NASCAR Violates American Civil Rights

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

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Another week, and another one busier than a one-armed wallpaper hangar.

First up, it was mentioned in droves by the “media” that NASCAR’s method of suspension (pulling credentials of those suspended) was “not enough” in terms of actually suspending a member. This is because credentials get you in the garage and the pits, nothing more. It’s all NASCAR has to work with.

After the cries by the “media”, Brian France said they were going to look at it. France, Mike Helton, Jim Hunter, and company took a look at it over the week and [Jim] Hunter announced yesterday at Daytona that individuals suspended from NASCAR were now banned from the track property during their suspension.

While it might not be agreeable that it isn’t exactly in the spirit of competition that suspended individuals can access other locations during an event weekend, that isn’t really the issue here.

The issue is that without credentials, the suspended person is now no different than the common fan, and one that has not violated any law of the United States of America.

Now that NASCAR has said they are now banned from the track while suspended, is this not a violation of personal freedom? A violation of all that America stands for? I see it as such, but apparently the “new media crowd” that NASCAR has been trying to attract doesn’t see it that way.

If it were one of these Journalists that lost their “credentials”, would they still not be at the track? Would they not be infuriated if they were told not to show up? Told they had been banned from the track? All hell would break loose. Yet, as long as it is someone else they don’t care.

I’m not going to debate whether having the suspended person in the motor home lot, the infield, or the grandstands has an impact or not. I’m not going to debate whether it’s right, or in the spirit of the suspension.

What matters here is that the Communist Party of NASCAR has violated the very freedoms that we are allowed under the Constitution and laws of The United States of America.

To put this in perspective, what if someone suspended still wanted to watch the race like anyone else, but had absolutely no contact with any team while on track property. They were acting in no other capacity than any other fan? They can’t.

Not saying that is what is going on, but it’s the principle of the issue that is at hand here. What’s to stop someone from being in a hotel close to the track? Close enough they can pick up radio signals? Nothing. Chad was in a hotel at Daytona in ‘06, and it wasn’t any different than if he had been at the track in the motor home lot or the infield. Well, other than team meetings and such were in a different location.

The only thing this change “solves” is the impression that NASCAR is doing something. It won’t change the outcome or the fact that the suspended person can still play an important part. This move is has nothing more than to promote NASCAR’s media image in mind, and one that solves absolutely nothing.

What’s next Fuhrer France? Put a ban on individuals anywhere within 100 miles of a track? Make them check in at the NASCAR Offices 3 times a day during event weekends? I got it… Why not lock them up in a cell over event weekends? How’s that, huh? No crime committed, but certainly being treated like a felon.

This certainly is not the American Way, but is this the new “NASCAR Way”?

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Damn Good Points, Nascar, Nextel Cup, The Soapbox





Trackback URL for: NASCAR Violates American Civil Rights

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Saturday July 7, 2007
8:00pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Hello. My name is Tony Stewart (most call me Flip-Flop), and I’m a Jackass.

It’s never my fault, let me make that point clear right now.

I don’t care who you are, I’m better.

Sincerely,
Flip-Flop

—– —– —– —– —–

Yeah, that asshat never lifted, then blames Hamlin for slowing down and expecting 42 cars to do the same.

Hamlin, through obvious frustration, said he was wide open and next thing he knew was he was going for another kind of ride.

Yeah. Way to go Stewart. Never, ever your fault.

Maybe one day you’ll figure it out, but I seriously doubt it. Have a frosty. Or should I say…

Have a Coke and a smile and STFU.

Anyone think there isn’t already, or going to be even more tension in the JGR Camp?

Join the discussion.

Filed Under: Daytona, Denny Hamlin, Drivers, Joe Gibbs Racing #11, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Teams, Tony Stewart, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Hello. I’m A Jackass.

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday July 15, 2007
2:12pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. President and NASCAR Board Member Lesa France Kennedy; Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation; as well as a reported 3 other people on the ground tragically lost their lives when the plane carrying Dr. Kennedy and Michael Klemm crashed shortly after takeoff in a Sanford, Fl neighborhood. Coming on the heels of the recent loss (Jube 4th) of Bill France Jr, Lesa’s father, again the NASCAR world was rocked with tragedy. The thoughts and prayers of the Thunder Lounge go out to all those who have been tragically involved in this incident, and we wish for a speedy and full recovery for those who were injured.

The reports made state than an off-duty Lake Mary firefighter was the first on the scene, and without any protective equipment whatsoever dashed in to begin rescue efforts. The firefighter ended up being treated for smoke inhalation.

