Do Excessive Burnouts Hide Cheating? NASCAR Looks At New Rules For Post Race Celebrations
After Denny Hamlin's post race celebration at Watkins Glen, NASCAR is implementing a new rules package for the last 12 races of the year. So drivers have to tone down their burnouts and make sure they don't damage their race cars before they make it to victory lane, or more importantly, post race inspection. Steve O'Donnell's comments in the video above are about as vague as a presidential candidates speeches. THEY see a trend that THEY don't want to see. THEY want to make sure drivers can celebrate a race win without over-celebrating. TRANSLATION: WE don't want you to cover up any damages or infractions YOU did without US seeing the car first. So do a lame celebration, don't break anything, and don't cover up anything, like dented quarter panels, flared side skirts, illegal parts, etc. Remember the time that Chad Knaus told Jimmie Johnson to purposely wreck the back of the car after the race before taking it back to the garage? You know, so they couldn't find whatever part was illegally modified?
Bottom line is that NASCAR is being an over protective big brother (O'Donnell, Helton, France) not letting their little brother (all of the drivers) have any fun, afraid they will get hurt or hurt someone else. Really, Steve? Your sport is already losing fans at an alarming rate, not because the racing is getting more boring each week by taking away down force, horsepower, and adding double the amount of timing lines on pit road, but now you want to limit the amount of celebrations? That's what fans live for. We want the smoke show after our favorite driver beats out 42 other competitors for that coveted trip to victory lane, but that huge trophy that takes two people to hold it. Keep it up and you will see your sport closing racetracks faster than Borders closed all of it's bookstores.
There's no fun in racing. There's no action. Maybe NASCAR's top brass need to watch this clip from Days Of Thunder
Ok NASCAR? Did you study the video closely? Fans want beatin and bangin, they want close passes, they want some bump and run, and they want burnouts after the race. Enough with your "rules package" to "cover us for that". Now here's my poll for this off week of racing before the drivers head into Bristol next week.
If NASCAR expects me or any other fan to come back next year, they need to make alot of changes...to themselves. Start by removing Steve O'Donnell, and put in someone who wants to go back to NASCAR's roots. Racing fast and hard to get away from their competitors. Or, in the days of moonshine, the law.
