February23rd2007

FEBRUARY 23RD, 2007
THE WEEKLY SMACK BY DJ RADANOVICH

One of the first things I learned in the world of management was to be
firm, fair, and consistent will all employees, no matter who they are. Each
organization has a set foundation of rules by which employees follow.
Rules are rules, and if they are broken you pay the price, it's as simple as
that. But with NASCAR, the set foundation of rules is about as solid as
quicksand.

In April of 2004 NASCAR'S new rule of no racing back to the finish line
was put to the test at Talladega when Jeff Gordon beat out Dale Earnhardt,
Jr. racing into turn 3. Brian Vickers spun after Earnhardt, Jr. took the
white flag clearly ahead of Jeff Gordon. But as the new rule stated, the
field would be frozen and whoever was in the lead at the point of the
caution would be the leader, regardless of who led the previous lap. By
unpopular decision Jeff Gordon won the race, but it was the right call
according to the rules. The from this point on the wound was opened.

Flashback to the last lap at Daytona now. As clearly seen above, Mark
Martin was in the lead once the melee broke out. For whatever reason,
NASCAR chose not the display the yellow, which is not what their rule
states. After the race, NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said "When
the 07 went sideways on the track the yellow came out and at that point
the 29 was ahead of the 01 and declared the winner". But upon further
review, when the caution did come out, Clint Bowyer was already upside
down before the leaders took the checkered flag. Now as an avid race fan
I never want to see a race finish under caution, but a rule is a rule and
NASCAR clearly chose not to follow their own guidelines. Why? Did they
not want to see the biggest race of the year finish under caution? The
bottom line to me is this: it doesn't matter whether this was the Daytona
500 or not, NASCAR needs to stick to the book in order to maintain their
integrity. As if the rules infraction wasn't enough previous to the 500, in
which several cars were deemed illegal and stiff penalties and
suspensions were handed out, except to Jeff Gordon; NASCAR is making
a mockery of themselves. There is no fair, firm, or consistency in
NASCAR. Their rules change with the wind and die hard race fans have a
hard time comprehending the decisions. All NASCAR did Sunday was
pour a lot of salt in the wound. Who knows, maybe someone in NASCAR
will stand up this week and grow some balls so these obvious
inconsistencies stop happening. And by the way, at any race track I have
been to, once your illegal, your illegal and there is no arguing the fact.
Somehow Jeff Gordon can slip through the cracks though.