June 22nd, 2010 
T.C. With some of the recent incidents we’ve seen with cheating, namely the Front Row/bleeder valve situation, an interesting dilemma was brought up to me by Journo. Before I get into it, I just want to say that this is completely hypothetical. I can’t say I’ve ever actually heard of this happening. Anyway, back to the dilemma. Lets say for instance that you work for a race team. Your crew chief comes to you and says I need you to do something to the car that isn’t exactly within the rules. He knows you may be uncomfortable doing it, so he lets you know in so many words that if you don’t do what he’s asking, you might be looking for a new job. So what do you do? Cheat, or get fired?
In racing, there is always a ton at stake. For guys near the top, there is always that pressure to push through and win races and championships. At the other end, some teams are just trying to make races. In either case, this pressure can make people do crazy things. We’ve seen really blatant cheating like bleeder valves and jet fuel, all the way to small cheating, like slightly off bodies and re-arranged weight. Some are even of the mind that “if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t trying.”
It seems that the idea of cheating in sports has been a major issue over the last five years or so. And what pushed it to the forefront was the use of performance enhancing drugs by those in traditional sports. Cheating however, is nothing new in NASCAR. Guys have been working in those “gray areas” ever since the first cars took to the track. Some of the best stories are those of Smokey Yunick and his “innovations.”
Coming back though to my original point, what would you do? Do you cheat like your crew chief wants, or risk losing your job?
I’m going to throw another wrench into this problem. What if there is a good chance the team could get caught, and they make you the scapegoat? We’ve seen it happen where the team as a whole was “unaware” and that some rogue employee was behind the illicit actions. Would that change your decision?
Before I open up the floor, I have one last question for you. When you do see that a team has done something they shouldn’t have, does it bother or disappoint you? Or do you just see it as part of the sport? People always seem to have very strong opinions one way or the other about cheating in other sports, and I’m curious if you look at it the same in NASCAR.
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This can be the hardest thing ever.
Is there a correct answer? Is it a trick question/suggestion? If you dont prepare it can be catch 22, you are danged if you do anddanged(fired) if you dont.
In the end …. honesty is the best policy. period. It is similar to ….. does one want to “date” a married woman/man? By defintion that person is cheating, meaning they are a cheater, and they will cheat on thier spouse well ….. no good can come from it.
Does anyone want to work for someone who cheats or asks them to cheat? If they are like that, they will cheat on you anyone. No good can come from it.
I suppose this issue must be solved at point zero. One must decide and make this known to start with. The second one is hired, it should be made clear that one is not a cheater, and one would never intentionally break the established rules.
The rules are made for the good of everyone, and if they are incorrect, then change the rules. If too many people are breaking the rules, maybe the rules should be changed. BUT ….. as long as the rules are in place, one should NEVER conspire to cheat. It is most likely a test, and the second one agrees to cheat, one is fired.
If they fire one for refusing to cheat, then at least one will have one’s honor, and if one is not good enough to be hired by another company that does not cheat, then maybe one should leave the industry.
Cheaters never prosper.
After one cheats the first time, the 2nd 3rd and 4th etc etc are easier and then one is a cheater.
btw- It is sooooo easy to sugggest being “holier than thou” when one is sitting on the sidelines. It is much harder when one is in the heat of battle. The only solution is deciding before hand what one’s personal rules are, and then should stand by them no matter what, even if one is fired.
caviat
Being poor is sometimes the result of having honor ; )
I would probably do it, rather than loose my job.
That being said, there has been “bending the rules” forever.
If you are caught cheating, then you will be punished
and you should be.
In my lifetime I have seen many drivers win by cheating (in other series,have no direct knowledge in NASCAR)
Some got caught and some didn’t,
I think NASCAR does a great job of policing the garage BUT I also think the racing has suffered because of it
In a close community such as Nascar (Mooresville) any crew chief that went down that road would not last long.
However, if such a request/order was made to an employee, I would expect him to resign on the spot and to have himself a witness as to why he resigned.
The word would be out on the street very quickly and such an honable guy would not be loose for long.
It depends… on whether one’s desire to stay employed is greater than one’s honesty. Honesty is a luxury, something affordable only if the price isn’t too high… and losing a job, especially in this climate, is a high price to pay for playing by the rules.
Last Q first, hasn’t “creative engineering” been a part of NASCAR since the beginning? According to my dad, and a lot of other men in his age bracket (70s) that ran racing & I’ve heard from, yes. Frankly I agree with the comment, there’s too many rules. Mandated parity has strangled innovation. I have a tongue in cheek saying: Junior Johnson wrote the book on “cheating”, Ray Evernham got an autographed copy, and Chad Knaus inherited it. Although I think Chad might be the most creative considering he’s had the smallest “box”.
Would I cheat if asked? Not if it was blatant. Agree with them or not, the official rules are there for a reason, and I do believe fairness serves everyone. How about if it was something not directly addressed by the rule book, but clearly unusual or new? I think I would be trying it, after all, your job is to help your team gain advantage to win. And if you get caught for that, and NASCAR doesn’t like it, *poof* new rule.
Got to go w/ Tony Dowe on this one. The trail leading back to the one giving the command can be too easily exposed.
On the flip side, a rogue effort can leave an innocent and unknowing car/crew chief in the hot pot.