It was announced this past Friday that indeed Budweiser will not be able to follow Dale Earnhardt Jr. over to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. This seems to be because of conflicts with existing Hendrick sponsorship commitments. One interesting note is that for whatever reason Gatorade cannot be associated with an alcoholic beverage sponsor. Which has fueled speculation that Pepsi, and/or one of it’s other brands like Mountain Dew, will most likely be the new sponsor.

Originally, Dale Junior also had a personal services contract with Bud, which went through 2008. However, reports state that that contract will expire after 2007.

What comes into question now is the status and importance of the #8. Without the Bud brand behind it, does that make it any less important in being a part of the “New Junior” in 2008? I don’t personally think so, as while it isn’t as apparent anyone can read between the lines and see that Hendrick has probably known about the Budweiser conflict for a while now, and also that the time it took for them to confirm it was most likely due to working with them to relieve Junior’s obligations for 2008.

While Bud has been on the hood of many a driver over the years, one could easily argue that none were as prestigious at the time as Dale Earnhardt Junior has been over all. So now closes the end of the Junior and Bud era, and in comes yet more change to the NASCAR landscape. It happens, but this is one of the most visible changes to the “outside world” that has ever taken place in the history of NASCAR.

Casey Mears will be leading the field to the green later this afternoon, as he grabbed the pole at Chicago with a 29.580 lap at 182.556mph. It was his third career pole, and first since Indy a scant 3 years ago.

For that weekly battle, here’s how it shaped up:

• Made it in:
  • #22 Dave Blaney
  • #15 Paul Menard
  • #21 Bill Elliott (Provisional used)
  • #36 Jeremy Mayfield
  • #00 David Reutimann
  • #49 Chad Chaffin
  • #55 Michael Waltrip
  • #4 Ward Burton

• Packed it up:
  • #10 Scott Riggs
  • #83 Brian Vickers
  • #44 Dale Jarrett
  • #84 A.J. Allmendinger
  • #37 Kevin Lepage
  • #78 Kenny Wallace

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Casey Mears, Chicagoland, Dale Earnhardt Junior, Drivers, Nascar, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Chaotic Week Brings Tragedy And End Of An Era

By Marc, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday July 17, 2007
8:10pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

The week after Friday the Thirteenth has brought incredible good luck! Just imagine finding not one, but two sets of very important keys within hours of their loss.

The first instance of good fortune was the discovery of a set of keys that led to my freedom from the “overseers” at my usual place of unemployment.

No sooner had I secured my release via a dark tunnel lined with auto racing posters spanning 50 years of history I was confronted by a neon sign flashing the words Thunder Lounge. Just below that gaudy display was a man standing with a help wanted sign.

Overlooking for the moment his suit that was obviously rented from Ten Buck Suits R Us I inquired what type of help he was looking for.

Introducing himself as Luke, proprietor of Thunder Lounge, he said due to circumstances beyond his control he was unable to provide the amount of content and the entertainment that content usually provides to his cliental at Thunder Lounge.

Luke then proceeded to lay out a “litany of restrictions” on what could and could not be part of Thunder Lounge’s menu. Then my second stroke of luck occurred.

As Luke read me the riot act a key ring slipped through a hole in his right suit pocket. As I pretended to listen the words “Thunder Lounge” glinted in the moonlight from a shiny key fob attached to the set of keys.

Never one to pass up an opportunity, and singing the praises or Ten Buck Suits R Us, I declined Luke’s offer with thoughts of snatching the keys and rummaging around the place late at night.

And it worked, Luke walked away dejected and I’m in! And the best part of all I’m unencumbered by any restrictions Luke attempted to place on me. So standby, you may be seeing a whole lot more of me in the next few days, weeks and if undetected years!

I may even make a copy or two of the keys and pass them around to a friend or two.

On a side note, despite Luke’s ruminations to the contrary I have it on semi-official authority, attributed to anonymous sources, Luke isn’t over worked. He’s been thumped on the head by NASCAR’s version of Thor’s Hammer.

Word is he’s been suspended under NASCAR’s Mythical Rulebook Section 12-4-A, “actions detrimental to stock car racing.” The exact violation hasn’t been detailed but indications are Luke was seen in the Texas Motor Speedway infield selling cheap copies of the Mythical Rulebook while wearing a gold tin foil hat.

Hopefully the suspension will point Luke towards acting in a straight and narrow manner.

If not… well you got me!

