They have single handedly brought stock car racing to a screeching halt. Its boring, its over regulated, the drivers can’t say the truth and god forbid they take a shot a NA$CAR. “Into the trailer” you go. And you can’t tell the difference from 1 car manufacture to another anymore.

Then you have the plate races. Forget’m!!! Either pull the plates and let’m race or just not run the race at all. Well maybe not…I watch the 1st 10 laps or so, then take a nice long nap or do chores around the farm. Then with 30-40 labs to go I go back to watching again. don’t start yelling about the “SAFETY” crap. 1st you just had some of the worse wrecks ever and they walked away. 2nd these guys are professional racers being paid BIG bucks to drive around for 3 hours or so. They are well aware of the risks. Lets let them decide for a change and not a bunch pseudo do gooders, who wouldn’t know a spark plug from a pinion gear.

All those new rules and phony cautions have pretty much killed the racing for us. I’ve been watching or going to the races since the early 60’s. No more!!!! Now I maybe watch a few of the better races on TV and root for my guys. If I had a local track here, I’d be there every raceday to watch the locals go at it. NHRA looks better every week. )

Anyway a code of conduct for NA$CAR is a better alternative to keep THEM from screwing around even more. If they don’t like that, then there is always the opportunity for a new racing association to be formed. Bet there would be more than a few takers for that deal.

Happy motoring friends,
Jim

as for fike: i understand your point (why can nascar sanction one but not the other?) but i maintain that there is a world of difference between allmendinger’s .08 and fike’s loaded needle. and i contend that to react otherwise, to equate the two, is pushing the comparison in order to make a point. so, no, i don’t think it’s hypocritical at all. i think to see the two as equal offenses to which nascar should respond is unrealistic. i also believe that nascar had to react to fike: their hand was forced. obviously, not so with allmendinger.

i make no excuses for dui, regardless of the level, as i’ve been there when the cars are still on fire, with wheels spinning in the air. i appreciate the info about drunk drivers b/c anything anyone does to educate folks is great. and i am not saying that an apology is sufficent to those who have lost family and friends b/c both you and i know it isn’t and never will be.

i also agree that professional athletes are held to a higher standard. some may say it’s unfair but it comes with the territory.

for me, the truck driver analogy does have something to do with the license. if allmendinger relied on his civilian license for his living and it was suspended, yes, he’s lost his job. but the license HE requires to make his living is his nascar license: are you contending that nascar should have taken THAT away from him, thereby costing him his job, as would happen to the trucker? nope, you’re not.

you’re contending they should just sit him out for a week as . . . what? punishment? retribution? deterrent? rehabilitation? revenge? just as long as we’re clear on the motivation for the action. criminal justice says the system has to know WHAT it wants to accomplish b/c that will direct the action. let’s be clear: are you seeking punishment? if so, say it and don’t couch it in what nascar can or should do. it’s not an invalid reason for wanting him to be sat down but let’s be honest about it and put the pressure on the owner to take that action, not nascar.

also, how many races should nascar sit someone down? if it’s like allmendinger’s bust — no one else involved, no property damage — it’s one race. if a mailbox is knocked down or the car is in a ditch, it’s 2 races? someone gets injured, it’s 5 races? hell, this organization can’t handle what it’s responsible on the TRACK; how can we assume they can figure out what to do OFF the track?

look, bottom line is that nascar will do whatever it chooses to do under the ‘actions detrimental” section and i feel you’re advocating that they have the equal authority to respond to dui and drug use. i contend these are differing levels of severity and need to be addressed differently and nascar may not have any role in one.

When you’re a professional athlete and drive a car for a living you are held to a higher standard. I’m sorry, you’re a role model that’s just how things work (not to mention you have sponsors pumping tens of millions of dollars into you). Apologizing for the incident is great, but means absolutely nothing. This sends a message that I can do just about anything, as long as I apologize for it. Not good enough.

