Full Throttle

Thanks to a tip from Tomaso comes a story of Sarah Fisher’s efforts to field her own team at Indy this month.

Tomaso points to an Indy Star article by Bob Kravitz who thinks Fisher may need to contact a collection agency to get what has been promised to the fledgling team.

One company, Gravity Entertainment is located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla, the second is ResQ, a sports-drink company.

Yeah I know what you’re thinkin’ “not ANOTHER sports drink company!” But what are you gonna do, they don’t make weed killer that works on sports drink outfits.

Both companies have made contractual promises to Sarah Fisher and at this point those contracts haven’t been fulfilled.

In my efforts to trackdown background on the Kravitz piece I discovered Gravity Entertainment announced in January they would field a new NASCAR Sprint Cup team under the banner of Gravity Motorsports. Allegedly the new team will “begin operation immediately” with the intention to test the waters in early 2008 and plans “to debut later in the season.”

At this point I haven’t heard word one about any progress this alleged new team has made, alleged being the operative word.

Via the wonders of the internet and the many search abilities available zero, nadda, ZILCH turns up when looking for a reference to the team.

What it does turn up is a Gravity Motorsports that has been in operation since 2006 and “specializes in the sales and service of motorcycle and ATV parts and accessories.”

Confused?

Not as confused as the operators of Gravity Entertainment who couldn’t be bothered to do a cursory search to ensure a name chosen for their motorsport team wasn’t in use, and by all indications at this point, haven’t lived up to obligations made to Sarah Fisher.

Am I surprised a company that produced such “epic films” as Primal Scream and The Black Belt Club is falling down on the job? Not in the least.

That said, and moving on, is the case of ResQ energy drink’s commitment to Fisher.

Again referencing the Kravitz article he notes the company’s web site “features Fisher extolling its product and its commitment to racing.”

A quick look at it shows another sad case of a brand name owner, if not the entire company, not living up to obligations made.

In fact if you take Kravitz’ word for it the company “features Fisher extolling its product and its commitment to racing.”

He didn’t lie, but the ref is mighty thin gruel to say the least. The single reference is supposedly a link to Fisher’s web site and what appears to be her press release noting she’s “excited” to have ResQ on board as a sponsor..

But it isn’t, its a link to another ResQ website.

It’s also apparent Fisher has taken down both the original press release and any ref to the company on her sponsors page. (Yeah! You go girl!)

Funny how that works, you don’t pay your bills, you get the bums rush out of the paddock door, as it should be.

I’m tempted to flood both these scofflaws with letters asking what the hell, but I suspect they would be ignored and I would also imagine Sarah via some legal recourse, like a breech of contract suit, may have much better luck than I.

Even in the best of times finding multi-million dollar sponsorships is hard and time consuming work, and with current prices in today’s marketplace effecting everyone it’s that much harder.

Making a commitment and not living up to that contractual obligation is an entirely different kettle of fish and Fisher to her credit isn’t waiting with baited breath waiting for any checks “in the mail.”

“They keep saying they’re going to wire it tomorrow, soon, today, tomorrow — it’s a ‘check is in the mail’ kind of thing,” she said, standing in her garage as rain washed out qualifying. “They’re still saying they’re going to pay us, but at this point, it’s hard for me to believe it anymore.”

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs on what Kravitz is calling the other side of the “Danica Divide” of sponsorship. A divide she’s trying to bridge through donations (pdf File) from interested fans of her and the sport.

That effort has paid some, albeit small, success at this point: “Look at this,” Fisher said Sunday, reaching into her jeans pocket to pull out a piece of folded paper.It was a personal check. From a fan. To Fisher for $100.

“I’ve gotten two or three today (Sunday),” she said, smiling.

I’ll say it again. A sad, sad state of affairs, made even more so when you see John Andretti walk into the paddock flush with cash and buy his way into a ride.

Technorati Tags: Auto racing, Sarah Fisher, Sarah Fisher Racing, IRL, IndyCar, Indy 500, Indianapolis 500

In what EuroSport is calling an exclusive they quote former F1 world champion Alan “Servile Flatterer” Jones as backing FIA president Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley.