4 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Guest Authors, Marc Boland, Nascar





Trackback URL for: Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday July 18, 2007
1:46pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Ain’t it funny how things can come back to bite you?

After being “done dirty” by Joe Gibbs, an issue not to be rehashed, Aric Almirola now has come to what should be called a “defining moment” in his career.

It was rumored, rumored again, and then it hit the fan. Mark Martin has a new pupil, and his name is Aric Almirola.

What? Huh? What about Regan Smith?

Well, that’s a whole ‘nother ball of wax folks.

Sterling Marlin has been released, and Regan Smith will be jumping into the Ginn Racing #14 starting with Indy. Our ol’ buddy Sterlin’, while looking to cut back in 2008, wasn’t exactly pleased. I guess Ginn is still paying him through the end of his contract, but he’s on to other things. Maybe even a second ride with them McClure boys.

On the same, but similar front at Ginn, it appears Bobby’s pockets aren’t the big brother of the Grand Canyon. Either that, or the length of his arms have been reduced. The #13, and Joe Nemechek have been suspended from continual operation due to lack of sponsorship and will not be headed to Indy.

That’s a car in the Top 35 folks, that’s walking away.

I wonder how long it will be before Michael Waltrip buys those owner points up? Granted, he isn’t but barely in the Top 35, but he is in. Enough to where Michael would be in the show at least two or three times before falling back out.

But, I digress. Although it appears DEI is interested in those points for Menard, as well as combining teams with DEI to make a 4 car team. Which, it seems, would kick the 15 out, and bring in the #01 and the #14, but who knows. I’m rambling again…

So here we have Aric Almirola rolling out of Joe Gibbs Racing, and rolling into the students lounge at Ginn. School’s in session, and this move will either make or break him. However, under the guidance of Mark Martin, he’s in good hands.

Aric’s first race will be August 12th, as he’s thrown into the road course at Watkins Glen. He’ll also run the Cup races that Regan Smith was scheduled for, but there’s a kicker too.

Joe Gibbs Racing, while granting the release of Aric Almirola, is keeping him to his Busch Series commitments (5 more) for 2007. Gee, I wonder how that’s going to go over? Anyone got a punch bowl?

Aside:

I’d like to thank the couple of mutineers that have graciously accepted an invitation to be authors on the Lounge. As they have time, of course.

Unfortunately, my time has become such that it honestly is tough to find 15 minutes a day to share my insight with all of you, as you may have noticed. So, in order to keep bringing y’all the goods, these familiar faces will be making an appearance here and there to help keep you all in content for your reading pleasure. Again, thanks to both Marc, and Clance’ for their insight, time, personalities, and of course their assistance.

Then again, you could always start your own NASCAR blog for free, and let the world know what you think about this great sport of ours.

4 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Aric Almirola, Drivers, Ginn Racing #01, Ginn Racing #13, Ginn Racing #14, Indianapolis, Joe Nemechek, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Regan Smith, Sterling Marlin, Teams, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Aric Almirola: Zero Or Hero Time

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Thursday July 19, 2007
11:54am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled discussion of all things NASCAR to give a shout out to a little side project of mine.

If WordPress, and specifically WordPress MU doesn’t interest you and leaves you scratching your head, you’re free to carry on about your day. We’ll be back on topic in a few.

If you are interested in WordPress MU, I have put together a little community over here specifically for the discussion of advanced issues in regards to WordPress Multi User (MU, or µ if you prefer).

Thanks to the assistance of Dr. Mike, Ron and Andrea, Andrew, and James, we’ve begun the building blocks for a solid community where advanced issues with WordPress MU can be discussed, hashed out to death, and then a solid piece of information can be given back to the MU community in a single post at the beginning of a thread in the official forums.

If topics like server load, database and code efficiency, advanced feature coding and discussion, advanced theme generation, and other such “geeky” topics have no interest for you, this isn’t your kinda place. If you are trying MU out, and can’t change a link color in CSS, or don’t have any idea what a custom template or function is, then this isn’t for you.

OK, that’s a little harsh, but seriously folks, we’re discussing a piece of server level software that requires advanced knowledge to begin with, and then diving further into it.

If you’re not scared off yet, or just perpetually curious, feel free to drop by and take a look.

Anyone may register, and join the discussion, and it’s highly encouraged to do so. Just let it be known that it’s for advanced discussion, and not for general MU support. They have a forum for that, and that’s not what this is about.

The reason for this community is two fold.

