Parting is not sweet sorrow. It is the only thing left that I can do.
Insanity is explained as doing the same thing and expecting different results. In such a way, my relationship with stock car racing that dates back to the late 1960's when my folks took me to see David Pearson and Richard Petty racing has found an end.
Not of necessity is my parting.
It is to keep me sane.
You see, I cannot watch a sport that is rigged and that has so many indicators that the sport is run to protect the asses of some teams and at the expense of true competition.
Up until the mid-2000's, NASCAR was a sport that had blemishes, but you never sensed that it was run to foster institutionalized cheating by some big teams while punishing other teams far more harshly. It has become apparent that in the 10 years since that point, that this sport is so rancid and so filled with dirty dealing that it no longer is a sport of chance. It is rigged.
I offer the following cases - taken by themselves they prove nothing, but taken together it shows a pattern of systemic unethical conduct by the sanctioning body to reward certain owners.
Hendrick Motorsports
In every sport you have the teams that win a lot and stay consistent winners. Sometimes you have a feel that there is impropriety going on, but this is more about rumors than real happenings. In NASCAR you have Hendrick Motor Sports - the largest and most established franchise in the sport that is the most well funded acquiring superior talent. This team should win and by all accounts, it has one superior results team, that of Jimmy Johnson and his 48 team and the rest of his stable mates are hit and miss. They win, but not like the 48 team does now. At one time the 24 team was the hottest thing since a fresh dog stool, but he faded into oblivion as he aged. This is the team of Jeff Gordon - a serial punk who wrecks drivers to advance his position and to win races. I'm not sure if he was cheating - he wasn't penalized much for it - but he was a two-faced bitch who complained when he was raced like he races others. He bitch slapped several racers when he couldn't handle being raced as he does, but my beef isn't with his team per se.
His teammate, Jimmy Johnson and his insidious crew chief, Chad Knaus, have been caught and penalized for cheating (violating NASCAR's rule book) no less than 13 times. In the process of these cheats, he has won six NASCAR championships. This team is the most well-funded of any of the teams and to suggest that they can't build a car that fits into templates or which cannot come to inspection spot on is laughable. This team has been caught cheating more often than any other modern NASCAR in the last decade, but the driver and the crew chief have never been banned for a season. As evidenced by their six championships, this team pays little price for cheating. A team that is so filled with engineers cannot simply be this sloppy with their preparation while teams with lesser quality personnel don't violate rules. Several times this team has tried to get through inspection with a car that couldn't fit the templates that every car has to meet. You can call this coincidence - but you don't run an ethical program when you are caught with non-compliant cars 13 times in ten years!
Who is Rick Hendrick, the owner of Hendrick Motor Sports?
According to the AutoChannel in 1997, "endrick was sentenced to one year of in home detention,
three years probation, and a $250,000 fine for his part in the American
Honda Motor Company bribery and kickback scandal.
After the sentencing, the 48 year old car owner commented, "I've come to realize that what I did was wrong and I accept responsibility for that. I would rather die than hurt these people the way I have. I've accepted the fact that I may only have a couple of years to live and I am at peace with that because I have been blessed with a wonderful family and friends."
Harold Bender, defense attorney said, "He has been punished by someone of higher authority when he was stricken with this illness." Bender sought at 10 month sentence for Hendrick.
Today's sentencing put to rest a three year battle with the government. Officials claimed Hendrick built his car dealership empire through bribery and scandal. Other car dealers are still pursuing the issue. Hendrick faces over 50 lawsuits from competitors who are accusing him of unfair competition
Originally, Hendrick was charged with bribery, conspiracy, and thirteen counts of money laundering. The conspiracy and money laundering charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement when Hendrick admitted to giving cash to a Honda executive.
Attorney for the United States, Mark Calloway was satisfied with the sentencing. He said, "The sentence called for by the plea agreement tempers justice with mercy. While the crime to which Mr. Hendrick has admitted his guilt is a serious one, in light of his health, the sentence range agreed to seems appropriate."
Hendrick was named with 22 other defendants who have been convicted in the investigation of American Honda.