Jones, apparently speaking after an overdose of snorted Vegemite, has even jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon: “I think he was set up,” Jones claims.

Jones, speaking to Eurosport at the final A1 grand prix of the season at Brands Hatch, believes “What he does in his private life is his business.

“I care more about what he does in the office than what he’s doing in the bed - I don’t know that even the majority of people would frown upon what he did. The only crime he committed was being caught.”

It all begs the question, what rock has Jones been living under?

Has he moved into some previously unknown cave in Ayers Rock and missed all the online polls and too-numerous-to-mention motorsport associations in all parts of the globe that have denounced Mosley’s actions and asked for his head on a silver platter?

Regardless of how The Littlest Perv’s sexual proclivities have made into public view they aren’t private any longer. To make that argument now is just a bit beyond stupid.

As far as any conspiracy, so what. Personally, I think Max pretty much set himself up when he agreed to be inspected for lice by five nazi-prostitutes. But that’s just me.

If you want to live by the riding crop, you die by the riding crop.

Cross Posted @ F1 Rage!

UPDATE: This is too bizarre to comment on at the moment, so I’ll let you all ponder the possibilities of the FIA hiring Saddams’s former attorney.

Technorati Tags: Brands Hatch, Alan Jones, A1GP, FIA, Max Mosley, Mosley Scandal, Eurosport

I hope Ricky Craven doesn’t mind me taking the liberty of using his words as rebuttal to Norris McDonald.

McDonald is the motorsports reporter for the Toronto Star although his columns are syndicated and widely disseminated to various papers in the Great White North.

McDonald asks, “Will Kyle Busch be punished for driving Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the wall?”

He cites NASCAR parking of Michael Waltrip for aggressive driving at Richmond as precedent Saturday night and claims; “The replays clearly show that the Busch-Earnhardt collision near the end of the Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry (who?) 400 Sprint Cup race was no fender-rubbin’ incident.”

“They went into the third turn side-by-side and Busch just turned right (which is a bit of a trick, considering this was on an oval speedway and you have to turn left all the time just to stay on the track).”

Let it be said I’ve seen the same charge Busch deliberately wrecked Earnhardt Jr levied at various places around the ’sphere in the last couple days, but McDonald’s is the first MSM reporter I’ve seen toss it against the wall looking to make it stick.

Rather than rebutting his nonsense, me being several thousand miles and years away in experience level, I’ll turn to NASCAR veteran driver Ricky Craven whose weekly Waving the Checkers column deals with this issue specifically:

The contact and spin between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. happened at the most challenging area of the Richmond track.

Entering Turn 3 is more difficult and less forgiving than Turn 1 because it’s a tighter turn. Because of the long-sweeping front stretch of the D-shaped track, Turn 1 allows drivers a more gradual entry, which makes side-by-side racing into the turn relatively easy.

But Turn 3 requires drivers to turn the wheel more aggressively, which is more challenging, especially when racing side-by-side, because the inside car has to drag the brake pedal longer to maintain the bottom of the track.

Where the real trouble begins is when the inside car looses rear grip, typically a result of braking and turning left at the same time. The inside driver, in this case Kyle Busch, instinctively turns right, a move that often has dire results just as it did Saturday night.

(emphasis mine) Mr. McDonald? any rebuttal from you?

Mr. McDonald, anything. Nothing…. crickets?

Sorry Mr. McDonald, “instinctively” doesn’t equate to deliberate. To quote Doc Hudson: I’ll put it simple: if you’re going hard enough left, you’ll find yourself turning right.”

A couple points.

One, I always find it highly suspect of anyone who takes it upon him or herself to insert themselves into the electrical path between a drivers brain and the end result of that thought process as it manifests itself in the drivers right foot and their hands on the steering wheel.

They’ve taken on an impossible task of reading someone’s mind (sorry, charlatan Kreskin aside, it can’t be done) and in nearly all cases it leads me to believe something else is at work. Whether it’s a bias against the driver or thoughts related to NASCAR’s consistent inconsistency in applying various rules in the end it’s never a pretty outcome.

