Ocala.com Bloggers
- Broken News
- Bill Thompson
- Digital Editor
- Eric Barnes
- Frame 37
- Ocala.com Multimedia
- Marion Politics
- Newsroom
- Observations
- Naseem S. Miller
- OcalaDay
- Joe Byrnes
- Read My E-Mail
- Allen Parson
- Running Wide Open
- Joe Vanhoose
- Speaking of Business...
- Dr. Philip R. Geist
- The Bowling Blog
- Debbie Whitten
- The Green Zone
- Dave Rhea
- The Sports Blog
- Gregory Broome
- What is that?
- Newsroom
 |
Search Blogs
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Blog Archives
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Is NASCAR fixed?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Location: Blogs Running Wide Open |
 |
| Posted by: Joe VanHoose |
4/28/2007 11:28 AM |
These two things I know are true about two-time NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart: he's one of the most talented race car drivers on the track, and he's not afraid to tell you his opinion off the track.
The latter proved to be the case during Stewart's radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio Tuesday night when he openly accused NASCAR of altering the outcome of races by throwing phantom debris cautions.
"It's about the integrity of the sport, and when I feel our own sanctioning body isn't taking care of that, it's hard to support and feel proud about being a driver in the Nextel Cup Series when they're throwing debris cautions," Stewart said. "It's like playing God. They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it."
Stewart has a point. NASCAR has thrown 20 debris cautions in just nine races this season, two of them having a direct outcome on the finishing order. At California in February, Jimmie Johnson had the race in the bag until a late-race debris caution jumbled up the field. Matt Kenseth drove on to victory while Johnson and second-place finisher Jeff Gordon both said they never saw any debris.
Two weeks ago at Texas, Kurt Busch led the field when he made a green flag pit stop that was followed by a yellow flag for debris. The caution trapped Busch one lap down and essentially took him out of contention.
"I don't know that they've run a fair race all year," Stewart continued. "I can't understand how long the fans are going to let NASCAR treat them like they're ignorant before the fans finally turn on NASCAR."
Ever since NASCAR became mainstream, several traditional sports writers have discredited the sport, pointing out instances that were too good to be true: Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning the first race at Daytona since his father's death in 2001, Jimmie Johnson seemingly winning every race at Lowes Motor Speedway while driving the Lowes car, and so on.
But could it be true? Could NASCAR be as scripted as professional wrestling?
Well, no. Racing involves working machinery, moving parts, and so many other variables that fixing an outcome of a race would be impossible. But that doesn't mean NASCAR doesn’t set the stage for special outcomes. Anyone watching races over the past few years may notice that there's almost always a late-race caution that leads to a more exciting finish than what a caution-free race would produce.
That's what NASCAR fans want to see though, and NASCAR knows it. Closer racing and closer finishes -- even if they are caused by bogus caution flags -- are why NASCAR gets better television ratings than it did 10 years ago. That doesn't give NASCAR much credibility among other sports, but that doesn’t really matter.
NASCAR hasn’t been a sport for a long time.
OCALA SPEEDWAY RESULTS FOR APRIL 20
Sportsman
1. Shelton Bowers
2. William Edwards
3. Greg Young
Street Stock
1. Pete Close
2. Norm Brown
3. Kyle Maynard
Pure Stock
1. James Erickson
2. Matt Shell
3. Jacob Antis
Figure 8
1. Pete Close
2. Rick Hart
3. Justin Durbin
Thunderstock
1. Scott Anderson
2. Josh Brown
3. Jason Henry
Modifieds
1. Troy Robinson
2. Robbie Cooper
3. Wayne Anderson
4-Cylinder Stock
1. Tom Ellis
2. Rick Kuhn
3. Justyn Elwood
|
|
| Permalink |
Trackback |
Comments (3)
Add Comment
|
Re: Is NASCAR fixed? |
By SMASHCAR on
5/5/2007 12:30 PM |
| Here's how to "fix" NASCAR: Make it a straight track, and run em srtaight into a big wall. Then there's acrash every race - and that's all people want anyways! |
|
|
Re: Is NASCAR fixed? |
By Joe on
5/6/2007 8:06 AM |
| Show me a NASCAR fan who says he or she doesn't like wrecks, and I'll show you one heck of a liar. |
|
|
Re: Is NASCAR fixed? |
By obvious on
10/29/2007 1:27 PM |
| Of course it is scripted. Just asked Hendricks motorsports. Who says you cant buy a championship. Lets see, who's it going to be Gordon or Johnson. Strange Hendricks gives NASCAR the money for the development of the car of tommorrow, then his two are now batteling for who will win the cup. You figure it out. |
|
|
|
|
|