Cheating In NASCAR??

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Cheating In NASCAR??

By Kaycee Nilson
May 20, 2006

Several times, I have written about NASCAR and with the upcoming contract next year with ESPN, I feel it necessary to write another column about this sport.

Two crew chiefs have been suspended for 4 races each for flagrantly breaking the requirements of the NASCAR regulations for the cars. One suspension came after the Daytona 400 and the recent one was the crew chief of Dale Jarrett.

Jarrett's crew is disputing the suspension saying that while Jimmie Johnson's crew chief blatantly disregarded the rules, the crew chief of the #88 said that he only found a "grey area" to work in. Either way, NASCAR up held it's ruling and the crew chief of the #88 car will be suspended during the All-Star Challenge on Saturday, May 20, 2006.

Is the penalty for the #88 car too harsh? What about the penalty for the #48 car? Are both penalties to harsh on the crew chiefs? I think not. If you are caught cheating in any sporting event, you must pay the price.

This brings another issue, how far is too far in cheating in major sporting events? Ricky Williams of the Miami Dolphins was suspended for failing his drug test. But for drivers of NASCAR, are they to take the blame for their crew chiefs making decisions, sometimes without the driver’s knowledge, to get a better car to increase their chances of winning races.

What happened to the shear endurance that the drivers go through?

I cannot condone either chiefs decision to better their car in order to gain points in the standings or to help their driver get an edge over other drivers.

As it stands now in the points, Jimmie Johnson is in the leader spot with Tony Stewart fighting off Matt Kenseth by only one point. To get into the “Chase” you have to have 400 points behind the leader in order to qualify for the championship.

This week’s race will not affect the standings, but the challenge is to see who has what it takes to become 1 million dollars richer. Kyle Petty has said that if he wins this race, all his proceeds will go to the “Victory Junction Gang” camp that he and his wife started in the memory of the 4th generation of Pettys to drive the NASCAR circuit. Adam Petty lost his life in the Pocono race and that was one deciding factor in using restrictor plates.

I’ll get into what restrictor plates are for those that don’t follow the sport in another column.

But I am behind NASCAR officials in the suspensions of the two crew chiefs for flagrant breaking of rules, no matter what the chiefs said that they did. Rules are rules, if there were no rules in NASCAR, then what sport should also ban their rules? All professional sports?

What a melee that would cause. No rules in any sport should be broken. Just like the rules of life and morals.

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About the author: Kaycee Nilson has completed her first novel, "Night Falls on Chicago." The first two chapters can be viewed at http://www.KayceeNilson.com.

Besides writing columns for Useless-Knowledge and Speedway Media, Kaycee is currently working on two more novels, "From the Mind of a Vampire", and "I'll Love You Til You Die."

If you have enjoyed what you read, or would like to leave Kaycee a message, please visit her message board at http://www.KayceeNilson.com/Board

Email: Kaycee@kayceenilson.com

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