From where I sat on Sunday, it looked like Regan Smith had a victory stolen from him.
Now, I am normally one to at least try and justify the actions of NASCAR. For better or worse I can usually see where they stand on certain issues. This one lacked sense to me.
For years NASCAR has maintained a policy of allowing passing below the yellow line if the race is in the final stretch. As I looked into the wording of the rule and previous precedents, I came across an old article courtesy of Jayski.
The article discusses an incident last season where Johnny Benson won a truck series race after crossing below the yellow line at Daytona. In it, NASCAR spokesman Owen Kearns said, “Benson wasn’t penalized because ‘if you can see the checkered flag on the last lap, anything goes.’”
Now today NASCAR’s Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said, “You cannot improve your position anytime you go below the yellow line.” What a difference a year makes.
So instead of awarding Smith 2nd place, he has now been pushed back to 18th because that is where NASCAR feels he would have been if he had served the pass-through penalty they would have assessed.
Then the question is, why no penalty for Tony Stewart? NASCAR set the penalty precedent for a forced push below the yellow line in 2003.
Hunter said NASCAR did not feel Stewart forced Smith below the line. Had that been the case, Stewart would of course had to serve a pass-through penalty of his own.
I am not sure what constitutes forcing someone below the yellow line, but what I saw Sunday sure looked like it to me. This was not a case of Regan Smith moving below the yellow line to get around Stewart; it was a case of him moving below the yellow line to avoid left-rearing Stewart (who moved down on top of him). He had the run, plain and simple.
The issue of NASCAR not consistently applying rules in the every situation has been an issue for sometime. This weekend showed the sad reality of that.
Sunday should have been a day of celebration for DEI and Regan Smith, instead it was a moment of loss and frustration at the hands of the body there to protect their interests.
Loading ...
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Journo,
Jerry Bonkowski wrote that Tony Stewart has a right to protect his line. Perhaps Regan Smith should have done what the late owner of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would have done, gotten into the rear of the 20 and crashed him in order to get the win. But Regan Smith correctly avoided the collision. (I never could understand why fans lionized The Intimidator for behaving like a Mafia hit man by wrecking anyone who stood between him and the checkered flag. Only cheap thugs ruin another man’s day like that. That’s why I’m a big fan of the son but despise the father.)
Bravo to Smoke and Zippy. What a way to leave JGR.
Left Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 5:28 am
I can hear Dale Sr. in my head…
“…I was just tryin’ to rattle his cage a little.”
Congratulations to REGAN SMITH, the real winner on Sunday. Congratulations on taking a (basically) unsponsored car and running up front with it all day, surviving TWO of ‘the big ones’, and doing the right thing when FORCED below the yellow line. Congratulations to DEI – for having three cars yesterday that were strong enough to win – something they haven’t been able to do since their driver lineup was Jr., Mikey and Steve. I hope someone with some $$ was watching yesterday. If I were a car owner with an open seat, Regan would be my first choice for a driver.
Guess Regan and Ted Musgrave have something in common now – they’ve both been penalized by Nascar for doing the RIGHT thing instead of causing a big wreck.
Nascar has always played favorites. It just surprises me to find that DEI isn’t one of them anymore.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Very important for all to note, that the business of Nascar trumps everything. In this instince, we are at a profile track, a driver in the Chase who has not won in a long time, 2 high profile sponsors, one of which (Subway), which Nascar would like to see expand their involvement. The race coverage had gone over it`s alloted time window, so now you have people looking to tune into the news, suddenly watching a stock car race at suppertime on a Sunday afternoon. This was the “perfect storm”. A “judgement call” so to speak sneaks in to determine the end of this race. This was a no brainer for Nascar. Make a discision that will benefit all the above conditions, lobby the media outlets for the next few days to justify, and everything will be fine next week. The cars you see going around every Sunday is secondary, to the big picture, which is to sell product & sell exposure. That is the price to pay for corporate involvement, and to grow the monetary value of the sport. Capitalism… I urge all to enjoy the spectacle of cars going around in circles at 2000mph, but just remember that this is a business 7 days a week. If you can adjust your thinking to this mentality, you won`t ever be hurt by a Nascar decision. Thanks for reading.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Congrats to Regan Smith the real winner of the race, and shame on NASCAR for making a self serving call. I feel bad for Regan he had no chance of winning that race, had the roles been reversed we would have been hearing about how Tony was pushed below the yellow line or anything goes when you can see the checkered flag. Its a great sport we all enjoy when NASCAR can just make the rules up and apply them however they serve them best. What a terrible way for an otherwise exciting race to end.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I am somewhat of a Stewart fan, but t he way I see it NASCAR just did’nt want to deal with Tony Stewart. Either that or Jim Hunter was’nt watching the same race as I was. Stewart clearly blocked Smith, and rather than spin him out and possibly wreck the rest of the field he chose to go down below the line. And to the people who said Regan should have gone to the outside, I say “why?” Smith had a clear run on the inside. Tony was in the lead, which in this case is’nt where you want to be on the last lap (ask Dale Jarrett). Privately, Tony is probably laughing about this one.This is absolutly the worst case of preferential treatment I have ever seen in racing. NASCAR should be ashamed of themselves!!!!
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:21 am
What a sorry excuse for a race!
Right-side tires exploding like IEDs and boneheaded bump drafting by a “superstar” driver that should know better, gave us two “Big Ones” and one “Pretty Big One”. Thank goodness no one was killed or seriously injured (although poor Denny Hamlin must be pretty sore today).
And then NASCAR Race (Script?) Control takes away poor Regan Smith’s win and put him back to 18th?!