Secondly, anyone coming to the same conclusion as McDonald has completely ignored the comments by the drivers involved in the incident. Both Junior and Kyle Busch have said it was “just racing” and have moved on to concentrating on this weeks event at Darlington.

Why would anyone ignore those words? See point one.

And finally, what would a Canadian writers column be without a whine-fest on how the American broadcast bobbleheads pronounce French-Canadian names?

“Car-pon-chay to us Canadians, Car-pon-tee-eh to Darrell Waltrip.”

Whatever McDonald , spare us the French-Canadian interpretations will ya?

But you can send more Canadian Bacon south.

Technorati Tags: Dale Earnhardt, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, Michael Waltrip, Ricky Craven, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, Richmond International Raceway

For full disclosure, NASCAR has been and still is double X chromosome challenged, no one disputes that.

The klieg lights have shown even brighter on the fact since the Danica Tsunami washed over Twin-Ring Motegi last weekend.

Given that, it was only natural the motorsports press would seek out past females with experience at various levels of the sport for comment. It was just as predictable they would find their way to Erin Crocker the last female to make any headway at making at the top level of NASCAR.

With that as the preface, I give you Erin Crocker:

“To be quite frank, NASCAR is not doing much to help women get into the sport,” Crocker said. “Maybe that will change, but up until now they haven’t done too much.”

I’m not sure what she expects them to do, as a sanctioning body all they can do is provide the proper venue for them to race in and also ensure they are at a skill level so no danger arises for themselves or other competitors. And they have, along with Joe Gibbs supported the Diversity Program.

“I’m not privy to the insides of how they’re doing business,” she said of Cup operations. “I just know it’s not a high priority. Their priority is making sure they’re in the top 35 in points, taking care of their sponsors.”

“No one has put their stake in the ground and said we’re going to make it work. Everybody has just given it a shot, and when the going got tough they gravitated back to the norm.”

Excuse me!

Remind me again who it was that did have a shot. A shot at making it to the Cup Series by having a fully sponsored ride by one of the top-tiered teams in the sport at a level most rookies start at, the Truck Series. In addition the same team provided a competitive ride in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

Excuse me again Ms. Crocker, the problem was not getting a fair shot but what was done with the opportunity.

The problem wasn’t any stakes in the ground, but rather your boss putting his “stake” somewhere it didn’t belong and creating an environment where you became virtually untouchable by both teams and major sponsors in the sport.

You young lady need to sit down, shut up and get on with whatever racing opportunities may come your way.

And while your waiting you need to call on your former, ahem… employer. and ask why he hasn’t done everything he “possibly could do” to get you back into a competitive ride as promised. Although I suspect there were a lot of promises that were made in the heat of “competition” that were never kept, if you get my drift.

Technorati Tags: ARCA RE/MAX Series, NASCAR, Erin Crocker, NCTS, Nationwide Series

Question: When does calling in a marker on favors owned also come with the kiss of death?

When the holder of the marker called is Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley.

The favor is demanded of Jean “The Toad Prince” Todt to issue forth a slobbering ass kissing proclamation of support until such time as said Perv desires to step off his thrown.

Or the end of all earthly time.

Whichever happens to come first.

I’m betting the later, and given the Toad Prince’s near proposal of marriage to Mosley the odds have gone up I’m correct.

“He is very intelligent and of rare elegance. A gentleman,” Todt says of Mosley

“If you ask me” (we didn’t, but continue Prince) “whether I am happy with the actions of the FIA president in his job, I consider that he does very good work. Therefore I hope that he will have the opportunity to continue his work for numerous years.”

That faint smell of rotting flesh is the Kiss of Death sneaking up on Todt’s meager chances of succeeding Mosley as president of the FIA[sco].

Would it be fair to re-ignite all those Todt/FIA/Ferrari/Mosley conspiracy theories about now?

Technorati Tags: FIA, Max Mosley, Mosley Scandal, F1 Jean Rodt, Ferrari, Full Throttle, F1 Rage

“First law on holes - when you’re in one, stop digging.”

Max Mosley isn’t using a shovel at the bottom of the hole he’s dug for himself, the fool has a 400 horsepower backhoe in the hole with him.

