Prism Motorsports Getting Discriminated Against?

A very alarming thing came across the news wires Sunday evening hours after Jimmie Johnson crossed the start finish line in the Auto Club 500. NASCAR did the normal random draw of what cars to inspect. They pick out five cars they want to inspect, and if all goes well the car is given back to the teams in a timely fashion.

However that is not the case for one team who ran Sunday’s Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway. Dave Blaney and his No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota were one of the random draws, however NASCAR’s confiscated their car.

Immediately rumors swirled that it was a conspiracy against the start and park teams and that NASCAR is looking harder at those teams.

NASCAR has been said to examine the cars that fall out of the races. Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said last year “When they call [they’re] out, we will continue to look at what put those cars out. What we’re going to encourage at this level here is that people participate and do what they can do to race. What we want to prevent is someone legitimately trying to do a race setup and getting bumped out by somebody that may have gone above and beyond what the spirit of the rules are.”

Okay. If NASCAR is going to look at what put those teams out, obviously they saw something they didn’t like from the 66 car. Still NASCAR has given no reason to why they have decided to confiscate the No. 66 Toyota until after qualifying for Las Vegas.

So why target Prism Motorsports you ask? It’s simple. Prism parked two cars Sunday Blaney’s No. 66 and the No. 55 car of Michael McDowell. Blaney led laps Sunday and qualified fifth, making some people believe that the phrase “gone above and beyond that the spirit of the rules are,” is something NASCAR is starting to live by.

Randy Humphries co owner of Prism Motorsports said that the team would most like park the No. 55 and run the No. 66 full time and run every lap of every race. Blaney missed the Daytona 500 and McDowell ran every lap in the highest paying event in NASCAR.

But Sunday got under NASCAR’s skin. If you can park two cars, you have enough money to run one.

However, NASCAR has a glaring problem that need to be fixed, which would help the start and park situation. Their payout system is the weirdest in the world.

Each driver or team makes a certain amount of winnings for each race. Look at last Sunday’s race at Fontana. Juan Pablo Montoya finished 37^th and he made more money than Clint Bowyer who finished eighth. There is a problem there, a problem that NASCAR is too lazy to fix. There is no reason why they can’t fix that, yet they haven’t and no wonder these guys start and park. I would too if I could finish 38^th and get more money than a top 10 driver.

This is by no means defending the start and parks. Pemberton made another point saying “"Sure we can," Pemberton said Sunday. "If somebody says the motor was sputtering due to a fuel-pump problem, we can take it apart and look at it." Bottom line, "We're encouraging people to come in and race," when asked if they could they prove the start and park teams.

So nip it in the bud then. Do what Pemberton says. If the team retires with a mechanical problem and then they can’t prove it to NASCAR fine them.

Fix the payment problems first then fix the start and parks. According to NASCAR, we do not need 43 cars in the field. Some people say the tv contract states that, but NASCAR has denied it. So who cares if 43 cars race?

Although Prism Motorsports doesn't seem to be bothered by the penalty, they might if they miss the show at Las Vegas. How is that fair?