Run What You Brung

Dateline: 03/09/01

I personally am getting tired of seeing the weekly list of rules violations that NASCAR publishes following each race. Today, for example, several more teams were fined for rules violations. Kevin Harvick, Joe Nemechek, Rick Mast, Mike Skinner and Jeremy Mayfield's teams were all caught by the all seeing eye of the officials at NASCAR.

I've often heard the phrase, "Rules are made to be broken," but this is getting to be ridiculous. It seems as if no one follows the rules anymore, and fines and disciplinary action have become the rule rather than the exception. Why not go back to the old standard that we used to run at the old Ozark Speedway in Joplin, Missouri, "Run What You Brung!"

Let's let the crew chiefs, mechanics, engine builders and drivers just do their thing, and let the best man (or woman) win. Racing is designed to see who can go the distance the quickest. Why not let them do it? Why put so many restrictions and regulations on the teams that the cream is unable to rise to the top?

Of course we need some rules to ensure the safety of everyone. but when it comes to performance, the current rules just serve to bring everybody to the least common denominator. Kevin Harvick suddenly is as competitive as Bill Elliott; Rusty Wallace finds himself racing for position with Kurt Busch. It's getting to be a joke. Just because I've got a cowboy hat doesn't make me Richard Petty, and having a Winston Cup ride doesn't make you the equal of Elliott or Wallace. I even know some good stories, but it doesn't make me DW. When our founding fathers said, "All men are created equal," they weren't talking about racing.

The "pack mentality" of NASCAR was the cause of the 18 car pile-up at Daytona and may have been the cause of Dale Earnhardt's accident as well. It makes no sense to put 43 cars on the track and make them all equal. When the mechanical advantages are taken away, the only thing left is driver skill and that's where trouble starts. IROC can get away with it. They only invite the best. NASCAR can't do that. Instead, inexperienced drivers, often moved up to Winston Cup too fast by over eager owners, find themselves running at 180 mph along side veterans who have decades of experience. When an incident occurs, and it's bound to happen, the results are predictable. If you don't believe me, ask the drivers.

At Daytona I heard comments like, "I don't know what this is, but it isn't racing," and "This is an accident looking for a place to happen." This isn't the attitude we need at the track. Everybody in the garage knew that something was going to happen, and their predictions were right. Let's face it, some drivers are hazards on the track and when you throw them into the heat of competition, they cause accidents. Let's face facts. If they can't be competitive, then let them run at the back of the pack. In the "good old days" these drivers would have been 4 laps down by the first pit stop. Now, they're contenders and they end up taking out the best of the best.

It's time to put a stop to this and let these drivers be the also-rans they really are. Maybe someday they'll improve, but the way it's going the cost of their driving lessons is getting too high.