NASCAR (the equivalent to the parents of a household), basically gave one of their kids in the #55 team a heathy spanking.  NASCAR docking them -100 Championship points, banned a member of their team indefinitely and dug into their deep wallets for cash.  For some this was an adequate punishment.  You, me and Joe the Ragman down the road had more NEXTEL Cup Championship points going into the Daytona 500 than what Mikey had.. and we don't even race!

But for others, it just wasn't enough.  The statement that echoed louder than anything else was that NASCAR didn't ban or disqualify them because they run a Toyota Camry.  That's a statement that may, or may not, have some merit.  How would Toyota look if (and this is hypothetical thinking), the "poster boy" of their product missed the biggest race in all of NASCAR?  In turn, how would have NASCAR looked to the rest of the world's auto industry if they kicked out a car, from the only lone foreign auto maker, from an American auto race?  That's what lit up the NASCAR conspiricy boards, not the actual scandal itself.  But the question still hangs, "Did NASCAR cater to Toyota that week?", "Did NASCAR play favorites to their new found friend... Toyota?

That, my friends, is up for you to decide.

NASCAR's Most Popular Decision

"Mr Owl, how many debris cautions does it take to get the #8 back on the lead lap of a NASCAR race?" the kid asks.

"I don't know", replied Mr Owl.  "You'll have to ask Mr. Brian France". 

Any of you remember those old Tootsie Pop commercials?  Well, the kid asked Mr. Owl another one, but that one was off-camera.  Mr Owl didn't know, and neither does most of us.  Isn't funny how when that old #8 driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr is either a lap down and ready for the "Lucky Dog", or is about to get lapped by the leader, how a caution flag comes-a-flyin'?  I know you do.  Even non-fans of NASCAR  knows some things up when world gets a spike in CO2 levels from the collective sighs of relief from his fans.  You ask yourself why does it seem like a convenient coincidence?  Who's the most popular driver in NASCAR right now?  Who's line is longer at the merchandise hauler?  What is the predominate color in the stands at the tracks?  If you said Bill Elliot and his color red, then you're 10 years off the pace with the rest of the field.

Besides red, the only color that the "Earnhardt Nation" loves to see is yellow!

Do you think that NASCAR contemplates the following questions: "What if we didn't let that caution didn't come out?  What place would Junebug finish?  What implications would it have on his points standings? Can he still make the Chase?"   Some of you do think this way. 

When Dale Earnhardt Jr missed the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup in 2005 along with his sidekick Jeff Gordon, the reverb from it was felt not only on Mars, but in NASCAR's TV Nelson Ratings every week.  Take in grasp the magnitude of the Earnhardt Jr's popularity and the financial impact his fans have on NASCAR, would you want to gamble by not having him in your playoffs?  Many speculate that this is the case when that mysterious (and invisible to the camera's eye) piece of debris is found, it's caution time.  Does NASCAR cater to the #8 team?  I don't know, but it's funny how things turn out sometimes.

(sidenote) My fellow Jr fans are going to flame me on this one.  Being that I'm a resident of of Earnhardt Nation, they will call me "Traitor" or "Mr Benedict Arnold".  I don't care.  You have to see this sport in different way in order to truly love NASCAR  But to do that you have to first drop the silly and biased notion that Dale Jr is "God and Creator of NASCAR".

A Happy Hendrick is a Richer NASCAR

One thing that has really caught my attention these past few years is the growing number of folks in various messages boards with a weird complaint.  Their rants are in regards to Rick Hedrick's organization allegedly putting NASCAR on their payroll.  Their case in point (of many) was in 2005 at the MBNA 400 at Dover when the #5 and the #48 teams had unapproved shocks on their cars.  If you pull up any old video tapes of that race, you'll notice how high the left side of the car was up in the air.  What this did was cause the tires to obtain more grip on the track.  Various teams were in screaming foul in response after the race post-inspection.  Their chief complaint was that NASCAR did not strip the eventual winner of that race, the #48 and his cohort the #5 of second place nor did they dock points or give them a monetary fine.  Almost immediately afterwards, fans were on the anti-Hendrick Motorsports bandwagon.

Jimmy Johnson's NASCAR dominance comes with a backlash from racing fans everywhere.  This is because of alleged favoritism and cheating scandals.

Not only were they not penalized but NASCAR let another "questionable" advantage by Jimmy Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, slip by.  The only action taken was that the type of shocks that were used in the race was banned from NASCAR, case closed... or is it?  Chad Kanus has a soured history with trying to manpulate the NASCAR rule book.  He's been fined numerous times and even suspended from NASCAR races.

When the dust settled, a lot of race fans claimed that nothing happened because Rick Hendrick is putting NASCAR on his shopping list.  In addition, most non-Johnson fans have claimed that since Hendrick Motorsports "buys out" NASCAR, whenever #48 wins a race is because NASCAR was paid in full. Obiously their accusations are false because of lack of substantial evidence.  But it still sticks in the back of your mind because of Chad Kanus' history and the dominance of Jimmy Johnson on NASCAR's circuit. 

 Is Rick Hendrick buying out NASCAR for the sake of sucess?  You tell me.

What's My Take?

Sports has been around for centuries, and so has cry babies.  At the end of some events in history, people were ran through with a sword because of poor sportsmanship.  In the 1990's though 2000, people claimed that teams like the Chicago Bulls, Nebraska Cornhuskers, San Francisco 49rs, New York Yankees and  the Dallas Cowboys all had their share of power to manipulate the system.  When these teams became successful, it rubbed the fans of rival teams the wrong way and the accusations started flying.  But when the dominance of those teams faded... the whining pendulum swung the other way.

 Cry babies = another word for fans who are on the warpath, looking for scapegoats to blame for their team's problems

I don't believe that NASCAR plays favorites to anyone except the fans.  Think of how much creditability they'd loose if they did?  With hopes of building new tracks in the Pacific Northwest, outreaching to our northern and southern neighbors with events, and expanding on their fan-base... it would be too risky to even think about let alone do it. 

In the eyes of all major-league sports, NASCAR would be comparable to pro-wrestling if they did play favorites to one team over another.  If they did, NASCAR might as well join the growning trend of this nation, and that's a company merger between them and the WWE.  Imagine that: The WWE Cup?  The winner at the end of the season will get a shot the heavyweight champ at Wrestlemania.

If NASCAR really played favorites to some teams, what would be the difference between the two?

The fact is that all of these complaints stems from your team not winning.  You would rather take your frustrations out on your successful rival (or the sport as a whole), than come to grips on what the real root of the problem is.  Times will be hard, and your team will eventually hit the gutter.  But a true fan of any sport would choose back their team up 100% through thick and thin, rather then drown in their own tears.

Big thanks to Tom Jensen of the SPEED Channel and his correspondence e-mail's with me on this issue.  His feedback was the inspiration of this Blog page.