Opinion: Who Did It??
Earlier this year Reed Sorenson was black flagged for throwing a piece of his inside rollbar on to the track in the attempt to cause a caution, and it did just that. Of course this is not the first time these extreme measures have been taken. For years drivers have (for the most part) gotten away with throwing everything except their helmets onto the track to cause a caution; including water bottles, gloves and padding. Drivers do this for a multiple of obvious reasons; because their car was backing up to the point of getting lapped or maybe its because they are the first car a lap down. This weekend was a prime example of how it benefited one driver and hurt another (the finger was pointed at Robby Gordon, who finished 10th and denied throwing anything out). What ever the reason it is still not a smart move. My question is what should NASCAR do to stop drivers from doing this??
My opinion is fairly simple and was mentioned by Jeff Burton in his post race interview. Stop the cars. Its that simple. After the piece is picked up and identified, stop every car on pit road for the officials to inspect. When the culprit is found then swift punishment should be administered. Umm, Black flagged for multiple laps, plus a fine and maybe even a suspension? Hard measures like this would catch the attention of those who like to cheat.
6 Comments:
I agree that this is a sorry move by any driver. I would fine their a** off.
I totally agree. This does, however, bring up another point. I have seen drivers intentionally spin to bring out a caution. How do you stop that one?
One measure already in effect is the driver causing a caution cannot get the lucky dog.
Have them label each piece of equipment inside the car with their number.
The spinning can be solved by penilizing them a lap.
It was clearly Robbie Gordon. What a bonehead move. I think a suspension is better than a fine. They laugh at a fine, due to money not being much of an issue for these guys. Take away their ability to compete.
This is cheating...but if they dont punish the one who does it will not stop . they should mark all components of their cars and fine the s out of them & their team .
I agree that fines just don't seem to phase these guys. Found this on Nascar.com:
This is hardly the first time NASCAR has penalized a competitor for intentionally causing a caution.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 25 points and fined $10,000 for intentionally spinning his car to bring out a caution at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2004.
And Kurt Busch was fined $10,000 for intentionally spinning Gordon during the 2002 all-star race to bring out a caution. Busch admitted it in two separate interviews, contending he caused the wreck because eventual winner Ryan Newman was running away from the field late in the race and he wanted a caution to make the final five laps more competitive.
Upon hearing Busch's comments, Gordon called him "immature" and said Busch was lucky Gordon was not hurt in the accident.
Post a Comment
<< Home