Kenny Bruce: A fine mess for NASCAR without full disclosure
NASCAR CEO Brian France addresses reporters earlier this year. NASCAR reportedly fined a pair of drivers for harsh comments about the sport. // Sam Cranston, NASCAR Illustrated
COMMENTARY
News that NASCAR has allegedly fined at least two drivers for derogatory comments, without disclosing the names of the competitors or the alleged incidents that brought about the fines, is a black mark against the sanctioning body and the sport itself.
With attendance dwindling and TV ratings stagnant, negative news is the last thing the sport needs right now. Yet there’s no way to put a positive spin on the latest revelation that speaking one’s mind can put a hefty dent in the wallet.
NASCAR has no business hiding behind closed doors when any infraction that results in the loss of points or money is handed down. Yet that’s exactly what officials are doing. All for the good of “protecting the brand,” we’re told.
Comparing it to a meeting with officials in the NASCAR hauler, the details of which are seldom revealed, carries absolutely no weight. If officials have a problem with comments made by someone in the sport, and choose to meet and discuss those concerns privately, that’s one thing.
But the moment a meeting such as that results in a monetary fine, it becomes something much different. A penalty has been issued, and that’s no different from any other punishment that’s been doled out for various other offenses.
For example, NASCAR doesn’t announce every occasion when someone in the garage is asked to submit to a drug test. But when someone runs afoul of the substance abuse policy, the results are made known.
That news of this “policy” comes while officials are preaching to teams that it’s in everyone’s best interest to mix it up on the race track and show emotion makes it even more ridiculous. Talk about your mixed messages. Apparently NASCAR officials want drivers, owners and crewmen to open up and spread the gospel according to NASCAR, but only when they have something positive to say about the sport.
If NASCAR wants to fine a driver for speaking out, that’s the organization’s option, but failure to disclose such fines is doing a disservice to the sport and to its fans. Yes, similar fines have been handed down in other sports when athletes or coaches speak ill of officiating or the governing body itself. But in each of those instances, the infractions and fines were made public.
Officials aren’t doing drivers, owners or crewmen any favors by keeping such incidents hidden from view. If fines aren’t disclosed, how are others to know what’s deemed acceptable and what isn’t? How are teams, and fans for that matter, to know that each organization is treated equally? Simply because officials tell us that’s the case? Somehow, that doesn’t exactly sound like the best way to run a professional sport that generates huge sums of money.
As it stands, only those who make the decisions know where the line lies between what’s considered a derogatory comment and an honest opinion. Which leaves teams to wonder what they can and can’t say without fear of retribution.
It won’t be surprising, however, if we learn that drivers have chosen to toe the company line and insist they don’t have a problem with such incidents being kept quiet. Why would they say otherwise? The last thing a driver would want under such circumstances would be for everyone to know about it.
The knowledge that such a policy exists makes it even less likely that drivers would speak out against it – after all, doing so could possibly result in a fine.
Of course, under NASCAR policy, we’d never hear about it.
I realize, and am often reminded, that a lot of people make a good living off the sport. But that is no reason to always paint a picture that everything is rosy and things are wonderful, because, unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
It’s NASCAR’s job to oversee the sport and determine what is within the rules and what isn’t. It is not, however, the sanctioning body’s job to make judgments that impact teams and to do so without disclosure.
It’s a sport in which everyone is supposed to be playing by the same rules. But if everyone doesn’t know what the rules are, how can they abide by them?
