Does NASCAR ‘influence’ its results on the track?
Quote selected text Published November 2nd, 2006 in NASCAR News
[Editors Note: A VERY interesting article below by David Poole of the Charlotte Observer that asks a very controversial question...does NASCAR manipulate its results so it can benefit drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Jr (discussed below), for example? What do you think? Let us hear you! Comment below!]
Some day, perhaps, NASCAR’s integrity will be beyond reproach.
Some day, it might be possible to watch a race and believe with every confidence that the people who are deciding whether a caution flag should be displayed are looking solely at whether the track is safe for racing in making that call.
That, of course, is the only reason a yellow flag should ever be thrown, and one should be thrown every single time there’s an unsafe situation on the track, regardless of other consequences. It shouldn’t matter who an early caution might help or who a late one might hurt.
That day is not here.
When you look at what happened in Sunday’s Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, you can’t help but wonder about some things.
Why did NASCAR throw a yellow for debris that nobody but NASCAR seemed to see just before Dale Earnhardt Jr. got trapped a lap down for a second time early in the race?
A call like that could easily be defended if NASCAR consistently threw cautions whenever there is any suspicion something untoward has happened on the track. But in the final moments of the race, when Clint Bowyer’s car was scraping the wall and showering sparks, no yellow was seen. Certainly that incident created at least as much suspicion of danger as unspecified debris did more than 225 laps earlier.
You can’t practice, pardon the pun, an abundance of caution early in the race and then be haphazard about it in the final laps.
Even if you are trying to “preserve a green-flag finish” for the fans.
One more time, if the track isn’t safe for racing, put the yellow flag out. If it is, don’t try to manipulate competition by finding an excuse to slow the field. More to the point, don’t even allow that possibility to be considered.
There’s no debate that NASCAR would get great benefit from a championship by Dale Earnhardt Jr., especially this year.
When ESPN ramps up its hype machine on NASCAR’s behalf in 2007, Earnhardt Jr. will get the Terrell Owens-Lebron James-Barry Bonds wall-to-wall treatment. If he’s the reigning champion that approach will be much easier for the cable sports network to justify and for NASCAR to tacitly support.
Every intelligent fan knows that, so by default any call that seems to benefit the red No. 8 Chevrolet is looked at with skepticism.
Frankly, as long as people involved on a day-to-day basis with NASCAR’s business and marketing decisions also sit in the control tower each week making calls on rules and race procedures, that skepticism is warranted.
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I think it’s obvious that NASCAR shows favoritism towards certain drivers and situations. They’ve been accused for years of giving drivers and teams ‘the call’ before a race indicating they would get special treatment or bypass pre-race tech inspection, etc…
No surprise to me at all with this article! Congrats on the balls to run it!
It is a very interesting thing when NASCAR chooses to throw yellows! My friends and I call the phantom debris yellow’s Boredom Yellow’s “oh wait the race is getting boring, throw a yellow”! It seems to happen without fail!
Would this writer say the same thing about Jeff Gordon? probably not. there have been MANY instances where Jr has not been helped. do i think there should be any help? NO. in fact, 2 years ago, Jr was robbed of the title for saying a 4-letter word on TV. a) yes he shouldn’t have said it. b) he was VERY excited and at a lack for words, c) NASCAR knows racers say things sometimes they shouldn’t and should’ve had a time delay, d) they never should have deducted him points earned on the track for something done or said OFF track. case in point. when Kurt Busch got into his DUI mess, where was the points deduction???? anyone? Bueller? its this sort of inconsistancy that NASCAR needs to eliminate.
also, about the COT. lose the wing, put back the spoiler, but keep it bulky! slow the speeds down so we can have bumping. i liek the old days when you were allowed to bump and bang for position.
I agree that Nascar does choose its particular drivers and certain ones get special treatment. But I am tired of everyone mentioning Dale Jr..Everything is always compared to him b/c he is Nascars poster boy..Are you all forgeting that Jr was fined for intentionally spinning himself to cause a caution in bristol..and was also fined for saying a cussword in victory lane at Talladega the same year..So you guys need to look at the big picture and not single out certain drivers Nascar favors cause its getting old always hearing bout Jr..bring up the fact that Hendrick Motorports is the only team to ever get a penaly appeal to actually go thru…hmm nobody wants to talk about that now do they..I didnt think so
As they say in NASCAR its a no brainer, Nascar openly manipulates’ their events to elevate whom ever is the flavor of the moment. Note: the flavor’s milage may vary!
The Nascar mantra is we are entertainment first, not racing, just read the back of a ticket to a Nascar event.
I really think it’s less NASCAR and more the drivers, such as this thing with the padding or even the drivers calling in talking about a car leaking fluid hoping that he will get called in for a official to look over.
It’s like a few weeks back when they had the pre-race speech and Helton told the drivers to lay off the bump-draft. So you get someone like Little-E out there running on the cutting edge and Jeffey starts asking for a official to act because he thought he was raced too hard! Yet he will spin a driver that he feels is in his way, I think intentionally spinning a guy is worse than a driver causing a bogus caution.
WEll, how else does someone repeatedly get the lucky dog, and end up in the chase? I think that should say it all!
