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Be Careful What You Wish For

Rowdy or reckless?

When it’s November in Homestead, I’m wondering which word we’ll use to describe the NASCAR season.

For the last few years the popular argument was that the Sprint Cup spectacle had gone a bit stale. That the show had gotten bogged-down by too-much rule-making and corporate image management. It was more than idle grumbling – Brian France could measure the sentiment in terms of TV ratings and ticket sales.

I think we all agree – and I’m delighted that NASCAR’s decision-makers came to this understanding during the pre-Daytona 500 months – that racing should be more fun. Especially now, at this challenging time in our nation’s history. We need more smiles and less stress.

Thus, the “new” NASCAR has emerged. To what effect, well, that answer is thousands of left turns down the road.

Given what happened at Daytona – and Atlanta -- I’m fretting that the line between rowdy fun and dangerous recklessness might wind up being thinner than Twiggy, the world-famous Sixties fashion model.

You saw it, too. The Cup campaign was just minutes old before the drivers got to crashing and the crews got to hauling out backup cars. There was way too much of that for my sensibilities, especially considering that was a practice session. The hits kept coming in the Budweiser Shootout, race-week practice, Gatorade Duels, the Nationwide race (Dale Jr. got to see the world up-side down as a quarter of the laps were colored yellow), the Truck event (one-third of which ran under caution) and in the wild, wacky, wrecky Daytona 500.

A larger restrictor plate, aero tweaks, green light for bump drafting and race control’s “put it back in the drivers’ hands” philosophy combined for some entertaining action and – yes – exciting finishes. Yep, the quality of the showbiz is up like a Space Shuttle. No, the same can’t be said for a good bit of the driving.  

“Yesterday was only half a field,” Juan Pablo Montoya said upon reflection of his qualifying race. “And it was out of control. It was good, but it was out of control.”

Whatever the cheers or jeers the CoT has evoked, its improved occupant protection is beyond debate. Michael McDowell, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman – and, now Brad Keselowski -- are among those who are truly living proof of that happy fact.

That leads me to believe NASCAR has calculated there’s more margin for error. There probably is. That does not mean increasing the number of green-white-checker attempts to three doesn’t guarantee an increase in the number of junked cars needing a wrecker to get back to the garage area.

That’s a problem. Junior wasn’t joking at Daytona when he complained of how much money two crashed Nationwide Chevys was going to cost his already under-funded team.

Which is not to say NASCAR has reversed course on its safety initiatives. It was the right thing to do to stop the Daytona 500 – twice – because of what became America’s most publicized pothole. Not to have done so would have been the worst decision since NBC played yo-yo with Jay Leno.

Hyped-up TV announcers have told us for years Cup showcases “the best drivers in the world.” Avid fans have called for the powers-that-be to “let ‘em race.”

Well, OK, NASCAR has heard you.

With that comes the obligation, and the responsibility, for those same drivers to prove their great skill and good judgment. If they don’t, NASCAR shouldn’t be afraid to pull back on the reins once again.

There’s a big difference between rowdy and reckless.  Something tells me which is the most accurate description will be the story of Sprint Cup 2010.

[ Next column:  March 29 ]

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(I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.)