Not that I care, if I were able I’d lend a hand. In fact I should think dynamite might be his best bet as long as he’s soooo into this hole digging thing, but I digress.

The Littlest Perv has consented to his first interview since the lid came off the scandal. As expected he still maintains what has happened in his private life should be just that, private, but does admit his wife Jean was “not best pleased” and his sons were “embarrassed” at the revelations.

Yeah, I bet.

“Most people say if somebody likes doing that, if it’s not harming anybody, if it’s in private and it’s completely secret and personal, it’s nothing to do with me.”

Right, as long as it’s private, far from the reality at the moment, or anytime in the future.

He added: “My inclination is to stand and fight.”

Yeah, to our great consternation, we’ve noticed!

(Standby, it gets deep, REAL DEEP now) The Littlest Perv accepted that “a few ex-drivers” had criticized him, but said none of Formula One’s real “opinion formers” had said anything.

Jesus H.Christ on a merry-go-round Max! That statement tells me one of two things.

1. Max has been holed up with his ass-spanking honeys in London all his time and is completely unaware of the furor and long… loooog list of motorsport big wigs calling for his head on a platter, Silver, or otherwise.

2. Or Mad Max is, to use the British vernacular, “up the pole!” More commonly known as nuts, crazy, loony, mcgoofty, loco en la cabeza (in honor of the upcoming Spanish GP), and finally, a fried chicken short of a church picnic!

And that’s all I have to say! (for now, ’cause I’m sure this lunatic isn’t done spewing nonsense.)

UPDATE: The Sunday Telegraph, The Littlest Perv goes into a whine about how a prostitute, think of it, a prostitute, had betrayed him and believes “she’s beneath contempt” because “it’s not just what she did to me, she was friends with the other four and a close friend of one of them.”

Well, D’OH! Think of it getting betrayed by of all things a prostitute, one who is a “professional” in a trade known throughout history as one that will DO ANYTHING for money.

Well, D’OH, thanks for sharing that Homer Simpson moment with us Max.

Technorati Tags: F1, F1 Rage, FIA, Full Throttle, Max Mosley, Motorsports, Mosley Scandal

(NOTE: This is another in a series of posts on the “Good Old Days” of NASCAR. This week, contrary to popular belief, we look at NASCAR’s long history with our Latin American friends to the south.)

NASCAR first became involved with Latin America during a celebration for the opening of the Pan American highway that crossed from border to border through Mexico and southwards to the tip of Argentina.

The year was 1950, La Carrera Panamericana road race was first held that year and continued through 1954 when it was shut down as a result of too many accidents and deaths during the event.

The NASCAR connection comes with the entry of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr. as owner/sponsor of a 1950 Nash Ambassador driven by the legendary Curtis Turner. The event consisted of 9 legs for a total of 1907.537 miles (some claim 2,178 miles) and run from El Paso, Texas, across Mexico to Guatemala.

Turner teamed with Roy Pat Connor and Robert Owen to drive the event however Conner fell ill prior to the start of the last leg and Turner was brought in to replace him. This contravened the rules, and the car was disqualified.

Portland lumberjack and west coast NASCAR star Hershel McGriff and co-driver Ray Elliott won the event at the wheel of a 1950 Oldsmobile 88 (Monte Dutton has posted an image of the restored Olds 88) in a time of 27 hours, 34 minutes and 25 seconds. The team won an astounding sum for the time of $17,341. ($149,337 in todays dollars!)

The car was such a success Oldsmobile would hire McGriff to crisscross the country in the Rocket 88, making promotional appearances and racing the car. “The combination of the Olds chassis and the Rocket V8 was unbeatable in the hands of the right driver,” France said years later.

Lou Figaro (pictured above with co-driver Dempsey Wilson) one of the drivers who fielded “The Fabulous” Hudson Hornets in the early ’50s DNF’d the event crashing 18 miles into the seventh leg of nine.

Another NASCAR legend Johnny “Piloto“ Mantz competed with Bill Stroppe (a legend in his own right and 3-time La Carrera Panamerica winner) and Clay Smith driving a ‘49 Lincoln Cosmopolitan.

