Courtesy Erik Tomas
February 22nd, 2007 – NASCAR has been jumping through hoops on fire trying to get more media coverage for their brand of stock car racing. The Chase for the Championship was a playoff-like scheme designed to compete with Baseball’s World Series and the start of the NFL season. They’ve invested too much time and money leveling the playing field so we don’t have run-away winners. CUP drivers almost to a man make themselves as media friendly as possible. It’s image that sells.
So how come for 2 years in a row, we’ve had cheating scandals dominate the news around NASCAR’s Super Bowl, The Daytona 500? Maybe because even though NASCAR has done a remarkable job to convince as many doubters as possible they’re no longer a bunch of hillbilly rednecks, there are still a few in their garage that parallel Larry the Cable Guy in the backwoods of Tennessee trying to hide moonshine from reven’oor’s!
The weak ones buckle under very real sponsor pressure to win for that coveted premium TV on-screen time. Without sponsors, teams go out of business.
I know 6 teams were tagged with suspensions, fines and loss of points caught violating a variety of rules and sub-paragraphs, but I want to focus on Michael Waltrip’s Daytona scandal, because to me, that’s the most confounding.
Waltrip is a 2-time winner of the “Great American Race”. He doesn’t need to cheat to win. Toyota puts a lot of faith in Mike and The Waltrip name and history in the sport. They trust Michael to help them bring the Camry into Nextel Cup, understanding their reputation of doing the racing thing one way, to win.
So what happens? NASCAR techies discover an additive in the fuel system designed to increase the octane of the gasoline to produce more power and therefore speed. Huh? Toyota is red-faced, Michael is so upset he almost pulls the entry. Angry? More embarrassed than angry. If Mike knew about this, Toyota should fire his butt and he should be banned from NASCAR for a long time, maybe for ever. But I do not for one moment believe he knew anything about it.
There’s WAY too much at stake. Was somebody on his crew stupid enough to cheat with something as easily detectable as “funny fuel”? I hope not, even though the teams’ Crew Chief and VP of Competition have been banished from the sport for the time being.
If they were going to cheat to make Toyota a winner out of the box at Daytona, they would have tried something a lot more ingenious than that, and back to my point, Waltrip would never gamble that way.
But it looks like somewhere in the close to 200 new hirings for this new team, Michael may have hired a Bubba or a Skeeter, some mouth-breathing knuckle-dragger who thought they could get away with something so blatant to get to victory lane to make Toyota and NAPA happy.
Somebody mentioned deliberate sabotage by the anti Toyota faction who thinks the Japanese car maker has no business in Nextel Cup. As outlandish as that theory sounds, what other explanation is there for the Waltrip scandal? I’m stuck for another answer! And if they wanted to ruin Toyota’s Daytona debut, wouldn’t they stick that illegal additive in ALL the Toyota’s fuel systems and not just Mike’s # 55? Maybe somebody has an axe to grind somewhere?
Waltrip vows to find the idiot who put the goop into the fuel cell if it was one of his crew or staff. NASCAR has done the right thing by issuing the stiffest penalties for deliberate attempts to cheat in series history. They feel they have sent a message to the Bubba’s and Skeeter’s in their midst that this bunko from days gone by is not part of the sport’s lore and charm anymore.
If we get another rash, suspending drivers is the next step and that’s when the sponsors will start pulling their logo’s off cars and sponsors are hard enough to find and keep.
NASCAR has tried to separate themselves from the steroid takers, bat-corkers and big-stick men that you sometimes find in other pursuits.
But when we forget who’s on the poll and who wins the biggest stock car race in the business because of cheating scandals, that’s not good for this sport and NASCAR’s got some rednecks with pine-tar to wipe off before their next urine test.
Keep the E-Mails coming for The Raceline E-Mail Bag! The address: erik@raceline.ca Let us know what you think! Do you agree or disagree with the commentary! We invite your feedback, questions and comments!
