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Turns out the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t look too kindly on people doing 128MPH in a 45MPH zone. Well, they’ll let you drive away, but they will issue you one heck of a citation. What’s three times the legal limit, right?

If you live in the Charlotte area this has been THE story for the last couple of days. It made the front page of the state and local section of the Charlotte Observer yesterday morning, and at least one local TV station led with it at 5pm. Apparently there isn’t much going on.

From local coverage to national sports radio, the oddity of this story has been much talked about all over. And while not too many of us have done 128MPH in our personal vehicles, this is hardly the first time we’ve had drivers behaving badly out on public roads. In the last two seasons there has been two separate drivers popped for DUIs – Michael Annett and AJ Allmendinger. Both were put on probation by NASCAR.

The issue of off-track indiscretions raises a lot of questions about the limits of the sanctioning body. Other sports punish their athletes for off-field issues, but other sports also have codes of conduct athletes agree to adhere to. NASCAR doesn’t have one.

In situations like this, that lack of a policy leaves them without much leverage. Sure they’ve got the all encompassing “actions detrimental” at their disposal, but without laying out to the drivers just where they stand, severe penalties are very likely out of the question.

It’s interesting when these issues pop up (and yearly they pop up) to see what the reaction is from the fans and media. I recall being surprised from a post on the Allmendinger incident and from comment sections on websites throughout the internet how strong the feelings were about the probation handed down from NASCAR – actually in Allmendinger’s favor.

It’s always hard to gauge though just where people stand until they are forced to take a stance. But if we want to start early, from precedent we can suspect NASCAR may hand down probation to Busch – I’d assume a continuation of the probation he’s already on – but there won’t be any suspension.

Is it time for a personal conduct policy in NASCAR? I kind of think so.

Feel free to use this as your “Kyle Busch Speeding Ticket” sound off post. Talk amongst yourselves.

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Talk about bad timing.  On the day that rumors surface about Best Buy moving from Elliott Sadler’s #19 to the #43 with AJ Allmendinger for 2010, the news comes out regarding Allmendinger and a DWI charge.  At the time of this post, AJ has since apologized in a statement and NASCAR has placed him on probation for the remainder of the year.  But many are now questioning why Allmendinger is getting probation while Michael Waltrip goes unpunished for his recent brush-up with a motorcycle that included alcohol.

First, I think the simple answer to the Allmendinger vs. Waltrip situation is Waltrip isn’t being charged with a DWI.  His reported blood alcohol level was 0.06, which is under the legal limit.  Allmendinger, according to the report, was over the legal limit.  Moving on…

In the other major sports in this country, athletes face suspensions and fines for criminal convictions based on their exisiting conduct policies.  Participants in everything from the MLB to the PGA have been suspended for violations, and we have certainly seen some very public examples this year.  NASCAR has taken steps in this direction this season with the adoption of their drug testing policy, but the testing policy really only applies to the race track.

After what has transpired over the last week with both Waltrip and Allmendinger, and looking back over past problems, it may be time for NASCAR to consider instituting a conduct policy for it’s competitors.  Especially in the situations with DWIs/DUIs, NASCAR needs to show that they don’t condone and will not tolerate drivers driving under the influence.  These guys are role models, whether they want to accept it or not, and should be held to a higher standard.  Not to mention the fact that they make a living behind the wheel.

I don’t want this to sound like I’m up on some sort of soap box condemning Waltrip and Allmendinger for their actions.  Nobody is perfect, and sometimes people make mistakes.  We are all guilty.  But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions.  Both will face some level of legal punishment, but I think it’s also important for NASCAR to take a stand.

In terms of a conduct policy, I’m sure those in place for the other sports would be a good place for the sport’s brass to start.  Make it an all-encompassing policy and actually enforce it with stiff penalties.  Sanctions from the governing body would depend on the severity of the crime.  And making this policy available for the fans to see would aid in transparency.

This is certainly something you hope to not have to discuss and implement, but most employers have a conduct policy for their employees and many companies won’t even hire someone with a felony conviction.  Why shouldn’t NASCAR have their own policy?

*Before I turn this discussion over to you, I want to mention a few things.  First, Allmendinger and Waltrip are innocent until proven guilty.  Neither have been convicted of anything.  Second, I don’t want this to turn into a chance to bash either driver.  Comments doing so will be deleted.