NASCAR's Lack of Leadership Keeps Leading to Embarrassment.

Anyone who has ever been in the US Military who has taken on any leadership position (doesn't matter if it is commissioned or non-commissioned) can tell you there is one thing that is drilled into your head over and over: leadership means taking care of your people.

In May, I wrote two pieces on the case of Angela Harkness, The NASCAR Stripper.

We were recently treated to the stunning fall of alleged heroin users Aaron Fike and his girlfriend/fiance/crew member.

Today, the demise of Ginn Racing is official.

Also, an ongoing issue is that some of the drivers who made the sport what it is today-- long before the rewards were even close to what they are today-- have fallen on hard times.

Each of these stories is tragic. Somebody has gotten hurt badly in each one (as funny as the NASCAR Stripper story is, somebody died and lots of people lost money and careers). They are all embarrassing to NASCAR.

In each one, NASCAR has the same weak, lawyerly excuse: they are independent contractors.

That is a cop out. That is a spectacular lack of leadership.

NASCAR's position is to have loose oversight on team operations and to take no responsibility for the drivers.

The NASCAR Stripper debacle gets avoided with a simple basic background check.

What happened with Fike might not have been stopped by an addiction prevention program, but there is a decent chance it would have.

A simple Google search would have made the story of Ginn Racing as predictable as the sunrise.

Hiding behind lawyer weasel words to let the people who built a sport that made many untold fortunes is pathetic.

NASCAR is the caretaker o####reat sport. They have a great responsibility. Listening to lawyers tell them how best to cover their ####(etts) isn't being responsible.

Unless they enjoy these kind of embarrassments, it isn't being smart.

Even my four year old know that if you don't take care of your toys, they're going to get broken and you won't be able to play with them anymore.

It's time for NASCAR to step up their oversight of and requirements for the teams instead of passing the buck.

It's time for NASCAR to do a better job taking care of their people.