Qualifying Rained Out, NASCAR's Power Not

Kyle Busch will start on the pole for Sunday's Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway, but he certainly won't be dissing NASCAR's newest car this weekend.

NASCAR held an unusual meeting with drivers and car owners one half hour prior to the morning's first practice Friday to lay down the law on what drivers need to be saying about the Car of Tomorrow project.

That's Racin's David Poole called it a "Come to Jesus"-style meeting.

Many drivers wouldn't even discuss it.

But what we do know is that NASCAR made it clear that its simply tired of hearing the constant negativity about the performance of the car being used for the first time on full time in 2008.

A key message of the meeting apparently was that NASCAR fans are being let down by the constant bashing, and that they shouldn't be subject to that for coming to a spectator event for enjoyment. There must have been enforcement policies laid down because hardly a soul was giving deep info about the get-together.

To me, telling the teams they should handle a problematic situation by putting on the rose-colored glasses doesn't seem like an effective way to solve problems. Doubly, as a NASCAR fan, it shows me that NASCAR truly has reached a point where it cannot make any legitimate changes in the near future to increase the quality of Sprint Cup racing on the new vehicle.

At least I've never heard of censorship helping a cars downforce in a pack of traffic.

The rains came after 11 drivers got on track during the qualifying session, leaving the rulebook to decide where teams would start Sunday's race. That leaves Jeff Burton on the outside pole with Jason Leffler and Tony Raines heading home.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-14-2008 @ 3:14AM

GGarr10670 said...

So, the only thing even remotely interesting in NASCAR all season has been the comments of the drivers - and the tensions between them for on-track contact - and now NASCAR is telling them to shut up?

I fear my long-time favorite sport has peaked and is now on a downhill slide. A pity, really, but if Michican is as dull as Pocono was, I might spend my Sundays watching something more exciting for the rest of the season - like, maybe, kudzu growing or, perhaps, the PGA.

6-14-2008 @ 7:18AM

al coholic said...

NASCAR acts like the parent who, when losing an arguement with his kids, tells them to shut up.

6-14-2008 @ 8:09AM

Mike said...

I am impressed that Nascar has been able to solve many of the issues the drivers have been having with the COT. Who would have guessed it was all due to the drivers being open and honest about the new car. Now that the drivers are no longer allowed to ruin the race by answering questions truthfully, we will be treated to even more exciting racing where the only action is in the pits or on the restarts. The post race interviews will get more exciting as well.

Dale, what was it like out there today?

Well it was exciting out there. The car was great all day. I wish we could stay out on the track all day and never have to pit. And those restarts; I do not understand why some of these guys out there have to try to cut in line at the restart. You don't see anyone trying that crap the rest of the race do you?

It is obvious Nascar does not think there is a problem. The drivers were told "this is the car, shut up and drive it."
mbl

6-14-2008 @ 2:33PM

B.J. Anderson said...

Nascar reminds me of a bloated bureaucacy(spelling?) where management possibly believes they are the perfect world without exception.

6-14-2008 @ 9:56PM

Susan said...

Geoffrey,

Are you going to live blog any of the races this season?

Thanks
Susan

6-14-2008 @ 10:57PM

Jan said...

I'm sorry Kyle Busch, I hope you are alright after your crash. Your driving was terrific, don't blame yourself too much.
Jan in Beaver, Utah

6-15-2008 @ 9:33AM

Kim said...

What???? So they can't change the cars, can't adjust the cars, can't adapt the cars to their own style of driving, and now they can't even talk about the cars? What will happen if they do? Will they get penalized, or worse yet, spanked like a little child who misbehaved? This is absolutely absurd! NASCAR is going to lose many of its great drivers if they keep this up, not to mention the many loyal fans who will leave the sport, too.

I think Tony Stewart and some other drivers need to get together and start a new Racing organization, buy up all the dirt tracks and some of the NASCAR tracks that are on the market, too. Then maybe we could see some real racing again.

Kim

6-18-2008 @ 1:28AM

Darrell Waltrip published an article that spoke directly to the issues with the COT, the current status of the races, drivers and teams frustration. I commend him because I think Nascar is trying to force everyone to shut up. A Nascar announcer finally spoke up.

Tony Stewart didn't let me down this week either. Apparently, when asked about his 5th place finish and the car. Tony remarked that he didn't know and to ask Mike Helton. Driver's aren't allowed opinions anymore.

If anyone knows the answer to this question, will you please post the answer. It was said that this car was not designed by the teams and was forced on them. Who did design the car?