Speed Gibson

I'm a NASCAR fan, Junior Grade. Like most sports, it's amazing how the smallest of details and the simplest of tasks can decide the outcome. Of the 43 cars that start each week, a third are piloted by drivers that really have no business racing at this level, but the others need someone to pass. Another third have hotheads behind the wheel, too often overdriving their cars into the walls or other cars.

All this incompetence gives the sport a natural charm. We can't stand the football equivalents like Chris Dishman and Isaac Holt, but that same all or nothing recklessness seems to work on the track. But NASCAR itself seems intent on taking some of the edge off.

Recently, two time Cup Champion Tony Stewart spoke out, saying that NASCAR was beginning to resemble professional wrestling. He was unhappy with multiple caution flags for debris that probably cost him a race victory. A week later, the cold steel of a gun barrel in his back, he apologized and heaped praise on the NASCAR officials. Personally, I think Tony had a legitimate beef, as the TV crew had trouble finding some that alleged debris.

Now we have Dale Earnhardt Jr, the sport's most popular driver slapped with a 100 point penalty on a pre-race inspection. This is a huge penalty as NASCAR penalties go, not to mention a six race suspension of his crew chief and a $100,000 fine. Maybe I'm missing something, but the more obvious and egregious such a violation, the more likely it was just a misunderstanding, especially with the new "Car of Tomorrow" design introduced this year. A true cheater would be much more subtle.

So cut the crap. Let them race.