By Carol Einarsson
Like all of you, I read the news that the cheating folks over at the 48 team won’t be docked any points. A little money is all it costs them, and there’s plenty of that to go around.
Chad Knaus will sit out three more races as punishment for his modification of the car that was in clear violation of the NASCAR rule book (which does exist, they promise).
After all, it really is a handicap for that poor team to march on minus their leader, so NASCAR is really hitting them where it hurts. Uh huh.
And of course, they will then remain consistent and bill the 96 team the same amount of money and no points, right?
No, because that would be too fair for NASCAR. Unlike the 48 car which was never confiscated and was allowed to go on and race on Sunday, the confiscated carburetor from Hall of Fame Racing will cost Terry Labonte 25 points, and his owner loses the same. AND the twenty five grand just for good measure.
Keep in mind, NASCAR has already openly stated that they don’t think the carburetor issue was ever an intention to cheat. They were aware from the get-go that it was an oversight and a manufacturing error.
J.D. Gibbs feels so bad that he’s putting up the money for the fine. But what about points? JGR will stand with HOF racing in the appeal, but it’s unlikely to be reversed.
So what’s so different in these two situations? Clearly one was cheating and one was not. And the one that was cheating got off easier than the one that was not.
But wait, there’s more.
One team (the cheating team) is part of a multi-car, big-name, big-money, big-sponsor team. Jimmie Johnson is a popular driver among race fans. Or at least was. That seems to be more debatable each passing day.
He’s likely going to be in the Chase again this year. They can’t dock HIM points for goodness sake!
The other team, however, well… it’s a new team. Not likely to make the Chase (or even break the top 20). And taking points from a guy that’s only racing five races, that won’t hurt at all.
Unless, of course, the team is desperate to be in the top 35 after the first five races to keep playing the racing game.
So I wonder how eager NASCAR really is to open up the sport to more teams and new owners. They say they want diversity. They say they want to limit the number of cars each team has. They say they are eager to get new blood into the sport, with new owners and more teams.
That’s what they SAY. But remember that actions speak louder than words.
What did they do last year at Daytona? They docked a new team (Robby Gordon) points for an illegal part that was never used on the track, and they docked those points even though Robby never even made the race!
Yeah, we like new teams, so let’s start them out at race number two, twenty five points in the hole.
The message NASCAR is sending is loud and clear – if you’re a big team, do whatever you want. NASCAR values your sponsor money and your legions of fans more than they value the spirit of fair play.
And if you’re a new team coming into the sport, be prepared to cough up 25 points for your first race. Just consider it the cost of admission.