This is a tough spot. Be honest and lose your job or cheat and keep it. As a married man I know the burden of providing for your family. I unfortunately know what it is like to have to come home and tell your wife you no longer have a job. (In 2009 I was laid off – didn’t see it coming.) But I have been blessed with good friends and a great family and I believe that honesty has afforded me those relationships. So after a sleepless night, I’d return to my crew chief, ask for clarification just to make sure I understood the situation, and then tell him that I cannot do what he has asked. After that, it is out of my hands. If I were fired as threatened, then I could hold my head up high knowing I did the right thing even though I know the right thing does not pay the bills.
Think on it overnight, then tell the crewchief that I will not do something illegal to the car and tell him the decision as to what to do is in his hands, THEN I WOULD TELL HIM THAT I HAVE RECORDED THE CONVERSATION AND TELL HIM TO HAVE A NICE DAY. That is the Yankee way to do things.
I’m going to cop-out and say the rules need to be changed. There is no moral delima concerning bleeder valves like there is with cheating on one’s spouse. So these rules are strictly artificial barriers constructed by the sanctioning body for some “not so clear” reasons.
So I ask “what is the problem running bleeder valves”? Meaning “why would the sanctioning body ever make something like that ‘Illegal’ in the first place”?
In my opinion, a sport that is actively fighting the stigma of “boring” can only benefit from letting teams innovate as much as possible while maintaining safety and rough parity in equipment. But it seems the current rules demand complete parity in equipment.
So my opinion is that the sanctioning body legislate safety and basic layout of the car, and then let the shops “have at it boys”!
I know I spouted off about my policy of honest and honor blah blah blah ….. but then I go and read about Smokey Yunick and his “innovations.” …WHAT A HOOT!!!
I love that guy, and I had never even heard of him before. Thank you for referring to him.
I can not explain how I DO NOT like cheaters ….. but I can admire the crazy stuff Smokey did ….. it does not compute but ……. I SURE WOULD LOVE TO SEE A MOVIE ABOUT SMOKEY ..it would be hilareous…..for example ….
The story about the inflatable freeking basketball in the gas tank >>>> TOO FUNNY!!! …. and the extra feet of gas line providing extra fuel ( allowing him to drve away and back to the garage WHILE THE GAS TANK WAS NOT ATTACHED …. LMAO!!!!! …..
How can I like Smokey so much while I dislike cheaters more?? … heck I dont know … maybe it is because “it was the old days” and he was not really cheating …..he was pushing the envelope…. he was “innovating” ….
SMOKEY INVENTED THE WING???? WOW!!!
Tell us more about Smokey…
I can not beileve I never heard of him, but anyone who butts heads with NASCAR and tells them to take a leap is OK with me : ) ….. but …. unfortunatley butting heads with France et. al. is also a quick way to be relagated to oblivion…..
Suppose we admire Smokey in the same way some people DB Coooper and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ….. we would never do those things …but they are kind of cool and they are legends ……. but it makes no sense that we like them ….. while hating cheaters …
hmmmmmmpondering…….. oh well….
I’d push the envelope to give my team an advantage…with a bulldozer if necessary, but I would want the owners backing or no deal.
I accept this as part of the unique sport of auto racing.
I feel the complete opposite for athletes in stick and ball sports that use banned performance enhancing drugs, however if a pitcher figures out a way to grease up a baseball while he’s on the mound then so be it.
T.C. – How about a post with some of what you consider the most innovative engineering feats that NASCAR frowned on…maybe a top 10 or top 25 list.
I agree with several of these opinions. Say no, and risk the unemployment line. If one obeys and the infraction is caught, then SuperTeam trots out Owner Beyond Reproach or his/her Official Mouthpiece and says, “we at SuperTeam were unaware of Faceless Employee’s actions. We venerate the integrity of the NASCAR rulebook and do hereby solemnly swear that Faceless Employee is no longer affiliated with Superteam Racing.” Probably the same result for the expendable crewman, no matter what choice one makes.
I’d cheat for my boss as long as he understands if we get caught, I’m not gonna lie & you are going to pay my fine & take care of me. Throw me under the bus & I’ll sue you.
My understanding is that Smokey said he never broke the rules, just exploited the gray areas.
It does fascinate me that the only cheating of which the media is aware is in NASCAR and where steroids are involved. I have always wanted to see some reporter confront Julius Peppers about his “cheating” when he’d been caught holding.
If the crew chief (or boss) tells me to cheat, I’m gonna cheat. If I’m made the scapegoat, I wouldn’t be to upset. Well I would if I got fired for it, but I’m sure I’d be able to get with another team. In which case I’d tell the new team all the tricks we did on my old team. It’s all part of the sport. People get all surprised and shocked when someone gets caught cheating. Hey racing is ultra competitive. With everyone being so close every little bit helps. Sometimes you gotta push the edge a little.
Would I do it? Absolutely not. Integrity is more important than any job, I don’t care how bad the economy is.
Am I disappointed when teams cheat? Yes. But for me, the kind of person who wants to give the benefit of the doubt, it’s always hard to determine whether or not the team cheated intentionally or if it was just a mistake. I don’t know enough about cars to figure it out in that way. Especially with an underfunded team like Front Row, it is entirely possible that they just got some bad parts. But is that really what happened? I’m still not sure, and I probably never will be.
EVERY ONE HAS THE SAME RULE BOOK IBELIVE IT COMES DOWN TO WHO CAN READ BETWEEN THE LINES BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE.