I do hear from some people who insist I “lay off NASCAR,” but folks, it’s difficult to do. It seems like NASCAR officials are trying to sabotage the most successful venture in racing.
One of the things we could always brag about was that racing was clean. The “scandals” always involved someone’s personal life, as Max Mosley will tell you. But this business of making certain people look like “cheaters” can only hurt the sport.
The general public has had it with cheating. Baseball has its steroids issue, the NFL had its leading team videotaping its rival’s play signals and the NBA fired a referee who was gambling.
Racing had a chance to rise above that. But NASCAR, in its effort to show the world that it must rule with an iron hand, proudly labels its competitor’s “cheaters,” for the most minor infractions.
When I signed on to AOL the other day, the first thing that popped up was a photo of Ryan Newman. The caption read, “Daytona 500 winner cheated.”
Is this really beneficial to racing? The sport is having problems securing more big money sponsorships and benefactors. So you think the boys in the boardrooms want to latch onto racing if there is “cheating?”
As most of us in racing know, Newman like all other drivers, even if it’s true, aren’t cheating themselves. This comes from the crew chief. Yet, in newspapers and sports talk shows, he is branded as dishonest. One guy said on TV that maybe Newman won the Daytona 500 because he didn’t get caught.
NASCAR’s ruling was typically inconsistent and laughable.
The No. 12 was ruled an eighth of an inch too high. They are given a tolerance of a half inch. So the car was five-eighths of an inch too high. Gosh, what a difference that must have made. How come he didn’t dominate instead of placing fourth?
Then NASCAR said the violation wasn’t deliberate. Yet, Ryan and owner Roger Penske were docked 25 points and the crew chief was fined, but not suspended like some. 
NASCAR’s justice system is a mess.
Major adjustments don’t seem to make any difference with these new cars anyway. The racing has become so poor in quality. My TV is now in the background most Sundays. I used to be glued to the set.
Michael McDowell’s terrible accident at Texas opened a lot of eyes. This didn’t stop the NASCAR slurpers from giving them all the credit because of the SAFER walls. Some people have a bad memory.
After Dale Earnhardt’s fatal crash, softer walls were the talk.
At first styrofoam was to be used. Track owners shot that down because it took to long to clean up (longer than using the Jaws of Life on an injured driver?) and that fans would be in danger because of flying debris. In other words, they cost money.
Then when the SAFER walls were produced, NASCAR’s position was that it would take considerable “feasability study.”
Meanwhile, without fanfare, Tony George actually embarrassed NASCAR by instantly having safer walls erected around IMS. Only then did NASCAR take action.