From reading some of these comments, it sounds like most of you (and probably most average fans) just don’t get racing culture and how cheating applies. There’s probably a disconnect on how NASCAR works, but I see that a few people get it.
First, cheating is a part of racing. The only difference between cheating and competing is getting caught. Having said that, there’s cheating and then there’s cheating. Just like it sounds, it’s sometimes hard to define where one ends and the other begins.
The cheating that’s acceptable is exploiting the gray areas and building towards passing tech instead of the letter of the rules. Take Johnson/Knaus in 2004 and 2005. There were many instances of NASCAR taking them behind the hauler after a race and telling them not to do something again. They were doing things with the shock and spring packages that kept the spoiler in the air and the nose to the ground. They were violating the spirit of the rules, but not necessarily the letter of the rules (maybe?). They were always allowed to keep their spots.
The unacceptable cheating is the blatant stuff (see Waltrip, Micheal). There are some things that will just really tick off NASCAR or a local track. Getting caught with tire softener is one (although getting away with it locally is usually easy). Fuel additives are another. NASCAR hates traction control. They are going to penalize teams that take short cuts.
Just remember, the cars are racing about three hours a week. Don’t think that’s the only place where races are won and lost though. Countless hours are spent thinking about, scheming about, and dreaming about things in the shop. Some are built and tested. A few of those actually make it to the track. Of those, a few are caught by tech inspectors. Those are what you hear about. I can just about guarantee that there won’t be a car out there on Sunday that isn’t exploiting gray areas and sometimes downright breaking the rules.
One of my issues with NASCAR is that they sometimes seem all over the board in regards to punishment. Take the Lowe’s team that I mentioned earlier. They got warned on at least three occasions in '04 and '05 for violations, with no punishment. They got caught cheating at Daytona last year and fined $50K, but no points were taken. A year or two before DEI lost 25 points because the word “shit” slipped out in an interview. Make sense out of that contrast. This year the Kenseth team gets caught for aero infractions. They are a team who’s nose is clean as far as rumors of cheating. NASCAR slaps them with a 50 point penalty. It’s pretty hard to figure that one out when you compare it to last year.
Maybe you just have to follow the money? I don’t think the average NASCAR fan really wanted Toyota in NASCAR. They bring a lot of money to the table though, so here they are. Johnson’s team is sponsored by Lowe’s. Lowe’s also sponsors a yearly race and a race track. Kenseth’s sponsor isn’t even a full time sponsor. I don’t know that there is correlation, but it makes you wonder.
Years ago there was a rumor that a high profile team was going to lose a high profile sponsor (with billions and billions served). That team had been winless with that sponsor. They went on to win two restrictor plate races that year. Even so, the high profile sponsor still left at the end of that season. At Daytona the following year (the first restrictor plate race) the team that lost the sponsor got busted for some illegal inserts in their intake manifold. It was big time cheating. There was a lot of speculation that they were allowed through tech with them the year before to try to save the sponsor. Richard Petty’s 200th win is another example of a case where the fix was probably in.
Anyway, my point is don’t throw these people under the bus or think they’re evil. For the most part they’re just doing their jobs, but somehow managed to cross a line that NASCAR continues to move on a year by year and team by team basis.