The truck driver analogy had nothing to with the license but everything to do with the fact that they too drive for a living and will most likely lose their job if they get a DUI (I’m not calling for AJ to lose his job). The DOT and that truck driver’s employer don’t care if he got that in his personal vehicle on his own time. That is their business, just as this situation is NASCAR’s business.

According to MADD, someone is killed by a drunk driver on average every 45 minutes. In 2008 they estimate 11,778 people were killed in drunk driving related accidents. I’ll bet all those who have friends and loved ones killed by drunk drivers every year don’t find an apology, or probation from NASCAR an acceptable punishment. I wouldn’t blame them.

that being said: the question on the table is whether nascar SHOULD have a personal conduct policy because (essentially) “all the other guys are doing it.” but for me, the bottom line is that, except for the high visibilty cases to which journo alludes, other sports do precious little to consistently enforce their own conduct standards. the standards clauses seem to be brought to bear when there’s an arrest (but not all the time) or when the league involved wants to make a statement. been a TON of players busted for speeding and/or dangerous driving but the leagues haven’t punished them, even when it has resulted in serious unjury or death.

being in philly, we’ve had some REALLY obnxious code of conduct violators in pretty much every sport, except maybe baseball. and few, if any, of the athletes involved have been disciplined by the league: it’s generally come down to the owner of the team taking action.

pretty much ike what’s happened with allmendinger and rpm.

journo, as for your truck driver analogy. correct me if i’m wrong but i believe nascar permits drivers to participate in their series even without a “civilian” drivers license, as long as the driver has a nascar license. we have had for many, many years, underage drivers racing in nascar-sponsored series, up to and including joey logano, yes? so, while allmendinger has had his “civilian” license suspended for 30 days which is apparently the norm for first time offenders in NC, his nascar license remains intact.

and please tell me you are NOT equating at dui w/aaron fike admitting at the time of his arrest that the substance in the needle was heroin and that he was there to shoot up! yes, dui is unconscionable but c’mon, journo: it ain’t heroin! fike was suspended 3 days after his arrest under the ‘actions detrimental” b/c he admitted that night to using heroin: the rest of his story didn’t come out until the espn article. nascar was very lucky he didn’t kill someone while racing.

no one who is at all inteligent is ok with off the track — or on the track! — drug use, journo, and blasting keith like that was unfair. in fact, it’s why some of us are thrilled that nascar is holding tough w/mayfield and hope they don’t buckle on this one. it’s why i personally am glad they booted shane hmiel and aaron fike and tyler walker, even tho’ i like all 3.

i am not excusing allmendinger’s behavior: it was stupid and he should have his license yanked by the state and be required to perform community service. i also agree that his team should have fined him. should they sit him for the rest of the reason or for a race? that’s their call. i honestly don’t know what i’d do in that situation.

but i give him props for being honest about it, for standing up and saying he accepts responsibility and that whatever punishment his team and nascar want to hand down is appropriate. that’s more than some in his position have done previously.

drivers are independent contractors per nascar statement and policy. so, nascar has NO right to take action against a driver for something that occured away from the track. the driver is hired by the team, not the sanctioning body, so they really have no right to have any say in what happens with allmendinger. and b/c that’s been nascar’s position since the beginning, i’m not even certain a code of conduct would be enforceable by the sanctioning body versus by the team owner(s).

and what happens when the team owner is the one who violates the code of conduct and he is also a driver?

I personally think that NASCAR is fine without a stricter than they have conduct policy. Maybe lengthen the probationary period from a season to 3 or 4 seasons. The team owners do a fine job of punishing their drivers in most cases, and what they don’t do NASCAR does for them.

This isn’t the NFL, where players are dogfighting or shooting themselves in the leg. Yes, drinking and driving is bad, as well as doing drugs. But with NASCAR implementing drug tests and team owners setting their drivers straight, I believe NASCAR is on pace to do well.

That being said, should NASCAR get one or two NFL-type-personalities, yes we’ll need a stronger policy. Until then, we’re okay where we are.

TC- If you were to be cited for drunk driving, could you possibly be benched by your team? How far do the teams monitor the crew members’ behavior away from the track?