Actions Detrimental To Stock Car Racing - NASCAR Rulebook Section 12-4-A

Nearly every penalty that NASCAR hands down mentions section 12-4-A of the NASCAR rule book. That NASCAR rule covers "actions detrimental to stock car racing." NASCAR applies it freely from to everything from illegal suspension parts to fighting. The question remains, just what actions are truly detrimental to stock car racing?

Some NASCAR Penalties

According to NASCAR virtually every penalty is detrimental to stock car racing. Some examples include:

• Robby Gordon throwing his helmet at Michael Waltrip's car
• Tony Stewart assaulting Brian Vickers after a race
• Shane Hmiel failing a drug test
• Robby Gordon failing to heed NASCAR officials
• Jimmie Johnson's car failing post-race inspection

Which of these are truly detrimental to stock car racing? I would say all of them except the first two. Emotion, within limits, can be good for the sport.

NASCAR Owes Much of Its Success to a Fight

The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first time that the race was broadcast live. On the last lap of that race Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough were battling for the win. Cale dove low to pass. Donnie blocked and they wrecked in turn 3.

Richard Petty took the win.

After the race Allison and Yarborough got into a fight with Donnie's brother Bobby Allison also stopping to join in, all on national television.

This fight launched NASCAR into the public eye and triggered an explosion in popularity that lasted through the 80's and 90's. Detrimental? Hardly.

Today a confrontation like that would result in all three drivers being heavily fined and possibly even suspended.

A Modern Example

In 2007 Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya tangled at Watkins Glen. Both drivers got out of their cars and, still wearing their helmets, got into a shoving match. Clearly neither driver was in danger of actually being injured.

That night SportsCenter lead off the broadcast with the incident. The clip was also played on thousands of local newscasts across the country including many markets that don't typically show regular NASCAR highlights.

Was all of that exposure and excitement detrimental to stock car racing?

NASCAR Needs To Allow For Emotion

When a driver shows emotion, as long as they do it in a reasonable and safe way, I don't believe that is detrimental to stock car racing. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The additional press and attention can help grow the sport's fan base.

NASCAR needs to focus its attention on maintaining fair competition and safety. Those are the foundation of NASCAR. If a driver or team compromises either of those then they need to be punished.

The NASCAR rule book leaves section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) as a catch-all for anything that NASCAR officials don't like. In this era of declining ratings and slipping fan attendance it is time for NASCAR to re-evaluate their definition of detrimental.