A few years ago, I became hooked on stock car racing. I used to think it was the most mind-numbing thing a person could watch on TV, although I'd never given it a chance. Once I actually watched it, I really enjoyed it. Hey, I like cars & smack-talk & rivalries & explosions as much as anyone.
It can be tedious to watch at times, as some races are far less eventful than others. Luckily for me, I live in a technologically fantastic age that has given us the DVR. This wonderful device allows me to see everything I want to see while saving precious time by forwarding through all the boring stuff, like green-flag pit stops, commercials & post-race interviews with whiners.
One of the most appealing things about a race is that there are so many drivers to root for. It's the only sport that starts every meet with 43 potential winners. I generally like most drivers in the Nascar circuit, so having 30-40 drivers to root for should bring me pretty good odds.
Except that there seems to be some sort of Nascar conspiracy that allows the jackass pretty-boys from one certain team to skirt the rules. Every single time. I hate Hendrick Motorsports. Yes, it's a strong word but I really mean it.
Say what you will about the dirty cheaters of decades past because honestly, I wasn't a viewer back then & can't argue about it. And I've heard all the stories & read the news reports. But I maintain that the 48 crew are dirtier than anyone who has ever raced the circuit. They repeatedly cheat & get only a little slap on the wrist each time, while other teams face far steeper penalties for minor infractions that may not even be intentional.
The icing on the cake for me was when they refused to use their radios, instead passing notes to keep their "strategy" under wraps. Yeah, everything you do in the pits is so enlightened & modern that nobody else has ever thought of it before & everyone is going to immediately copy you. Not. It was just another attempt to keep their cheating from discovery.
Now it seems that the torch is being passed back to the original HM golden boy in the 24. Yes, I know that Johnson's been stealing the spotlight for a while & they desperately want Gordon to live up to all the hype we've been hearing about him for the last 5 years or so since he really accomplished anything.
But there's just no way I can believe that somehow he managed to avoid the lap-down penalty in the pits last night. Every other car in the pits when the caution came out lost a lap, except Gordon. Once again, it's as though the rules just don't apply to Hendricks.
If Nascar wants to see the fan base continue to increase, the France family needs to start thinking about clarifying the rules & levelling the playing field. The drivers have been pleading for as much for years. The fans want it. If a team isn't willing to face the competition fairly, then they don't belong in the race. Period.
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