The responsibility over the past two or three seasons we’ve given back to the drivers came I think with a very clear understanding that there could be a line that got crossed. As annoying as the comments that I’ve made personally in the past about ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ might have been, we saw it last night. Obviously after the event, a lot of folks put their heads together to decide what, if anything, we would do. Then what I’m telling you today is our reaction. - NASCAR President Mike Helton
The responsibility over the past two or three seasons we’ve given back to the drivers came I think with a very clear understanding that there could be a line that got crossed.
As annoying as the comments that I’ve made personally in the past about ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ might have been, we saw it last night. Obviously after the event, a lot of folks put their heads together to decide what, if anything, we would do. Then what I’m telling you today is our reaction. - NASCAR President Mike Helton
Since the implementation of NASCAR’s more lenient on-track policing policy began last season we’ve been waiting for this moment. Waiting for NASCAR to give some definition to, “we’ll know it when we see it.”
While I don’t think we got a whole lot of clarity with the penalty this weekend, I can’t say I’m surprised that was the moment. Count me among the legions who didn’t expect NASCAR to act as strongly as they did, but again I wasn’t surprised.
Kyle Busch was out of his mind Friday night – out of his mind like seldom few I’ve ever seen on a race track. He not only wrecked Ron Hornaday’s repairable truck, he wrecked his own even more repairable truck all because he was upset Hornaday got loose and forced him up the track. The championship contender was apparently supposed to back down for Busch. It was mind-boggling.
And then NASCAR’s decision was not. Busch has repeatedly been involved in incidents this year. Most notably with Kevin Harvick and subsequently with Richard Childress. He, if you’ll remember, also had that 126 mph speeding ticket during the summer.
If this had been the first incident you may not have seen NASCAR act with as much gusto. But it wasn’t. This behavior has become all too frequent for Busch.
I’m hopeful this will be a moment of clarity for the driver. An opportunity for him to realize that maturity and temperance are important steps in becoming the great racecar driver he’s capable of becoming.
But I don’t blame NASCAR. In fact, I applaud them. This was a long time coming. It was unfortunate for Busch’s sponsors and increasingly I feel bad that Joe Gibbs and Joe Gibbs Racing are forced to make excuses for behavior I know they don’t find acceptable.
Kyle Busch got exactly what Kyle Busch deserved – and we’ll see if more is coming on Tuesday.
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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR
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Filed under: Kevin Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR
Filed under: Clint Bowyer, Richard Childress Racing
Combine a sanctioning body with no self awareness, select media members inflaming a penalty, an unclear inspection process and technical issue, and a driver who likes to speak his mind and you’ve got a lesson in public relations no-nos.
There is an old adage in PR: if you don’t tell your story, someone else will and you may not like how they tell it. This is something the folks at NASCAR could stand to learn.
In a media environment that is increasingly loud, swift and dare I say hostile, treading lightly around these penalty issues is very important.
In the wake of the Clint Bowyer penalties this past week, NASCAR used their weekly teleconference to explain the issue and answer questions – only they did a pretty bad job at both. Instead of making sure things were appropriately explained, and giving media members every opportunity to ask questions, they were unclear (even when asked to explain in layman’s terms) and limited them to one question (which some promptly started complaining about on twitter).
All told the teleconference explaining this thing took 21 minutes. What NASCAR needed to do was to take the car, get their video conferencing equipment and go through it – then they needed to let the media members ask as many questions as they wanted (whether that took 20 minutes or 2 hours). Of course all of this needed to be available for fans to watch.
The resulting inadequate explanations then got muddled when the story was told. Then RCR added to the story by essentially calling BS on NASCAR (NASCAR addressed in the teleconference what would later become RCR’s explanation and said given previous data they had, it was not likely). With the amount of trust fans have in the sanctioning body though it was apparent who they believed. As usual, the story got away from NASCAR.
This wasn’t helped by some media members who took to their respective websites and social media accounts to join the chorus of anti-NASCAR sentiment. Again, they, like RCR, told the story, not NASCAR.
What I find hard to believe though is that NASCAR doesn’t realize the implications these penalties have with the fans. If they’d do a reasonable job explaining the problem, this means going on TV and explaining in actual layman’s terms what the issue is (because most people don’t understand what goes into the inspection process, or what exactly a penalty is being issued for because they haven’t been involved in building a COT, or understand the engineering of it), and then debunking things, they wouldn’t spend two weeks defending themselves against (or doing what they normally do and ignoring) unfounded allegations.
This sporting body has trust and public relations issues unlike their counterparts throughout America. It’s to the point I believe it’s driving fans away. They though are tone deaf. Truly mind boggling. Let’s hope whoever takes this unenviable position of Chief Communications Officer convinces the leadership at NASCAR to do a better job of creating transparency (which they are under no obligation to do) for the sake of the sport.
NASCAR wasn’t alone in their communications missteps this weekend. Look no further than Denny Hamlin, a guy who is never afraid to give his opinion. During his Friday Chase press conference Hamlin said:
“In the garage, everyone has known it for months… It’s not two weeks old. They’ve been warned for a long time, way before Richmond. … They knew it was wrong way before that, and they wanted to get everything they could.”
Now I won’t comment on the validity of Hamlin’s comments, but they got him into trouble. As JD Gibbs later told him, sometimes it’s best to keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves.