The team of Mantz, Stroppe and Clay Smith ran at or near the lead right up till the final leg when the big Lincoln couldn’t take the punishment any longer. With the finish line in sight and no more spares tires to run on, Mantz was forced to run on rims and limped across the finish line, Stroppe and Mantz had held the lead in a number of legs and could have won, but they ended up 9th overall, winning enough to pay for the trip.

With his success at the Mexican road race and his connection with Bill Stroppe and Clay Smith Mantz played a major role with Fords racing program leading the Lincoln-Mercury division to many stock car victories. Mantz continued to race and was killed in a highway accident on October 25, 1972.

Others participating in the event during its tenure from the world of NASCAR included Bob and Fonty Flock, Raymond Parks ( The Godfather of Stock Car Racing) and Red Byron. Marshall Teague would finish sixth (1951) and seventh (1952) in his La Carrera Panamericana starts.

For those interested in the events definitive history R.M. Clark’s “The Carrera Panamericana MEXICO covers the 5 years ( 1950-1954 ) is full of photos, stories by the pilotos and co-pilotos and daily and final results. Also the La Carrera Panamericana continues to this day with the 2008 edition set to roll off on October 29 with a very eclectic group of both cars and drivers, including an Olds 88 and what looks to be a reproduction of “Piloto” Mantz’s Lincoln Cosmopolitan.

Moving into more modern times, and a closer connection to this weekends Nationwide Series event, the venue Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is named after the late Mexican racing legend Pedro Rodríguez and his brother Ricardo.

Many consider Rodríguez as NASCAR’s Latino pioneer. A regular in sports car events at Daytona International Speedway, the first hairpin at DIS (the right-hand hairpin) is named the Pedro Rodriguez curve.

Pedro drove in six Cup races between 1959 and 1971 with 1 top five and 2 top tens to his credit, his best was fifth in 1965’s World 600 at Charlotte at the wheel of a #51 Holman-Moody Ford.

The Rodríguez era and on through the ninties it was NASCAR Southern Style - Confederate Flags, The Alabama Gang, Darlington, Barbecued Beef and Corn Muffins and possibly, tailgateing while singing The Cornhole Song.

As a result of marketing by the sanctioning body, and in small part the diversity program, the “new” NASCAR Southern Style also involves Telenovelas, Empanadas, Football, Turismo Carretera, and the winners of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

No better example of that is NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow being outsourced to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina-based HAZ Racing a well-known racecar builder and crew chief in South America. Eventually the team plans to run in NASCAR but for now they will continue to develop the car with testing at the nearly 3 mile oval track in Santa Fe, Argentina, Autódromo Ing Juan R.Báscolo.

Moving up the South American continent to Brazil the NASCAR influence can be seen in the countries “biggest automobile racing category,” the Copa NEXTEL Stock Car Series.

The cars, OMG cover your ears NASCAR Nation, the cars come complete with wings, splitters and, wait for it… Brazilian style tailgating. As an added bonus drivers are given the ability to inject nitrous oxide three times per race to aid passing. (are you listening BF? - ed)

Moving back into North America, specifically Joe Gibbs Racing. Gibbs, along with the late Reggie White, has been at the forefront of the diversity program since it’s inception. At the Cup level is young Cuban-American Aric Almirola who has the unenviable task of taking over the #8 Chevy for DEI in 2008.

His road into that ride started with Gibbs and the diversity program in 2004 while driving at Ace Speedway that and the following year. Almirola drove the #75 Spears Manufacturing Chevy for Spears Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series, as part of the JGR development program and was part of the controversial 2007 incident with Denny Hamlin in AT&T 250 at the Milwaukee Mile last year.

All of which brings me to this point, the weekend of the Nationwide Series event in Mexico City.

There are many detractors to NASCAR’s diversity efforts, particularly when the subject is racing south of the border. Some objections are based on pure idiotic, and childish jingoism. Some are based on ignorance of NASCAR’s nearly six decade history and a false belief that “NASCAR is an American sport and should stay that way.” As detailed above it’s never been “that way.”

