Rather be Loose in Turn 3 or Tight in Turn 9?

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Mike Helton’s much talked about meeting last Friday at MIS should go a long way toward keeping the weekend in wine country from turning into a Sunday of whine country.  Maybe. 

These Cup drivers just don’t like the new car at all.  No amount of muzzling is likely to change that any time soon.  I can’t decide if the underlying displeasure will be worse at Infineon or not.  Somebody probably needs to wreck someone, just as a diversion.

Or maybe NASCAR could just ask the drivers a question, like this one.

Dale Earnhardt Jr broke a NASCAR rule at the end of Sunday’s race at MIS, went unpunished and won the race. Do you have a problem with that?

Charlie:  Nope. I’ve been waiting for the NASCAR of the ’90s and early 2000’s to re-appear. That was the “charmed” NASCAR. The NASCAR that had Steve Park in a DEI car win the next race after Earnhardt Sr’s death. The same NASCAR that saw Dale Earnhardt Jr win in his return trip to the Daytona track that took his dad’s life. The NASCAR that had Richard Pettywin his 200 race at Daytona. It’s been a while since serendipity reined in the Cup Series. It was a feel good win, no doubt. I’m just surprised that it took so long.

Bruce:  Nah, I don’t have a problem with Jr. not getting tagged for the infraction, but now NASCAR has set a precedence by this lack of action and to the best of their ability and their image, they now need to adhere to similar deeds and actions in future races, with any driver. Stick with the “charmed” approach as you put it Charlie. That’s all I ask.

 TZ:  I don’t know, really. I mean, my take on pretty much anything involving the NASCAR rulebook is that it’s open for interpretation, because that’s how they’ve set it up. What does the rulebook actually state that the rule is, and what are the consequences? To me, it’s maybe no more than the whole issue with aggressive driving. They tend to issue a warning, and then if the driver doesn’t adhere, then
we get to see what happens. Now, in terms of this whole “charmed” deal, I’ve gotta be honest - I could care less. If the only reason that NASCAR let it slide was because Dale Junior was the benefactor, then yes, I have a problem with it.

That’s what we think, but I want to hear from you.  Let us know your thoughts by leaving feedback in the comment section.  Then head over to TZ’s Do You NASCAR? to see what we said about this topic…

Joe Gibbs Racing has stated that we may see Joey Logano in a Cup car by the end of ‘08. Logano’s proven himself to be a rare talent, but is 2008 too early?

Then check out Bruce’s NASCAR Bits for our take on this…

NASCAR has asked teams and drivers to tone down their complaints about the COT. Do you think NASCAR has a valid point?