April 6th, 2009 
T.C. So Kurt Busch got mad about his racecar at Martinsville and called Roger Penske “dude” on the radio. Who cares? Sometimes that kind of stuff happens on the radio. And you know what? It’s perfectly, 100% okay that it does.
By allowing the fans, media, and others to listen to the radio traffic during the race, we are letting you behind the scenes. And sometimes things get heated and stuff is said. But allowing you to listen and be a part of the action doesn’t mean you are allowed to judge.
NASCAR is the only sport on the planet that allows fans this kind of access during competition. You certainly don’t get to hear what happens on the field, in the huddle, in the dugout, or courtside for any other sport. And NASCAR isn’t any different then these sports. While the game is going on, things will get crazy, people will use foul language, and arguments will occur. But you don’t see Shaq or Ray Lewis getting in trouble for what they say on the field or on the court. So why should NASCAR people catch flak?
During a race a while back, our driver was running towards the front and a caution came out. We were pitting with the leaders, but in order to gain some track position we were going to take two tires. I got done on the right side, and expected the car to leave but it didn’t. As I came around to the left, I saw the other changer had already knocked all five lugnuts off the left side tire. He then had to pick them all up and put them all back on. Surprisingly, the driver remained calm about the whole situation, but the crew chief didn’t. He had choice words over the radio for both the changer and our pit crew coach. And after he got done yelling on the radio, he continued hollering at all of us as a pit crew from the top of the pit box.
I’m sure anyone listening at the time probably had to turn their radio down, but it was a perfect example of a heat-of-the-moment situation. The crew chief was angry, and he was going to let us know.
We’ve seen in the past where crew members and drivers have been fined for using “select” language over team radios that just happened to be played on live television. I think that is absolutely ridiculous. If anybody should be fined, it’s the TV network. They were the ones that were dumb enough to play radio transmissions on live television.
After the little exchange at Martinsville, Busch came out and said he thought that team communication should be made private because of moments like this. I certainly don’t agree. Being able to listen in on a team’s radio chatter is part of the experience of going to a race.
But…
…The only kicker is, if you are going to listen, be prepared to hear stuff that may make your mamma blush. By putting on those headphones, you should automatically be agreeing to a little contract. We will allow you to listen, but you in turn give up any right to judge, punish, or look down on what is said and who says it.
Sometimes during a race, things get intense and people get emotional. And since the radio is the place where team communcation happens, sometimes you will hear bad language, arguments, and anger. If you can’t handle that, then don’t listen.
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Well said.
tc, i am in total agreement with you on this one. being granted such incredible ‘insider access” is one of the great parts of our sport for the fan. unfortunately, it has become fodder for all sorts of outrageous conversations and theories and generally gives me a headache. these two sentences from you say it best:
“But allowing you to listen and be a part of the action doesn’ t mean you are allowed to judge.” and
“If you can’t handle that, then don’t listen.”
such intelligent words should be etched on every scanner that is sold/rented on a race weekend!
i’d like to hear from journo about this topic as well: what’s the media take on using radio communications in a story? what are the parameters for use? when is it inappropriate? when does the use of the conversation become the story as opposed to illustrating the story?
Well said T.C. I thouroughly enjoy listening to the radio chatter. I understand that occassionally I will hear words that I or others may find inappropriate, but I will admit that I have used them before. I may not use them at work, but then again, I don’t work in a high pressure, high stress, and emotional job where someone else’s mistake could cost me BIG. I say keep the communications open.
The media should use the exchanges for information and to inform, not to incite or perpetuate arguments. So even though the public heard Kurt Busch call Roger Penske “dude”, it is not the public’s right to say that he shouldn’t have said that or argued with his car owner during the race. That is an issue that Busch and Penske need to work out on their own in whatever arena they choose.
I signed up for scanner coverage because my favorite driver was rarely in the top ten and wasn’t followed closely on television and I was often left to wonder what was happening when he would suddenly lose a lap or have an incident on the track. My image of him from television was that of an even-tempered man who wasn’t easily shaken, probably didn’t use foul language, and worked well with his pit crew. Well…I got an ear full the first few weeks and even had to turn the scanner off once or twice. I was beginning to have a different opinion of my “hero” and I didn’t like it! But then I started paying more attention to the emotion that was evident in the communication and I recognized the fear and anxiety that goes along with some of that language and how tough it must be to be on the track driving at nearly 200 miles an hour in a car that is handling so badly that he feared wrecking it at every curve in the track. Or to come down on another car because the spotter was distracted and didn’t let him know the car was there. Or the frustration of a bad pit stop. I grew to appreciate my driver and his crew even more over time and would feel lost without that insight into each and every race if it were taken from me now. I like knowing the real guy behind that famous smile more than I ever could have imagined.
It always cracks me up when I read a post from an irate parent on a message board demanding an apology from a driver/team on the language their child was exposed to while he/she was eavesdropping on a private conversation.
If I didn’t have my scanner at the race I would certainly lose interest in the sport. Not only does it keep you abreast of what actually is going on involving adjustments to the car, who’s mad at who on the track, or who rates as NASCAR’s worst driver for a race, but you get great insight to the drivers. Their personalities. I much more prefer the Kurt Busch who gets pi**ed off at his team & letting some emotion show because he wants to win so bad over the cardboard Kurt Busch we see interviewed every Sunday telling us how the #2 Miller Light Penske Dodge is a little off but hopes to make improvements during the race.
The drivers we see on camera are not the real people we hear on the scanner.
This reminds me that back in the late-1980s, Junior Johnson experimented with having his teams’ radio transmissions scrambled. But eventually NASCAR nixed this since race control liked to monitor team radio transmissions to determine if a driver was getting too hot under the collar on the track.
