I had some time today to look through some motorsports websites I have not looked at in some time. One struck me as particularly interesting. The website was David Smith Motorsports, and if you are not familiar with it, it is a site devoted to NASCAR driver development programs and drivers. I realize this website is probably not new to many of our viewers and it certainly is not new to me. What hit me though were his rankings, updated June 9th. I’ll get to this in a moment.
Let me start out by saying I think what David Smith is doing is beneficial to many young unseen drivers in lower series. He maintains a pretty comprehensive database of the brightest young drivers in the sport today. Regularly he writes features introducing new drivers or updating readers on their progress. The site really offers something that is not available anywhere and provides a service to those trying to make it. That being said I have an issue to raise.
On his about page, David Smith says he has experience working with ISC, NASCAR and others. Those previous positions are not what concerns me though. What bothers me is that, from last I knew, his current employer is Motorsports Management International. MMI is one of the top driver talent agencies in the sport. They represent the likes of Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and the list goes on and on. In addition they represent some of NASCAR’s young talent including Bryan Clauson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Josh Wise and others.
Herein lies the problem. The current rankings on his website have Bryan Clauson tied with Joey Logano for the top position. Granted, by the date of the rankings Joey Logano had yet to win a race, but what I really do not understand is how Bryan Clauson is competing with him. Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying Bryan Clauson is not a talented young man, because I think he is. However, he has no business at this point being listed as the top driver in the country. Clauson, who is a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, has made 17 starts in the Nationwide Series. He has an average start of 18th and an average finish of 23.1. His stats do not compare to the others he is competing with. Just to name a couple of the other issues I have with the list, Brad Keselowski had won a race a few days prior to this posting, but he is third. Steven Wallace, who has raced for a little longer than Clauson, has a better average start and finish, but he is back in the 18th position.
On his “Blackboard” rankings Smith has Ricky Stenhouse, an MMI client, listed as the top prospect. Now I think Ricky probably deserves that spot, as he leads ARCA points and has two wins at Kentucky and Pocono. But he, along with several other MMI clients, make Smith’s top list. I think then the question is, does Smith let his employer and their clients cloud his judgement?
I cannot say how he compiles his list. However, the ranking of several drivers on the list is a little suspect. It concerns me that he charges people to view sections of his site and he does not disclose his personal link to many of the drivers on those lists. While he does mention some employment with MMI, the way it is written makes it sounds like that was a past position. Past employment is not a problem, but current employment and involvement with several drivers on the list is. It is a conflict of interest and the potential exists for some of MMI’s clients to be inflated in the rankings.
Please let us know what you think about this. Tell me if you think I am off my rocker. Also, if David Smith is out there reading this, please feel free to respond.
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on Jun 26th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Your right! That is a big conflict of interest. If his website was built around being for fun then that’s one thing, but if he is using these stats to sell a driver to a team or sponsor then yes I would say there are some moral issues and possibly some legal issues too. And from the fact that you state some pages you must pay to enter then I would guess this site is much more then some fun fantasy top 10 list like NASCAR.com posts every week.
on Jun 27th, 2008 at 8:17 am
mmi also represents joey logano, so if your theory was correct, what favor would he be doing to mmi by bringing logano down to clauson’s level?
on Jun 27th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Journo,
As Mario Puzo wrote in “The Godfather”: “The fish stinks from the head.”
NASCAR is one big conflict of interest. The governing body should not be owned by the same family that owns tracks.
Speed is owned by Fox, and both networks have contracts to show races and other programs. TNT is owned by Turner, and Turner Media runs NASCAR.com through 2012. TNT runs races. ESPN and ESPNews should be the best source for impartial news, but ESPN and ABC are both owned by Disney and they both show races and have NASCAR programming.
NASCAR Media Group supplies technical crew and produced packages to all the above entities. NASCAR Media Group is part of the vast conflict of interest known as the France family.
Many of the announcers, analysts, and pit reporters are current or former owners, drivers, or crew chiefs, and most of them have maintained a financial interest in a team.
Kenny
Alameda, California
on Jul 6th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I have had this conversation with David in the past and his rankings are based on Cup Potential. When Clauson name was brought up his response was this “he is on of the very few who has got here based solely on his talent, no family in the business no ride buying just flat out winning races at a very hi level since the time he was 13″ At the time last year, when Logano was brought up the comment I heard was a million a year to Gibbs since he signed and really the equipment he has been in has been far superior then the competitors. Logana is empressive but put him in the 40 car and the results would be about the same as what Clauson’s are.
on Jul 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
andrew, Logano is not handled by mmi, that is for sure
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
back when i was sending for drivers autographs DSM helped me get alot of them young and upcoming drivers autographs thru the mail with his knowledge i was able to get almost all of the top 25 drivers on his list now i sit back and watch these guys move up the ranks and into the upper series and watch the commentaters say ive never heard of this driver before when ive had his autographed picture for years once they get to cup there alot harder to get there autos if you even can