With all eyes focused on the Montoya/Newman feud and Trevor Bayne’s health this weekend, you may have missed a NASCAR Series Director admitting they made an officiating mistake. Crazy, but true.
Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash said that penalizing Carl Edwards for “servicing outside the box” in Friday’s race wasn’t correct because Edwards was within the three stall limit of his box even though he was past the end of pit road. Though the rule says you can’t push a car beyond the end of pit road, Balash said they need to give those teams who have stalls at the end of pit road, the benefit of the doubt.
Now that is refreshing. Balash said they looked at the penalty and it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway, but the sanctioning body admitting it’s not infallible says a lot.
In an age where everyone is a loveseat official and DVRs allow for instant playback (as if the playback the networks do isn’t enough), analyzing penalties, and then disagreeing with them has become a favorite past time of fans and journalists alike (we’re certainly guilty). This was a situation where there really wasn’t much controversy and Balash still admitted the call wasn’t right. You may not respect them all the time, but that you’ve got to respect.
This obviously didn’t get much run this weekend, but I think it’s a story worth repeating. NASCAR has a credibility issue with a portion of its avid fan base and I think moments like these can do a lot to restore that credibility. I personally think they get it right most of the time. Just like you and me though even the most informed people are capable of making a mistake every now and then. The important thing is admitting when those mistakes are made.
I know I’m probably going to get called out for being a “NASCAR homer” on this one, but I see a sanctioning body that’s moving into an era of openness. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR VP of Racing Operations, is on twitter and we’ve seen him regularly answering questions and interacting with people. Even NASCAR as an entity is doing a fabulous job of talking to people on twitter. Never before have fans had this kind of access – and you certainly don’t get that from other major leagues or sanctioning bodies.
To quote English poet Alexander Pope, “to err is human, to forgive divine.”
TheNASCARInsiders.com
Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!