And some, sadly, who apparently think playing to the crowd by reporting a “fizzling” of support for this weekend’s event is more important than reporting on the positive effects of both the diversity program and holding events in Mexico.

There is a need to look for/groom Hispanic people to participate at every level: Garage and pits, drivers, owners. There are talented Latinos out there that will rise to the occasion and earn their places in NASCAR. Without events such as the Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez it’s infinitely harder to connect with the culture, NASCAR needs to give Hispanics that option of communicating and participating and the Corona Mexico 200 in no small way does that.

NOW… ¡hola, deja para ir a competir con a muchachos, boggity, boggity, boggity!

UPDATE: Courtesy of the good folks at Team California Best Racing is a video of the 2004 edition La Carrera Panamerica and a must read account by Gary Faules who competed in the 2007 edition. (Make sure you read Gary’s coment in the thread.)

Technorati Tags: Corona Mexico 200, Joe Gibbs Racing, La Carrera Panamericana, Nationwide Series, <a href=”http://technorati.com/tag/Pedro Rodr

FIA President Max Mosley The Littlest Perv has been invited to the Jordan round of the FIA World Rally Championship by HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport.

Come on Max, Répondez s’il vous plaît, the vast majority of the motoring world desires to play Whack-a-MolePerv when your head pops-up in the Jordanian desert.

Assuming he has the stones to attend, which judging by the statement released by event organizers may happen (Presumably Mistress Switch and Mistress Zena have given their prior approval):

FIA President Max Mosley heads an impressive list of VIP’s attending the Jordan Rally from April 24-27, an event that will mark the return of the World Rally Championship (WRC) to the Arab World for the first time in 32 years.

Mosley has been a staunch supporter of Jordan’s bid to become a part of the prestigious championship and has delighted organizers by accepting an invitation to attend from HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport.”

Max has been a strong friend and ally to Jordan and has supported us since we announced our bid three years ago, so we are delighted that he will be sharing this historic occasion with us,” said HRH Prince Feisal.

Well Prince I hope you enjoy Mosley’s company out in the desert, and those that desire his departure from the FIA presidency relish the thought of the press facing him in Jordon, your generosity is underwhelming.

Like one of Prince Feisal’s Middle Eastern compatriots, the UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed ben Sulayem, who came out in full support of The Littlest Perv, it’s All About the Money!

As long as the FIA and F1 keep the Dinars flowing into Jordanian bank accounts and UAE Dirham into Abu Dhabi and Dubai accounts it’s all good. For them.

For the rest of the motorsports world, not so much.

Cross posted @ F1 Rage!

Technorati Tags: Max Mosley, FIA, F1, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bernie Ecclestone

The Littlest Perv may have life after the emergency meeting, as improbable and strange as it may seem. Even stranger, he could be saved by Devine intervention.

Well not directly I’m guessing. Direct help may take a couple lightning bolts from you-know-Who and unfortunately for us sane people, Max may actually get off on that prospect, but I digress.

No, his savior may be in the personage of one Cardinal Renato Martino a representative of Pope Benedict XVI.

Hold onto your hats, and maybe your rosary beads, the Vatican is a member of motor sport’s world governing body the FIA, also referred to as FIAsco by some

So as the extraordinary meeting’s roll call is being announced to decide Mosley’s The Littlest Perv’s fate Cardinal Martino will be there to cast the Vatican’s yeah or nay vote.

It gets stranger by the minute doesn’t it?

It should be noted here Cardinal Martino pleaded for clemency for Saddam Hussein before they stretched his neck. That raises the possibility Mosley will get at least one nay vote for tossing him out on his butt crack.

And for Mosley, and I hate to say this, there’s another up side to having Cardinal Martino present in Paris. The Cardinal once held the position of President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.

When reality, and the FIA’s door smacks Max on his ass (“Ooo that feeel soooo good” - Max), and he finds himself an itinerant, jobless migrant (not counting billions stashed away in Swiss accounts) the Cardinal will be right there to lift his spirits.

See, this story will have a happy ending regardless of which way it goes.

Aren’t you glad?

I wasn’t going to write anything on the current news making the rounds on the Aaron Fike revelations.

