NASCAR Sets Dangerous Precedent with Toyota Change

Last season Chevy won 13 of the first 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races! Only Matt Kenseth’s win at California Speedway spoiled a perfect start to the season for the Bow Tie Brigade, but they had seven of the top 10 finishers in that race, too.

So why didn’t we see NASCAR penalize Chevy by tweaking the engines? When the engines were pulled at Chicagoland in the Nationwide Series, the top rated engine wasn’t the race winner and not all of the top five engines were Toyotas.

Testing engines AFTER a race makes no sense at all, either. Some engines age worse than others after a grueling race and could make the differences among engines post-race greater.

If dominance in the races was why NASCAR reacted this year, then why didn’t we see a change in Cup last year?

Last Minute Changes Nasty

NASCAR’s decision seems to make sense based on the fact that the Toyota engine has a larger bore than the other engines in use in the series. I won't go on with the technical Mr. Science explanation, but NASCAR approved the Toyota with this larger bore.

Last season Toyota didn’t have an advantage over the competition but they also didn’t have Joe Gibbs Racing or Kyle Busch! Whether a change was needed to prevent total domination by one car is a decision left to smarter people than myself. But what I do know is that it is very unfair to make this change on a Tuesday for a race coming up on Friday. Last minute changes are nasty for NASCAR teams.

Setting a Bad Precedent

Chevy did a masterful job of whining and getting their way much like the bratty kid that throws a tantrum until Mom gets him a lollipop at the store. The biggest trouble with giving into the brat is the next time they whine even louder.

What ever happened to being rewarded with wins for working harder and developing better stuff than the other guy? What’s next—handing out competition ribbons instead of winner’s trophies?

NASCAR has not made a midseason rule change to one manufacturer for over six years. It is uncertain whether NASCAR ever made a change to the engine rules in midseason to one manufacturer ever before. They are setting a dangerous precedent.

Editor’s Note: Keep up with the latest information about these changes and the reaction from the competitors on RaceTalkRadio.com and on www.thatsracin.com all week!

(www.racetalkradio.com)

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