I enjoy my scanner & realize it is a privilege. I honestly don’t think I could watch a race without one anymore. As a previous poster commented I purchased the scanner because my tends to falls to the back & like to know what’s going with the team & this keeps me inform. It also lets me know my driver, crew chief, crew just a little bit more.
LOL! A very timely post! I had to give myself a bit of an attitude adjustment after Martinsville.
My driver will toss a cuss word out now and then and I would smile because it seemed so incongruent with his off track persona, but hey! It’s racin’!
Well, Martinsville was apparently a very frustrating day for more than just Kurt Busch because as the race was ending my driver let out a tirade that made my jaw drop so fast I nearly fractured it on the floor.
Whoa! LOL! Needless to say, I “recovered” from the shock and realized that its part of the sport, especially when, talking to other fans of other drivers, I realized that ALL drivers have their moments and it’s a privilege to be able to listen in!
I would not give it up for anything.
But, just for the record? NEVER underestimate the passion of the shy, extremely good looking drivers with piercing blue eyes : D
I agree with you 100%. I fear that if NASCAR, and the TV media, do not settled down on this issue, our “insight and access” to the behind the scenes will be taken away. What a disappointment that would be. It is our option to listen, or not, and I am enjoying listening!
I too love listening to the radio chatter and while maybe it’s just because I am not easily offended but tirades, cursing, or whatever- does not bother me. It’s very much emotional, heat of the battle kind of stuff that to me shows passion more than anything.
If I were easily offended I like to think that if listening to something like radio communication from my driver bothered my sensibilities that I would have enough common sense to shut it off instead of bitch about it.
It’s not like you don’t hear off color words on TV anymore much less anywhere else. And this is a very intense sport so one must take that a few words and tempers are going to come out at times. Don’t like it?? Don’t listen but don’t cry foul when you hear something. That being said, just enjoy the racing and understand the pasion the teams have for this sport.
Thanks, T.C., for this post. I have HotPass, and watch the Junior channel. I feel much more connected to him and the race when I listen. It bothers me that a few blue-noses have bullied DirecTV into putting it on delay. They try to censor his profanity, but instead of catching it, they inevitably are a second or two late, which means instead of censoring the profanity itself, they censor what follows, which means I don’t know what he’s upset about.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
Remember rule #1 when it comes to NA$CAR. Follow the money. If the sport shuts down access to the scanners that means TrackScan and Racing Electronics and Sprint Fan View will no longer need to rent dozens of booth spaces at racetracks to rent/sell their products. (And does NA$CAR get all those radios and headsets at full cost, or deeply discounted thanks to those “exclusive” marketing agreements?) So this issue is a little deeper than you might think. Scanner chatter is one of the things that makes NASCAR unique and interesting. So of course the media is going to cover it! It’s newsworthy! Kurt Busch might not like it, but that’s tough noogies. Everything that man’s got in life is thanks to NASCAR and everything that comes with it, good AND bad. And don’t ever tell me I don’t have a right to an opinion on something. I’m an American, baby.
I would much rather listen to what the drivers are saying than those awful TV announcers. At least the drivers are abreast of the situations and can comment with intelligence.
Well said. I love being able to listen in to my favorite driver and his team at the track it adds a lot of excitement. Plus whenever there is an incident on the track to try to jump right to the drivers involved to hear that their thoughts were on what happened. However I love the media stepping in and trying to make a stroy out of nothing.
I know it probably doesn’t mean anyhting but Dale Earnhardt used to have a recorded message play at the start of the race, something along the lines of this is copywrited materials and cannot be used without written consent from the teams, so if more drivers have that now wouldn’t the network need permission to broadcast that or is that a given within the TV contract?
If you want to hear some off the wall conversations at the track tune into MRN, or PRN with your scanner, when they go to commercial they have some pretty interesting coments when their mikes aren’t hot.
I love to listen to my favorite driver during the race it makes me feel a part of the team. I don’t expect it to be PC or emotionless, if it was it would be worthless. My driver and CC tend not to tirade but there have been times and apropriately so; I was doing my own tirade at home (usually not as loud or long but still). I think the abilitity to listen in is a priviledge and should not be open to criticism outside the team, if they are OK with it the that’s the end of it, if they are not that should be handled behind closed doors and it’s none of my business. This subject seems to come up every year or so and thankfully Nascar has sided with the fans but the media needs to get a grip and stop stirring the pot.
T.C. Well said!! I totally agree!! Listen 2 the scanner is all part of the NASCAR experience/weekend!!
GO BLUE 2
We are able to go inside the “office” and as fans we should all respect and appreciate that. I would definately miss the insight scanner comm provides. I agree with AJ about the broadcast breaks and commentators. They are better than the live broadcasts.
TC, what a great post. You are absolutely correct. As a rear tire carrier for a West team, and one glorious day at TMS for Morgan Shephard, I can’t go to a race and not have radios. It puts me in the pits with the team, and is an invaluable experience. I also agree that the network should be fined for allowing radio transmissions to be aired lived without a delay and/or editing. I have heard my driver use choice words when he got wrecked by an idiot on the track. It is an honor to be able to “get the inside scoop” straight from the horses mouth. If there is no passion coming through that radio, then I WILL LOOK DOWN UPON the driver and the team. We all want to win, we are all hyper-competitive or we wouldn’t do this. Good job.
NASCAR is the only motorsport that allows unrestricted access to team radio communications so if the cuss, scream, say “bad word”, “slurs” or what ever it thier conversation and we are eaves dropping grow up, or turn it off, or soon we won’t get to hear those convesations. I remember when we had to hunt for all the radio ferquencys when we were at the track and a lot of teams use to change them week to week. So if you don’t what someone called a mother @&C&er don’t listen you pompus terd buchet and if not pull your bottom lip over head and swallow.