Full Throttle

It’s been a bumpy Speedweeks thus far, but it will be a much less bumpy Daytona 500 on Sunday. After harsh criticisms over bump- drafting by some of the sports biggest names, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing will implement “no zones” for the sports biggest event.

There will be no bump-drafting allowed in the corners of the 2.5-mile super speedway. Officials will be positioned in the corners to monitor the drivers. Anyone caught bump-drafting in the corner will be black-flagged by NASCAR.

“Enough is enough,” commented John Darby, Director of Competition.

The move comes after a bump and banging Budweiser Shootout where reigning Cup series champion Tony Stewart expressed concerns that the current race package which makes bump-drafting inevitable was causing dangerous race conditions.

“Someone is going to die,” Stewart cautioned.

Earlier Sunday, Jeff Gordon also met with media and ripped the thumping bumper method, “it is the worst thing that has ever happened to this sport.”

Enough was enough over a year ago. Guess a few “choice words” from the reigning NEXTEL Cup Champ is worth more than a few inches of column space of newsprint.

My question is: How will this work? Will these “NASCAR Zebras” be adorned in stripped shirts and holding little yellow hankies like other sports officials?

How many will be stationed in each corner? Are they dumb enough to believe a single official would be sufficient to spy on a pack of 40 plus cars at 190mph? My guess is it would take at least 10 in each corner, 4 cars per official, to come close to being proficient at the job.

And the largest question of all, for a problem that is been around for a couple of years how in the hell do you come up with this knee-jerk reaction?

Somebody ’slpain that one to me! (Disclaimer: Responses that include any variant of “media pressure,” or “saving face” will quickly find their way into the “overabundence of logic wastebasket.”)

UPDATE: Michael Waltrip seems to be thinking along the same lines as I.

“That’s going to be really arbitrary to police because even the most sublime bump drafts at a time when a guy’s getting ready to make a move in another direction can result in sending a guy out of control,” Waltrip said. “It seems to me it would have to result in a crash before (NASCAR) could react.

“If you bump draft going straight really hard, that’s OK. You have to know the other guy is going to continue in a straight line. Even if you barely bump draft him, it would cause a crash if he’s starting to make a move.”

I say again, just how many “bump officials” will be in each turn? It would take one hell of a lot to be effective.

Prediction: The hate and discontent I noted this week in many blogs and forums will be increased expotentially after the “Twins” and the 500.

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