It seems like all the good “gates” are taken.                                      
Both the NFL and Formula One have had respective “Spygates.” The 2002 Winter Olympics had “Skategate.” The Super Bowl had “Nipplegate” courtesy of Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. Politics started it all with Watergate, of course, and has since added FEMAgate.
So, what do we call last week’s brouhaha at the SuperBowl of Racing IV at Golden Isles Speedway? Rubbergate? Hoosiergate? Tiregate is just a little too generic.
Whatever the name, this past week’s controversy was very real, involving the biggest name in late-model dirt racing and the UMP DIRTcar Series.
At the center of it all was the series’ two-tire qualifying rule and the ways some drivers were allegedly getting around it, using tire-softening chemicals or mis-stamped tires.

UMP’s two-tire rule, which went into effect as a cost-cutting measure in 2005, was the perfect example of a rule put in place for good reasons that ended up with a bad rap.

Either way, the undercurrent around the pits had to be similar to that in Major League Baseball’s clubhouses.
“Is he or isn’t he?”
“If he’s got an advantage, then I need one, too.”
UMP’s two-tire rule, which went into effect as a cost-cutting measure in 2005, was the perfect example of a rule put in place for good reasons that ended up with a bad rap.
All grassroots teams want to save a few dollars, but the one thing all racers have in common is the unending search for an edge. The two-tire rule gave the drivers the attics and crawlspaces to search for that edge with tire-softening chemicals, some of which can begin to work only after the tires begin to heat up on the track.
Though the four-tire rule meant more expense and more work for crews, the tire compounds — ranging from the Hoosier-produced softest LM-10 to the hardest LM-40 with the LM-20 and LM-30 in between — left little if any room for cheating and, more importantly, little need.
UMP was considering returning to the four-tire rule before Scott Bloomquist “pushed it” by qualifying on the legal LM-40s despite them being too soft when tested by officials. (In dirt racing, softer tires mean more grip.) He was subsequently disqualified by UMP, leading to an argument with Golden Isles owner Frank Lloyd, who had just lost one of his biggest draws.
Lloyd dismissed UMP, which promptly withdrew its sanctioning of its super late-model events at the 10-race SuperBowl of Racing, and made sure Bloomquist would be back for the remainder of the SuperBowl. It’s unclear whether that was the right decision, but it was a business decision.
More importantly than the drama that immediately surrounded Golden Isles, UMP smartly recognized that it had a problem in the pits — and one that wasn’t going to go away with its departure from Golden Isles or Bloomquist’s month-long suspension.
UMP’s two-tire qualifying system was broken, and series officials should be commended for moving quickly to fix it, reverting back to the four-tire system that left little room for circumventing the rules before the series moves on to Volusia.
Crews will work harder. Teams will spend a little bit more, but most really have no one to blame but themselves.
The controversy at Golden Isles was not what folks at the SuperBowl of Racing, which was in its first year of building itself into a major early-season event, wanted, but it was bound to happen at some point.
As distasteful as it was, “Rubbergate” or “Hoosiergate” or whatever “gate” fits probably saved the UMP and its drivers a lot of headaches this season.