It’s no secret that NASCAR is somewhat down on its luck. The sport was booming in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, but as the economy declined, so did NASCAR. I’m not here to tell you there is no coincidence there, but I will tell you NASCAR’s decline in popularity isn’t all based on the dollars and cents in the pockets of Americans.
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No, the fact is that the sport itself is equally at fault. Sure, there are some factors NASCAR couldn’t control, such as the “golden boy” Dale Earnhardt Jr. drifting off into obscurity and one driver winning four championships in a row (sorry Jimmie Johnson, but that isn’t really the best thing that can happen when you’re trying to build or maintain a fan base), but NASCAR has done as much harm as good for itself in recent years.
There was a change in cars that didn’t go over the way NASCAR had hoped and then there were the rule changes, which were changed, then changed again and then again. The problem is NASCAR tends to change the rules every couple of races or so. I could kind of hang in there and go along with it, but after the events of last week, I just have to share my opinion.
The penalty assessed to Clint Bowyer after he won at New Hampshire… maybe the worst call I have ever seen in my life.
To be fair, I like Clint Bowyer so I may be a little biased, but come on; I would feel this way about anyone in this situation. Bowyer won the race at New Hampshire. While celebrating, he ran out of gas and a tow truck pushed his car to the winner’s circle. The car went through post-race inspection and was passed. Just like that, Bowyer was in second place in the “Chase for the Championship” (basically NASCAR’s playoffs), a mere 35 points behind the leader in the standings, Denny Hamlin. It’s over; good deal for Bowyer, right? Not so fast. NASCAR took Bowyer’s car for further inspection and “upon further review” found the back end of the car to be 60/1000th of an inch too high. The result, you ask? How about a 150-point penalty. Now Bowyer was in 12th place in the Chase, 185 points back with nine races to go. Basically, NASCAR took a driver’s chance of winning a championship away over 60/1000th of an inch.
And here is the kicker – what do you suppose that push to victory lane from the tow truck did to the back end of Bowyer’s car? I’m guessing it didn’t do him any favors.
I am so sick of NASCAR pulling stunts like this. We are talking about championships here. I don’t believe Bowyer was cheating; but if the back end was raised that much on purpose, does it really merit this large of a punishment? Cheating and NASCAR have gone hand-in-hand since the sport evolved from its moonshine-runnin’ roots back in the day. The worst part of this is NASCAR is horribly inconsistent with its penalties and interpretations of what cheating is. I am convinced that if the driver that won in New Hampshire would have been Jimmie Johnson, that car wouldn’t have ever gotten a second look. I’m not saying NASCAR never penalizes Johnson, because they have on multiple occasions, but they would never pull this stunt with him in the Chase of all places.
Bowyer got robbed, plain and simple. Yes, he got to keep his win. Yes, he may not have gone on to win a championship; but he was robbed of an opportunity to compete for the title. As competitive as the Chase is and as good as the other drivers are, there is no chance he can come back. If one guy wrecks, you still have 10 other guys to which you have to hope bad luck strikes.
NASCAR used to be fun for me and entertaining to watch. The only thing consistent about this sport is that the same driver wins the championship every year. Other than that, everything changes every week. This sport has transformed into something almost unrecognizable these days. The economy may have taken its toll on NASCAR, but the self-inflicted damage is what really brought this sport to its knees.