Until next time, talk to ya’ll on Raceline Radio! ET
February 22nd, 2007 – NASCAR has been jumping through hoops on fire trying to get more media coverage for their brand of stock car racing. The Chase for the Championship was a playoff-like scheme designed to compete with Baseball’s World Series and the start of the NFL season. They’ve invested too much time and money leveling the playing field so we don’t have run-away winners. CUP drivers almost to a man make themselves as media friendly as possible. It’s image that sells.
So how come for 2 years in a row, we’ve had cheating scandals dominate the news around NASCAR’s Super Bowl, The Daytona 500? Maybe because even though NASCAR has done a remarkable job to convince as many doubters as possible they’re no longer a bunch of hillbilly rednecks, there are still a few in their garage that parallel Larry the Cable Guy in the backwoods of Tennessee trying to hide moonshine from reven’oor’s!
The weak ones buckle under very real sponsor pressure to win for that coveted premium TV on-screen time. Without sponsors, teams go out of business.
I know 6 teams were tagged with suspensions, fines and loss of points caught violating a variety of rules and sub-paragraphs, but I want to focus on Michael Waltrip’s Daytona scandal, because to me, that’s the most confounding.
Waltrip is a 2-time winner of the “Great American Race”. He doesn’t need to cheat to win. Toyota puts a lot of faith in Mike and The Waltrip name and history in the sport. They trust Michael to help them bring the Camry into Nextel Cup, understanding their reputation of doing the racing thing one way, to win.
So what happens? NASCAR techies discover an additive in the fuel system designed to increase the octane of the gasoline to produce more power and therefore speed. Huh? Toyota is red-faced, Michael is so upset he almost pulls the entry. Angry? More embarrassed than angry. If Mike knew about this, Toyota should fire his butt and he should be banned from NASCAR for a long time, maybe for ever. But I do not for one moment believe he knew anything about it.
There’s WAY too much at stake. Was somebody on his crew stupid enough to cheat with something as easily detectable as “funny fuel”? I hope not, even though the teams’ Crew Chief and VP of Competition have been banished from the sport for the time being.
If they were going to cheat to make Toyota a winner out of the box at Daytona, they would have tried something a lot more ingenious than that, and back to my point, Waltrip would never gamble that way.
But it looks like somewhere in the close to 200 new hirings for this new team, Michael may have hired a Bubba or a Skeeter, some mouth-breathing knuckle-dragger who thought they could get away with something so blatant to get to victory lane to make Toyota and NAPA happy.
Somebody mentioned deliberate sabotage by the anti Toyota faction who thinks the Japanese car maker has no business in Nextel Cup. As outlandish as that theory sounds, what other explanation is there for the Waltrip scandal? I’m stuck for another answer! And if they wanted to ruin Toyota’s Daytona debut, wouldn’t they stick that illegal additive in ALL the Toyota’s fuel systems and not just Mike’s # 55? Maybe somebody has an axe to grind somewhere?
Waltrip vows to find the idiot who put the goop into the fuel cell if it was one of his crew or staff. NASCAR has done the right thing by issuing the stiffest penalties for deliberate attempts to cheat in series history. They feel they have sent a message to the Bubba’s and Skeeter’s in their midst that this bunko from days gone by is not part of the sport’s lore and charm anymore.
If we get another rash, suspending drivers is the next step and that’s when the sponsors will start pulling their logo’s off cars and sponsors are hard enough to find and keep.
NASCAR has tried to separate themselves from the steroid takers, bat-corkers and big-stick men that you sometimes find in other pursuits.
But when we forget who’s on the poll and who wins the biggest stock car race in the business because of cheating scandals, that’s not good for this sport and NASCAR’s got some rednecks with pine-tar to wipe off before their next urine test.
Keep the E-Mails coming for The Raceline E-Mail Bag! The address: erik@raceline.ca Let us know what you think! Do you agree or disagree with the commentary! We invite your feedback, questions and comments!
Until next time, talk to ya’ll on Raceline Radio! ET
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