I’m NOT AT ALL a fan of NASCAR, but I wouldnt doubt that they show favoritism. I doubt there are many racing organizations on the planet that dont in some way, shape, or form. Look at F1 and Schumaker, that right there is proof of favoritism. Not trying to sound like I am an Alonzo sympathiser or anything. But somehow Schumaker always magically got the lead at the end of the race and won every time.
i have just a few question for you to think about that seems to be teh point of many other comments ive read
If NASCAR favors Junior, why has he never won a championship?
Why was he fined for saying “s88t”?
Why didn’t they “bend” rules to get him in the chase last year?
Why has he only won one race this year?
Anyone remember the race a few years ago when he was at the front of the pack and the pit road light was red then it turned green in the middle of the pack??
Maybe all those questions have one answer ….. NASCAR DOES NOT BEND RULES OR CREATE RULES OR CHANGE THEM OR FIX THEM OR WHATEVER U WANT TO CALL IT JUST FOR HIM….
seriously this is pathetic….why not mention all the times that people like Bush and all of the Hendrick drivers…
should i mention that after the hendrick plane crash in 2004 Jimmie Johnson won and then two races later he won again? & dont tell me its because hes a good driver and they have a good team……
sure NASCAR may “fix” a few races for people like Junior..but they do it for other people more and to a greater extreme than what they do it for him…so lets not single him out anymore
k-thanks
Well said e…good points
yeah i think someone has to much time on there hands to be coming up with this kind of stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! get a life
Everyone knows NASCAR is fixed. Just look at the past couple years. Oh, Its Lowes Motor Speedway, Gotta have Jimmie Johnson win or post a top 5 finish. Short track racing, gotta give it to Kurt Busch or Jeff Gordon. Dale Earnhardt passes away in 01, who wins the Pepsi 400, its Dale Jr. Concidence, I think not. Bud pole awards, lets put NOS in Ryan Newman’s car and he can win the pole all the time. I used to watch NASCAR every weekend, now i could care less. Its always a Chevy that wins so they brag about how they have won 25 of 34 championships. Blah Blah. Bring on Toyotas next season. I expect Toyotas to rule over NASCAR in the coming years. Mark my words. Enough of this american made crap cars winning.
I choose to call these particular cautions “NASCAR” cautions. it simply means that there wasnt any problem on the track but a problem with a certain driver on the track. its obvious when they throw them because an elite driver is about to go either a lap down or have to pit or something. These “NASCAR” cautions started happening about the same time that they took Rockingham and Darlington(labor day) off the schedule. The simple reason for all of this is money. Brian France is in love with it. His dad would never give the authority to do this. He is ruining the sport, making it all about money, therefore resulting in lack of fans. This may be the first year in a while where NASCAR ratings have gone down this far. I hope they realize this and change it soon. Tradition is key for NASCAR. Without tradition, the future will be dark for NASCAR.I love NASCAR and I have supported them ever since i was 3 years old. I hope they realize what they are doing to this great way of life and do something about it soon.
-Trey Stafford
oh yes and by the way NASCAR is so not fixed
some caution flags? maybe. the races? most definitely not. driving styles suit different tracks and types of cars and everything. you cant fix a NASCAR race. It has too much probability involved
Yeah I think NASCAR shows favoritism towards certain drivers, especially their “golden boy” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. However, that is what the “fans” want to see. Not the real NASCAR fans that have been following the sport since before Jr. was born, but the fans that NARCAR wants to attract now. I think alot of the older drivers and also the ones that are not part of major teams or sponsers get overlooked constantly. It boils down to the same reasons NASCAR won’t allow split screen coverage during commercials next year on ESPN: $$$$$$. People pay to watch the “big-time” drivers and the sponsers pay a pretty penny to put their names next to those driver’s names. Sadly, that is just what the sport has become. Think about all the commercials we are forced to watch. There is almost as much airtime of ads as their is racing. It is a freaking travesty. Sorry for the tangent!
anyone remember the pepsi 400 the year dale sr died?? the fix was in!
Im sorry but its impossible to fix a race, come on. That would mean EVERY single driver on the track would have to be involved in it, every team. That every single driver would have to agree to it being fixed. Dont be stupid. You cant fix a NASCAR race. The outcomes are always unpredictable, I mean they’re going over 150mph almost every week, can you really predict what will happen? Can you really fix a race where drivers are going that fast? Can you be certain that cars wont wreck? NO, get over it. Races arent fixed, but Im sure they play favorites sometimes. But Jr. has gotten fined many many times for his behavior, and so have many other drivers.
Amen Robin!!! You cant control all the teams..much less if their equipment will last the entire race..and ur right Dale Jr gets fined for everything he does..If they fined him for the way he talks on his in-car audio on trackpass he would be broke lol…Ill say it once and ill sya it again..if anyone in the sport of Nascar gets favoritism its Hendrick Motorsports..nuff said
I think you are right but I dont think Jr. is one of them or he would be able to do no wrong like Jimmy Johnson and
Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton. I think Hendricks pays off the press and tv.
AFan of many many years
I think they do not favor Jr. or he would not have been fined and lost points last year that took hin out of the chase. I do think the media gets paid for all the talk about Jimmy and Jeff. WE get tierd of hearing that all the time.We are long time fans