race because the missing cap helped make him faster? This is absolute bull. It is an insult to race fans who pay good dollars for racing entertainment.

Sure, NASCAR lets Carl keep the statistical win, but NASCAR's season is heavily set to points. This can cost Carl and his team a shot at The Chase.

I find it hard to ponder that someone as savvy as Jack Roush would allow one of his teams to take the green with a penalty like that. Jack has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar before but this is not a "tolerance" or rules misinterpretation.

There have been a lot of complaints about IRL and CART/Champ Car, but those organizations never mess up their races like this. Everything NASCAR does seemed to be scripted from their phoney yellows to hitting people over the head with their stupid rulebook.

As I have said many times. NASCAR no longer runs stock car races. These are racecars. This business of drawing a line in the sand is spoiling the reasons why we go racing.

Lighten up, Brian? Next thing he'll be selling us beach-front property in Idaho!