From Steve McCormick,
Your Guide to NASCAR Racing.
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Lately NASCAR has been clamping down on drivers, teams and even sponsors who they believe don't represent the image that NASCAR wants to build in the media. This new kinder, less regional and more mainstream image of their sport may be doing more harm than good.

Legislated Language

A couple of weeks ago NASCAR fined Johnny Sauter $10,000 and 25 points for "innapropriate" comments after the Busch race in Las Vegas. Those comments were made in the heat of the moment by a driver who had just been risking his life at nearly 200mph. Clearly with the adrenaline pumping sometimes drivers say things that they might not otherwise. If NASCAR legislates out the emotion and excitement of the sport, what's left?

I'm sure that in the shadow of the Superbowl halftime show that Fox and NBC are hyper-sensitive about the use of language during their broadcasts but is this new sanitized NASCAR really what people want? It's interesting to note that TV ratings have been down year-to-year for the three races since. Is a kinder, gentler NASCAR the solution? Or more of the problem?

Sponsorship Blues

Lately NASCAR has been complaining about the fact that there are only 37 fulltime teams running the full 2004 season. The largest reason for that is that sponsorship dollars aren't as easy to come by for teams that aren't regularly in the top ten.

Television coverage has eliminated mention of any driver that is not at the front, and even the starting lineup these days doesn't show the car and the sponsor (unless you also buy millions of dollars in commercial time) so any time a company is willing to shell out money to help out the smaller teams NASCAR should welcome them with open arms. This makes NASCAR's recent sponsorship cleansing all the more curious.

There are two primary examples of this that have popped up recently. First is NASCAR's refusal to allow associate sponsor Liquid Salvation to put their logo on Carl Long's #02 car. This logo is a red female devil in a pose reminiscent of a 1950's pinup girl. Certainly not shocking or offensive by today's standards.

In the other example is NASCAR actually forced Derrike Cope's primary sponsor RedneckJunk.com to change their company name. Because NASCAR felt that the name was insensitive and offensive they forced underfunded Arnold Motorsports to pull the logos from their car. Fortunately RedneckJunk.com was sincerely interested in getting involved with NASCAR so they changed their name to accomodate. They are now known as simply RJunk.com. It is very easy to imagine them pulling out and leaving Derrike Cope without a ride though.

I just don't get it. Clearly a bottled water company with a sexy but far from profane logo and a website that is having some fun with itself are not the worst problems that the sport faces today. NASCAR needs to stop this sudden outbreak of censorship and let the adults in the garage area be responsible for their own actions and decisions.