I noted the original story that finally became my most commented post in 4 years. That post was inundated with apologists and assorted loonbats making every excuse in the world for their behavior.

I also commented on his and his girlfriend/fiances guilty pleas and the penalty they would pay for being a few nuts short of a full Snickers Bar. Unsurprisingly, the original apologists and assorted loonbats were no where to be found then. Gutless twits.

As I said, I thought I’d ignore the current story because Fike has/is doing his penitence and apparently turned his life around. That’s a good thing.

However, in the spate of stories on the matter I ran across a quote by Jim Hunter related to NASCAR’s drug policy.

“Life According to Jim Hunter” apparently dictates he defend the current policy because drivers and crew members work so close with each other and with NASCAR officials, the chances of a violator not being reported are slim.

As you may know it takes “reasonable suspicion” - someone dropping a dime on a suspected abuser - before a drug test is administered.

“In the policy itself there are all sorts of things - change in behavior, droopy eyes - that are very obvious, and if somebody is acting pretty strange we wouldn’t hesitate to test them,” he said.

This is the point where I get out my patented ClueBat and knock Hunter about the skull severely.

I spent 20 plus years in the U.S. Navy, out of that time 10 were spent performing the “collateral duty” of drug and alcohol councilor. Never once in that period did anyone exhibit outward signs of being whacked out of their skulls to the point of being obvious to their friends or family.

Not once.

Granted, many were busted and promptly shipped back to momma to get on with a life that didn’t endanger their shipmates. But it was always a result of the mandatory tests the military requires. Not because they were ratted on.

Interestingly, actually disgustingly in my viewpoint, Hunter claimed in the same article some in the garage last year were saying Fike showed signs that might indicate a problem and Hunter passed it off as “garage-area gossip.”

Well HELLO dimbulb!

That should have fallen under Hunter’s all-mighty “reasonable suspicion” clause!

But it didn’t and therein lies a very large problem that needs to be fixed before something very ugly occurs.

People under the influence are masters of deception. They have to be to operate on the edge of legal society, stay stoned enough to satisfy the habit, but still operate as if normal.

How many times do you see news items where someone has committed some criminal act and is found in possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia when caught?

Later when the local blond-haired pouty-lipped newshounds interview family and friends they all to a man and woman exclaim, “no not our Johnny or Jane, not that kid it can’t be!” No one knows their kid better than Mom and Pop but when the crap hits the flywheel the realization hits that yes, there’s is a drug problem to be dealt with.

Just because NASCAR thinks their testing program is valid, or have trust in being able to detect a problem before the news wires light up with a sad, if not tragic story don’t make it so. Aaron Fike proves that.

The time for NASCAR to take action is now, Fike’s revelation is the starting flag, lets see if the Daytona and Charlotte Suits change the drug policy before something tragic happens.

UPDATE: I just happend to see a Jeff Burton quote remarking on NASCAR acting on “rumors” and how hard it is to know with any certainty someone might be using. “A guy who looks tired? That could mean he has a cold or had too much beer the night before. And you might hear rumors, but rumors are a dime a dozen in the garage. Until there is a real, chemical test, I don’t see how you can know for certain if the guy racing next to you is clean,”Burton remarked.

He has a valid point, it’s very difficult. However, that’s where NASCAR starts if they step up the program they have now. Education, make it mandatory for all drivers, crewmembers and even the owners to attend drug awareness sessions conducted by trained professionals in the field and specifically tailored in what to watch for.

From experience I can attest they work and the seminars in addition to mandatory and random testing should alleviate the vast majority of suspicions. Based on the evidence on hand, unless some drivers are lying through their teeth, they’re fully onboard with any testing program that may be instituted.

One last item, I saw a couple people recommend NASCAR farm out any drug program and/or testing to the International Olympic Committee. While the IOC program deals with many more types of abuse, blood doping being one of the most predominate, the IOC’s program has been rife with various problems over the years. My advice is to stay the hell away from them if for no other reason, they have far too much on their plate now. They don’t need the business, and NASCAR needs them even less.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Sprint Cup, Jim Hunter, Aaron Fike