First, as previously mentioned, we can work out issues and discuss them through to a solution which can then be posted in the official forums in the first post. There’s lots of good information over there, but more times than not you have to wade through and piece together the solution. This aims to make it better in that regard.

Second, is that unfortunately MU draws a variety of people to it. To be honest, most of them don’t have the basic skill set to be successful with running MU. Nothing against those folks personally, we all can’t be a master of everything. However, it has lead to a downturn in the official forums where a lot of topics follow common traits, and have made it difficult to really discuss real issues at hand. Most topics started there have either been answered before and the user failed to search, the topic is something that wouldn’t need be asked if the users skill level were commensurate with what the software requires, and the biggest one of late has been users not even knowing they were in the MU forums and posting questions about WordPress in general. The last one has been bad lately especially.

When you come to the advanced community, there is no doubt about where you are. It looks nothing like any of the “official” sites, which other than a little µ in the logo, obviously a minor difference in the url, and a slight difference in the page links up top, they both look the same to someone without a clue.

When a large portion of the questions asked on the main forum can be replied to with one of 3 canned responses, there is an issue.

For these reasons, that’s why this new discussion community has been forged. To get out of the way of the junk, discuss true issues, and bring them to the masses.

Sporting a nice FAQ about MU, and some other goodies, any MU administrator can stand to find something of interest.

Just be warned, we have no problem closing a topic that is below the level of conversation. If you need to learn PHP, MySQL, Linux, Apache, HTML, CSS, or any of the basic skills, there are plenty of resources out there. If you need basic MU support, they have their own forum.

In closing, I’d like to thank Dynamic Systems and Content Solutions for their amazing Sphinx Portal, which is what our Advanced WordPress MU Discussion Community is running. If you need a portal and forum solution, give it a shot and you won’t be disappointed.

That’s all folks, back to driving fast and turning left.

2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Thunder Lounge, WordPress





Trackback URL for: MU Advanced: An Advanced Discussion Community

By Clance' McClannahan, Thunder Lounge
Sunday July 22, 2007
5:56pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

After hours of searching and researching, I believe I have found the Ultimate Answer’s to the many questions posed on Thunder Lounge.com.

Yes, Marc, “Word is he’s been suspended under NASCAR’s Mythical Rulebook Section 12-4-A, “actions detrimental to stock car racing.” The exact violation hasn’t been detailed but indications are Luke was seen in the Texas Motor Speedway infield selling cheap copies of the Mythical Rulebook while wearing a gold tin foil hat.”

There have been many violations, one in particular, which brought about the horrid act, and turned the suspended one into a computer geek.

The exact violation of Section 12-4-A, “actions detrimental to stock car racing” was this post. Once up a time there was someone who dared such a dis’ to my driver… She however, was only put on probation for a first time violation. as she made the comments in ignorance, not being a NASCAR fan.

On the other hand, should Mr. Luke be given another chance? If so, how many? Just one? Two?
Or shall we say three strikes and you are out and just take over Thunder Lounge? Should we send him to Bash and Beat Up Tony Rehab in some nutzo forum somewhere, or would that be too harsh of a punishment?

I truly wish to recieve such marvelous feedback on post as was given to Aaron Fike, Don’t Let the Pit Gate Hit You. I, being the toothless hillbilly that I am, missed out on that lovely little party. The gate was locked, and rightfully so.

I had planned on doing a post about random drug use in NASCAR prior to the fire elementals threatening my home. Old news now. I have a pretty broad outlook and open mind. I too, believe that, in the world of NASCAR, there is no room for another chance. The sport is way too dangerous to have someone who is using drugs anywhere near a race car or truck. Yes, even if it was only mariwhanna.

Aaron Fike was not using “only” pot. He was using HEROIN, and shooting it up with NEEDLES. Now, I come from the old hippi world, and even in the 60’s and 70’s, “back in my days”, shooting up, meant SKANK. Heroin meant waaaaayyyy out of control. Not cool. In this day and age, the drugs are stronger and much more dangerous, and addictive. I do hope he, his gal, and the other NASCAR driver’s who have issues with addiction, get the help they need. But second chance in NASCAR? No way.

I do think, that after proper rehab, we should give ol’ Luke a second chance. He and Marc both need new hats, which was the second reason for suspension.
Why wasn’t Marc suspended for such an outlandish, blatent defiance of NASCAR’s Mythical Rulebook Section 12-4-A, “actions detrimental to stock car racing.”.
Because he was creative about it, I guess. When will the rules ever be the same for all?
By the way, the propellor has been found. It’s on the back of some guys bike.
While I was searching for it, I also found a picture of why I believe NASCAR driver’s should just say no to drugs.

