by richard teague tinynascars@yahoo.com
Troy Aikman said a few weeks ago that he could understand how the NFL assessed fines and penalties against participants in football, but he had NO earthly idea how NASCAR comes up with their punishments. It seems like there aren’t any set standards or guidelines when the hammer falls on a race team, even when it’s the most popular driver in NASCAR. Are 100 thousand bucks, 100 points and six weeks going to be the norm from now on, or just when you mess with NASCAR’s new little baby, the COT? Well it could have been worse, like in Daytona, but Eury Jr. only got 6 weeks and not the indefinite length that Waltrip’s people got.
Not many appeals ever win against NASCAR, so Junior is out points and money because he said he would take care of the fine for his cousin. DEI’s Max Siegel said they were, “appealing the severity of the penalty because the penalty itself is not spelled out in the rule book.” Well, we all know that nothing is ever spelled out in the rule book, and it is rewritten whenever needed, but NASCAR covered their butts on that, too. There was supposed to be a “memo” issued in March pertaining to just how hard they could spank ya if a team violated rules dealing with the COT. In it, dollars and points accumulate along with the threat of suspensions. It is stated in the “memo,” but I didn’t get one.
The whole thing is over a set of brackets that hold the hamburger stand to the car. Eury said he didn’t think it was that big of a deal because they had used them in testing and it didn’t change anything. NASCAR’s Robin Pemberton had other thoughts on the matter and said the modification was intentional and he was “surprised and disappointed in Tony.” It isn’t fair that a team that uses fuel additives and a team that adds pieces of metal (that may or may not have changed the performance of the car) gets the same punishment. Another thing, did NASCAR put Waltrip’s manifold or any of the foreign substances on display? Now they are going hang the brackets in the NASCAR trailer for all to see like a fish on a wall with a plague that says, “You Cheat - You Pay”.
So far this season, NASCAR has upped the ante towards infractions and they’ve even started a dress code, paint scheme rules and sponsor’s rights, There is no telling what else is going to come this year. Harvick had to change his uniforms and Robby Gordon couldn’t run a certain car because of the paint. NASCAR won’t let any company infringe on Nextel and Sunoco or any other “Official Sponsors of NASCAR.” What the heck is going on with the sport this season? The bigger question is: where and when will it stop? Is this what is in store for us fans? Will a driver, team owner, or say: OK, that’s enough, I’ve had all I can stands and I can stands no more?
Right here, I want to say just a little bit about how glad I am that the negotiations are over at DEI. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has decided to leave, so hopefully he and his guys can get on with racing. This week he got another top 10, but the loss of the hundred points bumped him back in the standings. He should recover from that, unlike another driver that still ain’t come back from his points penalty. I wonder if he already knows which team he is going to? Everybody wants a #3 or #33 Bud car, and he may have that in mind. He could be waiting to see what happens with the AT&T suit and take the #31, but that would be a bummer for Jeff Burton, who has been on the turn since leaving Roush.
Then there’s the Gibbs rumors about him and Denny being buds. What about J.J. and the #18, a fourth car over there? Even if that were to happen and Junior was a fourth, the talk is that Joe wouldn’t partake in the beer brand. There’s another thing that I think about when these teams are mentioned. Don’t they already have big name drivers that are fully capable of winning championships? Can Junior fall in with these guys and not have conflicts of some sort? Could you ever watch a race with Tony and Jr. racing hard for a spot and then realize they’re team mates now? Would you have that same feeling next season if that happened?
Bobby Ginn has said that he will give Dale Jr. room for awhile, but he fully intends to go at him no holds barred to get him on the Ginn Racing team. Hey, the man sells South Florida land, and it ain’t swamp stuff, either. After all, was there anybody else that was able to land a Mark Martin in their boat? Haven’t they been the new and improved team in NASCAR this year? Junior would be “The Man” over there, not that he wouldn’t be at any other one around. He would probably be able to control his plans for winning races and a championship with Bobby, Mark, Regan, Sterling and Ole Front Row Joe a lot better.
Speaking about Ginn Racing, and in particular Mark Martin, I see where he’s added a few more races to his shortened season, and I can’t help but feel he’s thinking about a run at the Chase. He did drop one position this week, but that was in a COT. Standing in 15th and adding more points races, why can’t he take a run at the championship when he makes that Chase? You know that Bobby Ginn would love to see his guy in the Chase. What if Mark Martin wins the Nextel Cup Championship in his first attempt away from Jack Roush in a CHEVROLET? I think he would never leave that #01 Army car, and when he retired for the eighth and finally final time, Ginn and NASCAR would retire that number.
This week I hope y’all noticed that I didn’t speak too much on my opinions, but gave ya some news. Hopefully I’ll be more informative in my column, but if you at any time think I should change back, or perhaps try something new other than a new line of work, Please feel free to contact me. You know where to find me: tinynascars@yahoo.com, but there will be one thing that is not changing, or at least for now, but who knows what the future holds for anyone since I lost my crystal ball, and that is: If it ain’t NASCAR, It ain’t s**t!!
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