The scandal started in the 80s as Hondas were in high demand. Dealers could sell the cars for thousands of dollars above the sticker cost. Executives at Honda took advantage of the high demand by soliciting bribes from dealers. Dealers were granted new dealerships and increased shipments of cars. In all, Honda executives accepted of $15 million in bribes and kickbacks, according to the prosecutors.
Hendrick's name appeared on the prosecutor's list three years ago. Hendrick admitted giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, BMWs and even houses to Honda executives. Hendrick claims he received nothing in return.
Hendrick was indicted in December 1996, by a federal grand jury in Asheville for bribing Honda Executives."
Hendrick pardoned by Bill Clinton
Crash.net notes,"One of the most successful team owners in the Winston Cup today, Rick Hendrick was officially pardoned of his mail fraud conviction for which he served a one-year house arrest sentence.
The head of Hendrick Motorsports, who have won four Winston Cup titles with Terry Labonte (1996) and Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997, 1998) and totalled 96 victories in their first 16 years of competition, was given the pardon by outgoing US President Bill Clinton as part of American Christmas tradition."
Chevrolet SS debuts in 2013
There are times when new models hit the showrooms and are thus approved to race in NASCAR assuming the car is of the size that is needed. Sometimes a car is approved BEFORE it hits the market and there is a rule that the vehicle must be sold to the public during the sport's calendar year.
There is a problem with this qualification to race with the Chevrolet SS. NASCAR rules have long been interpreted to mean that you can race a car that is being sold at the first of the year of season - so in 2012 you could have a 2013 car approved if it was going to be sold in January 2013 even if it wasn't being sold at the first part of the 2013 model year in the fall of 2012.
The Chevrolet SS isn't available at all to any consumer nor was one sold until late October 2013.
NASCAR never stopped the Chevrolet SS from being raced nor did it invalidate all winnings and points from any team that raced the vehicle. The Chevrolet SS was never sold or made available to be sold during the first 26 races of the 2013 that allowed drivers to qualify for the Championship that season. The NASCAR season ends in November and only when the October sales results were released in November 2013 had ONE Chevrolet SS been sold to the public. That means for almost 95% of the entire season, Chevrolet was being allowed to run a car that no one could or did buy. And at no time did NASCAR enforce its own rule.
And Rick Hendrick sells Chevrolets and races them! His driver, Jimmy Johnson, won the championship in 2013!
NASCAR exemption for Kyle Busch.
Kyle Busch, a smarmy and arrogant jerk of a racer who is reckless and incapable of turning leading a race into actually winning them when it counts, was injured in a wreck early in the season last year. He missed substantial time and was granted an exemption under NASCAR rules that requires a driver to start ALL races in order to be eligible for the Championship race. Rather than having to place in the top 12 or to win a race, Busch was granted a waiver to only have to place in the top 30. Busch never attempted to qualify in 10 of the races due to injuries he sustained in the Daytona 500 last year.
It would seem that having only 15 races left to make up points would be a tall order and would place an undo burden upon Busch, but he managed to win races (a key to the new sham format of NASCAR on how you rank) and he got to rest 10 races while others risked their lives in those weeks.
The point here is that he was able to rest while others couldn't - he simply needed to finish in the top 30 while others had to finish in the top 12. And when he won a race, that immediately elevated him over any non-winning 26 race runner (entire pre-Chase season). Somehow this driver who one only once in 2014 managed to win five times leading up to the Chase. The team that he races with has also been caught cheating several times in the series level below NASCAR's top tier. Same car owner, Joe Gibbs. And Toyota has never won a Sprint championship until now.
Busch was given preferential treatment and unfair treatment while others had to race. There is no question when he was cleared he should be able to race, but his injury should have been fairly enforced and should have prohibited him from being eligible to win the Championship - which he did.
Because NASCAR is not enforcing its rules consistently or handling cheating with banning from Championship qualification, I have since mid-season last year stopped watching or buying any NASCAR items. NASCAR may be run by redneck mafia members without any integrity, but I have integrity -this shit stinks!
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