NASCAR out of bounds with probation of AJ Allmendinger
Kenny Bruce
Kenny Bruce is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association's George Cunningham Writer of the Year Award. He joined Street & Smith's Sports Group in 2001.
I found it odd that NASCAR decided to place Richard Petty Motorsports driver AJ Allmendinger on probation following his Oct. 29 arrest for driving while impaired.
Odd and just a little scary.
Was Allmendinger driving a NASCAR-approved race car when the incident occurred?
Were Sprint Cup Series points at stake?
Did he jump out of his car and boast, “My car owner owns this city!”
Of course not.
Allmendinger was headed home, no doubt like a lot of other “private” citizens. Yet NASCAR chose to penalize him for something over which they should have absolutely no control.
What’s next? Will officials barge into drivers’ houses, cite them for bad taste in interior decorating and levy similar penalties?
It’s ridiculous.
Allmendinger made a mistake. Hopefully he learned from it. But what he does outside of the sport is his business. Not NASCAR’s. Their job begins and ends with what takes place on the race track.
If Richard Petty Motorsports deems the offense a problem, that’s between the organization and Allmendinger.
NASCAR overstepped its authority on this one, plain and simple.