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Smith made a mistake. He should have used the backstretch to get his DEI teammate to go outside Stewart in turns 3 & 4 and freight-train to the finish line. End of story.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Wow, how things change. It wasn’t long ago I was called out on this very site for saying NASCAR protects it’s superstars no matter what. It seems a little bit clearer now doesn’t it? Regan Smith won that race.
Remember back a few years ago at that very track when Dale Jr. was going for his 4th win in a row? He passed below the yellow line to take the lead and NASCAR did nothing about it. The stands were a sea of Budweiser red and the fans would have revolted. NASCAR did not penalize Dale Jr. for a blatant violation because he is a big star. The same thing happened today but poor Regan never had a chance. Tony I hope you are reading this, you do not deserve that trophy, give it back.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Nascar was wrong in its decision to award Tony Stewart the win. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Now you wonder why Nascar is getting less popular. Corrupt officials will doom this sport. Helton needs to go.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 9:54 am
The whole day was a mess. ESPN did their usual poor job at broadcasting what should be one of the most exciting races of the year. Bad tires (or suface) took a lot of great race cars out of contention and into the junk heap.
And the race ending was an obvious NASCAR story book finish for Stewart. I am a big Stewart fan, and I agree that he did not deserve the vistory. Smith was robbed. I have been a die hard fan of NASCAR for 20+ years, but my enthusiasm is waning in the light of this non-sense. The rules are written in pencil and can be erarsed and re-written to best fit NASCAR’s interest in any given situation. They are killing their own sport, and they don’t see it because they are blinded by the seemingly endless supply of cash lining their corrupt pockets. What a shame.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 9:58 am
NASCAR made the right call. Smith raced below the yellow line and advanced his position and got black flagged. NASCAR warned the drivers at the drivers’ meeting: “This is your warning. If you race below the yellow line and in the judgement of NASCAR you advance your position, you WILL be black flagged.”
The same thing happened to Tony Stewart in the July 2001 Daytona race. Stewart was running sixth, when he was forced below the yellow line by Benson. NASCAR black falgged Stewart and he went from finsihing 6th to finishing 29th.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Ask yourself this question and give an honest answer — if the roles were reversed would NASCAR had taken the win away from Stewart? No. They would have said Smith forced him below the line. If Dale Jr. can be handed a win after passing the safety car THREE times (an automatic DQ in any real racing league) then Tony can be handed a win. At least NASCAR is consistent.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Remember this important fact… The rules are not the same for the Haves and Have Nots. I like Tony, but he is a Have and Regan is a Have Not. Regan never had a chance.
It is amazing that a supposed mainstream, major sport can make up the rules as it goes along.
But hasn’t NASCAR been doing that all along? Didn’t they just penalize Toyota for being too fast in the Nationwide Series?
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
right call—–can’t go below the yellow line and improve your position—–what part of that don’t some of you understand?
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
To Indycarfreak: Nascar is ON RECORD making the statement previously that “When you see the checkered flag anything goes”. They have not enforced any below the yellow line on the last lap moves before. The best thing Nascar could do is to bring in an independent panel in to enforce the rules.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I guess NASCAR has ridden Dale Sr. as far as they want and have had enough of his wife. I cannot think of any other reason for this lightly sponsored car and rookie driver to be hosed in this manner. Maybe if it had been one of the open wheel rookies that didn’t make the show it would have been different.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
NASCAR has not been consistant in its rules for years. They will continue to make their “show” so people will continue to tune it in. I dont blame Tony for his move down, but Regan should have held his own and let Tony get bumped. Instead Regan moved down so no wreck would occur, but NASCAR had their tinted glasses on and did not see that.
No matter what any of us think, NASCAR will make the calls the way they want to improve the show.
It is no longer a racing series, it is an entertainment business.
on Oct 7th, 2008 at 4:49 am
NASCAR has made its bed. If JR (and I am an 88 fan) had been running second and passed the 20, the 88 wins the race and NASCAR would be saying the rule is that if you can see the checkers anything goes. Instead, we have a HAVE vs. a HAVE NOT, as someone stated above. Therefore the new rule is you can never pass below the yellow line. The law of unintended consequences. I wonder who will be the first HAVE to get shafted by this new rule.
on Oct 7th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Can anyone quote ‘chapter and verse?’ Who has a Rulebook and what does it say about passing below the yellow line at T and D?
I can buy a NASCAR t-Shirts, diecasts,mug…….BUT not a Rulebook, maybe more of the NASCAR Bloggers should be blogging about this!?
Years ago when Alan Beswick worked at Speed he would pull one out, but that’s the only time I’ve ever seen a Nascar rule Book.
Larry
on Oct 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Larry – I should have put this in the post, but TC and I actually went through our rulebooks Sunday evening looking for said rule, but we could not find it. I guess NASCAR views this more as a policy. So as far as there being a specific wording, as far as I know there really is none.
As far as the rulebook existing, I assure you they do. I have actually written about it before. Perhaps I will revisit the topic in the off season.
on Oct 13th, 2008 at 7:30 am
As a fellow *insider*, you oughta know about NASCAR’s catch all loop hold that says – * a competitor MAY be penalized*. What I find a little humorous about every one making a rather large deal out of this particular incident is it was a marginal call, could have gone either way and folks have no problem with calls that are blatant miss carriages of justice. Like a driver pitting outside his box back at the first Richmond and not getting called back in and MANY others that I witnessed with my own two eyes! When you play in their backyard you gotta expect they’ll want to play differently then you do some times. Let it go, iNASCAR ain’t changing it’s mind, they seldom do. As the brilliant Bootie says, *NASCAR is not a democracy, it’s a monarchy and NASCAR is the King. They make all the rules.*
on Oct 14th, 2008 at 8:59 am
They should have penalized them both and given Menard the win….boy would have Steward cried then!