On a final note, today’s deep thought:

Handle every situation like a dog.
If you can’t eat it or screw it,
Piss on it and walk away.

(I have edited and edited and cannot get this to format correctly, therefore I am taking my own advise)

Any questions??

9 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Damn Good Points, Drivers, Guest Authors, Nascar, Ridiculous Posts, Thunder Lounge





Trackback URL for: NASCAR’s Mythical Rulebook Section 12-4-A ~ The Many Reason’s for Suspension

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday July 24, 2007
2:12pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

If you don’t have heartfelt sympathy for Rusty Wallace, you must be a robot.

While most of us sit comfortably in our location of choice while we watch ESPN’s Busch Series coverage, Rusty is atop the track providing the lap by lap commentary that most of us have come to enjoy. I’ll admit being able to listen to the “Doc” all day long, and while I was skeptic at first I’ve been proven wrong as Rusty has made the jump from the track to the booth.

Where the toughness of the situation comes in, is the on track performance of Rusty Wallace Incorporated. I can’t fathom the pain that has to be running through Rusty every race as Steven ends up wrecked. Whether his fault or his own, Steven’s struggles have been dramatic. At times he shows his true potential, only to end up in the fence. It tough to watch almost any youngster with that much potential go through, let alone one with such a family tradition and ties directly to that coveted Cup.

While Rusty maintains composure, I don’t know how he does it. It heart has to be breaking inside as he watches his son grow on the track. Where he finds the strength, I’ll never know, even as a parent myself. It’s one thing to watch your child not be “good” on the little league team, or pee-wee football. But to watch them struggle every week like this is a completely different level, and throw in national TV to boot, is something unfathomable unless you’re in his shoes.

Sure fathers have watched their son’s go through the same thing, and still do today at this level. But to be responsible for also broadcasting your son’s struggles to the world as they happen is something quite different that standing on a pit box or the roof of a hauler and watching. Not that that doesn’t hurt as well, but at least they aren’t having to commentate it to the world while it happens.

It came to light on NASCAR Now yesterday that Rusty Wallace is prevented through his contract with ESPN/ABC from starting a Cup team. He wants to be in Cup pretty bad, so it seems, to the extent that he is considering selling majority ownership of his team so that he can’t hold it back. Then again, he “could” do like Evernham has done with the #10, and in this situation just not be the majority owner of the Cup team.

However, this doesn’t have any bearing to whom is driving on the track. Whether Steve is driving for RWI, or anyone else, nothing can take that father/son bond away.

I have no doubt of Stevens capabilities. Kenny will be the first to tell you that the kid has more raw talent than anyone else in the family. The difference is how that raw talent is harnessed into results, and that’s where they are now. Harnessing that raw talent into on track results. It’s something that may take some time, but it will come or the family will die trying. The family’s commitment to Steven is remarkable, and it spans across them all. They want him to succeed, they want him to win. I can only imagine the future, and Rusty calling Steve’s first Busch win. Then someday, once again, maybe a father will call his son’s victory in the Cup Series as well.

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Busch Series, Nascar, Nextel Cup





Trackback URL for: Being A Parent Can Break Your Heart

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday July 25, 2007
1:34am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

While I’m going to blame this one on Marc, I happened to notice a little eye candy in the way of the current Cup standings, and next race details and stats.

Courtesy of the fine folks at One Bad Wheel, I put together a couple of widgets that implements their available scripts so that you can add these to your Thunder Lounge sites. The widget allows you to select which of their widget script styles you would like to choose (I gave them representative names for use here), and that’s the gist of it.

We’d like to thank the folks at One Bad Wheel for putting this together, and allowing folks the opportunity to have updated info without having to sift through tons of content each week.

You’ll find the new widgets under your “Plugins” menu, and once activated you can go to the “Sidebar Widgets” link under your “Presentation” drop down menu.

Note: See Marc, I told ya I’d been workin’

4 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Nascar, Network News, Nextel Cup, Thunder Lounge





Trackback URL for: New Widgets Available!

By Marc, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday July 25, 2007
7:09pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

This is a follow on to a previous post at my other place of unemployement, Wishing You Were Brian France.

In it I opined many of the head honchos of America’s major sports might hold a bit of jealousy in their hearts for Brian France’s position based on the current scandals enveloping them recently.

This missive takes the opposite view.