Whether acting under team orders, or as a lone assassin, Kevin Harvick, during practice on Saturday, proceeded to let Denny Hamlin know that his comments were not well received. Afterward there was some intense discussion. NASCAR said ‘boys, have at it’ right? No doubt failed communications on all parts.
What we learned this week was that NASCAR still has a long way to go in regaining the trust of it’s fans and that is probably going to start with much more transparency to prove that they really have no agenda – other than maintaining their rulebook. And don’t screw with RCR, because they’ll get you.
Filed under: Clint Bowyer, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR
Filed under: Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Sponsors, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR
Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nationwide Series, NASCAR
Could Michael Waltrip match the success of Richard Childress?
I know it’s an odd question, but I was thinking about this the other day. At this point both have built teams that are consistently competitive and capable of winning races and on track they both have had very comparable success in their driving careers (though Waltrip’s career has lasted 14+ years longer). With Waltrip stepping into the role of owner, could he join Childress as a mediocre driver who became a great owner?
Richard Childress spent 12 full and part-time seasons competing in what is today the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He began his career in 1969 (at age 23) serving as one of the fill-in drivers at the now infamous Talladega race (it was boycotted by the sport’s top drivers). Through the years, across 285 starts, Childress accumulated zero wins, six top-fives, 76 top-tens, and zero poles. He ended his career with an average finish of 17.6.
Michael Waltrip began his NASCAR career in 1985 at age 22. Through 761 starts over 26 seasons (and counting), he has four wins, 39 top-fives, 128 top-tens, and four poles. Waltrip has an average finish of 21.9.
What blossomed into Richard Childress Racing began with Childress’ first race in 1969. He gave up the drivers seat in 1981 to Dale Earnhardt; Ricky Rudd took over in 1982. Earnhardt returned for the 1983 season and never left. Together Childress and Earnhardt racked up 69 wins and six championships. On top of that, RCR has another 20 Cup wins. They also have 75 wins and six championships in the Nationwide and Truck Series’.
Michael Waltrip Racing began in earnest in 1996, fielding a Nationwide and Truck ride for Waltrip. For the next several seasons Waltrip and a slew of other drivers ran in the Nationwide Series. In that time, Waltrip racked up four wins (David Reutimann has one win in 2007).
In 2007 the team underwent a major expansion and began fielding Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, and David Reutimann in the Cup Series. While the team struggled both on and off the track through their first couple of seasons, they came into their own in 2009. Despite missing the cut for the Chase, Reutimann was consistently competitive and even scored his first Cup Series win. In addition the team fields a car for Marcos Ambrose, who has shown recently that he is capable of running up front. With the addition of Martin Truex Jr. and Pat Tryson this season, and prospects like Trevor Bayne and Ryan Truex, the team has a solid foundation from which to grow.
While the two organizations are at vastly different stages in their life cycles and Michael Waltrip doesn’t have a young Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel, they really share a lot of similarities. Both had humble beginnings (Waltrip ran the team until quite recently from a shop on the property of his Sherrills Ford, N.C. home), some early struggles, and owners with an intense passion for and commitment to NASCAR.
While it’s still young, MWR has quickly made itself a competitor in NASCAR’s top series. Given another 20 years can Waltrip find the success Childress did?
I heard a rumor this weekend about a “funded” driver with an opportunity at a large, well respected organization. I would name names, but I don’t know how much credit I give the rumor. That really isn’t the point of my post though.
This movement toward the funded driver has become the rule instead of the exception in recent years; while not so prevalent in the Cup Series, this is very visible in the Nationwide and Truck Series.
Now I write this not to bash those who are able to fund their own rides. Certainly some of these guys have talent and are more than deserving of their positions. That said, not all of them are.
Again I’ll refrain from naming names, but I think we all can think of a few guys who probably shouldn’t be driving a stock car in one of NASCAR’s national series. Now how would you feel if one of those drivers took their money to your favorite team (if your favorite team hasn’t already accepted money from a funded driver)?
Would that make you feel different about that team? Personally I feel like we hold larger, older, more established organizations to a different standard. I guess it wasn’t so bad when DEI took Paul Menard’s money, but, let’s face it, Paul Menard isn’t that bad.
But what if Childress, Hendrick, JGR or Roush were willing to take money from a not so great funded driver, just for the sake of the paycheck? Or even as has been rumored, Menard to RCR? This is something RCR has never done. Is it just a sign of the times?
Personally I’m conflicted about these situations. From a team standpoint I understand money is tight and these organizations can use these drivers for information and to have another butt in a seat. From the other side though these organizations are taking part in an activity that isn’t looked upon too favorably (especially by fans).
Just something to think about. These situations are likely to occur more often in the future, but I always kind of expected this phenomenon to remain with smaller organizations. Oh and if I hear more about the rumor I referenced at the beginning and can actually do a reasonable job verifying it I’ll spill the beans.
Update: So I guess Catchfence was more comfortable with the rumor than I was. Good timing on my part though, right?
Whatever your feelings are on JWT, you’ve got to wonder what this means for Stephen Leicht. This is a kid who does have talent, but does not have a big sponsor behind him. Let’s hope RCR finds an opportunity for him.
I’ll be honest with you, I have a lot of respect for Richard Childress and his organization, this is a storied organization, but this makes me think a little differently about them. Maybe I’m making too much of this, but it’s a sad day. As TC remarked to me, I hope they’re ready to hire a lot more body hangers.