| | | | | | | | |  | | | | Can someone clear up the muddy water please?
Folks I'm a NASCAR reporter, which means I read massive amounts of stats, stories, and interviews on a daily basis and put it in my memory bank until I need it at some later date. Few times does something I read stay at the front of my mind more than a day or so. Here we are however, a week removed from the Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch incident and Bristol. And I'm still at odds about it.
In January, NASCAR said it wanted drivers to be more emotional this season to help add entertainment value to the product. Bristol comes along – a track known for bumping and banging – and low and behold Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards choose to show their displeasure with each other after the checkered flag. From my seat I saw two things occur: Busch nudged Edwards to show his emotion on how Edwards passed him for the victory, and in return Edwards made a choice to spin Busch on the front stretch.
Immediately after the incident both drivers were called to the NASCAR hauler to discuss the matter with series officials. The NASCAR hauler is like the school principal’s office – things happen inside that office and only those involved know all the details. NASCAR pulled out the rule book and made a decision to place both drivers on probation for six races due to the incident.
So why am I fuming? We had the first and second place drivers in the points standings battling for a win. In the end they didn't like each other and settled their differences after the checkered flag. The incident had absolutely zero impact on the race outcome. The most damage done throughout the entire scene was some bent sheet metal, along with a couple of bruised egos.
What most would deem as showing emotion, NASCAR sees as a penalty. What exactly does showing emotion mean to NASCAR? If that's not it then I don't know what is. But I can say this: NASCAR is a sport, not fictional sports entertainment. I expect to see unscripted heat-of-the-moment battles. Until NASCAR clears up exactly what "Show more emotion" means, then nothing at all has really changed. | | | Permalink | Comments (0) | | | | | | | | | | |