Not withstanding France’s possession of “palm tree debris” and “sodas” while navigating condominium parking lots, NASCAR’s CEO has led a rather charmed life during his tenure. The sport is still number two and despite the slight down turn in viewership recently it remains the sport of choice for viewers on most weekends of the year.

Read this as a cautionary tale. Or if you so choose, pure BS. (a decision made while head is planted in sand)

Two of the current scandals on front pages from NYC to Kookamunga are a NBA referee’s ties to gambling and the NFL’s Bad Newz problem.

Both have a common thread, gambling. That connection is plain to see in the NBA’s case but I have seen some commentary that gives me an indication not everyone understands what drives the evil “sport” of dog fighting.

Without the ability to gamble on the outcome of dogfights the activity would be virtually nonexistent.

At this point I have no idea what NASCAR’s or ISC’s stance on gambling by its credential holders is. Obviously any illegal gambling would fall under the catchall of both the morals clause contained in every contract and Sections of The Mythical Rulebook 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing).

Beyond that I’m clueless. If anyone has heard or read of a more public stance by NASCAR officials drop the reference in the comment section.

I’m also unaware whether NASCAR has taken any preemptive action.

For example, the NFL allows FBI and other law enforcement personnel into the training camps to lecture teams on the pervasive nature of gambling and how easy it is to fall prey to the less than desirables that operate on the periphery of the industry.

I’m not sure if this policy is in effect for NASCAR, again if you know, straighten me out.

Before some of you may consider this as a “sky is falling” scenario, save it. It’s much better to assume the worst than wait until your view is obscured by “clouds” that have already fallen. Unfortunately, NASCAR has a habit of reacting, not acting on many occasions.

NASCAR has operated close to the gambling industry for a number of years. Holding events in Las Vegas is the most visible manifestation of that but there have been a few instances of race teams having secondary sponsors of casinos and the like.

Nothing wrong with that. It’s the scumbags, lowlifes, and at the risk of getting a knock on my door by “Guido,” The Mob types that orbit around legal gambling where the problem is.

Gambling on NASCAR is becoming big business. Select your search engine of choice and enter “NASCAR Gambling,” if you have any doubts. (Gordon & Johnson are co-favorites at 5/1 to win the Allstate 400)

(Speculation alert: What follows is pure fantasy but very plausible)

Despite the fallacy of NASCAR personnel being rednecks with IQ’s somewhere south of the Great Apes the majority are highly educated and that has led many of them to be very large fans of their alma mater’s basketball and college football teams.

Say, for example, a pit crew member of the #011 Adult Diapers Chevy gets into heavy debt to his bookie betting on his alma mater’s football team after a 2 and 10 season.

“Bonaventura the Bookie” is becoming increasingly upset with the several thousand dollar marker owed since late November and goes to said pit crew member in mid-January with an “offer he can’t refuse.”

Pay up, or sabotage the current betting favorite #011 Adult Diapers Chevy during the Daytona 500. Failure to comply will be at the risk of three broken legs. (the “third” being the most important to this young stud)

From there it’s easy to envision a dropped jack at the most inopportune time sending the #011 from first to 32nd, introducing a “slow leak” in a tire during a stop (don’t think something similar can’t happen? Think again.) or other performance degrading activity.

It’s all too easy for a single crew member to make a driver go from hero to zero in the span of a few laps. There’s a small margin between the two, a margin closed with such ease to be almost laughable.

NASCAR Nation has its share of caution flag/team favoritism Conspiracy Nuts, the last thing NASCAR needs is anything that even smells of a races outcome being altered for the sake of bets made on an event.

It goes without saying if it ever happens Brian France will wish he weren’t Brian France.

As said earlier, this is a cautionary tale but one that should, and better, be taken seriously by France and the ISC (and it’s share holders). If they have ignored the problem (something they have a habit of doing) mores the pity, they deserve the same treatment the NFL and NBA are getting now.

UPDATE: Hardly a surprising comment from Greg Biffle who has made plain his animal rights advocacy: “Just put him in prison and tell the general public, just give them all the details of what they do with those dogs,” Biffle said. “How they steal people’s dogs out of their front yards and use them for bait dogs and let other dogs kill them. There’s all the horrifying stories. You look at all the pictures on the Internet of the dogs, just maimed, mangled. It’s horrible.”

Nothing I can add except this, the NFL, and NASCAR better look at the gambling that fuels the cock fighting “industry.”

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Marc Boland, Nascar, Nextel Cup, The Soapbox, The Way I See It





Trackback URL for: Do You REALLY Want to be Brian France?