The whole point of sports reporters and the racing media in general is to tell you what happened with any given event or what’s going on behind the scenes. That died long ago with the invention of the buffet line in the media centers.
The writers, save a few, care far more about keeping their hard cards, getting the perks that the sanctioning bodies give them and making friends with the teams and drivers.
Rahal Rants: Look who is in the buffet line - Watch more Funny Videos
Pay attention to that last line because therein lies the problem. Certain writers have become so close to the teams that they simply don’t tell the truth. They protect the teams they have befriended having fallen into the trap that borders on payola.
Doesn’t anyone out there remember that you should always question authority? Can’t any of you criticize the sanctioning bodies without fear? That’s why I wore black….there are precious few of you left.
If anyone out there who cherishes sports, particularly auto racing, cares what’s happening to motorsports, then you should pay attention. Same people, same rules, same time and place…unless it rains. Pay careful attention that for every press release the sanctioning bodies issue….it becomes more of the same. We’re being played like fish and I can’t take much more of it.
Rahal Rants: It seems we are racing in backwards - Watch more Funny Videos
When are the powers that run these groups going to wake up and realize that the “New Economy” requires more than the basic principles we’ve gotten so used to? They won't do anything unless you tell them.
It keeps losing ground…death by a thousand cuts… and you and I are the ones suffering. It’s time for a change. A real change…. not more words and no action.
Me: “Honest officer I didn’t know I was speeding.” The jackbooted motorcycle cop: “Well, you were 6 tenths over the limit!” Me: “But I don’t have speedometer…just this tachometer, it moves up and down when the car shifts.” The jackbooted motorcycle cop: “That’s too bad, the car makers don’t have speedometers, here’s your ticket”.
It sounds incredulous that any carmaker, political system, government or sanctioning body wouldn’t provide a mechanism so that it’s rules wouldn’t inadvertently or purposefully be broken, doesn’t it? Well that’s what NASCAR does. Why? Because they can. Why? Because they won’t shoulder any costs to make their product better and stop the bleeding from the loss of viewers and fans.
Juan Pablo Montoya lost the Brickyard 400 because they said he was speeding on pit road, he was, and docked him a drive through penalty. They’ve also done it to every single one of the drivers in Sprint cup. Why? Because they can….and they’re lazy. How hard is it to give the electronic feed from NASCAR’s speed system to the teams to use in their cars? My film production crew can do it.
NASCAR Ignores Teams and Fans - Watch more Funny Videos
The system, as it stands, is a ridiculous burden on the teams to calculate gearing, tire pressure, castor and camber and then match those RPM’s to a speed limit. So far, they’ve been very good at it. On the other hand, the Chinese were very good at using an Abacus, but it doesn’t surpass this Mac Book Pro I’m using right now.
NASCAR, even though they have the spirit of safety and adhering to the rules in mind, have fallen victim to the “Law of Unintended Consequences”. The consequence here is that they have alienated an entire ethnic group, namely the Hispanic/Latino community, by tossing Montoya’s dominance of the Brickyard race out of the window. It WAS his fault. But it didn’t have to be. They missed the marketing equivalent of finding the Golden Fleece. Hundreds of thousands of Hispanic/Latino people in America and in South American countries believe that NASCAR did it on purpose and that they did not want a Hispanic driver to win that race. I know that’s not true, but you have to convince them not me.
Give the teams your feed or give them the chance to install a pit road speed limit button-style system so we can race again instead of look stupid.
