NASCAR has too many distractions amid playoffs
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It is two weeks into NASCAR’S playoffs and there has been little to no talk about the actual racing.
Instead, NASCAR has been shrouded in one absurd drama after another:
— Encumbered finishes — you know, results that don’t count toward the playoffs because the car was illegal.
— Ambulances that have gotten lost taking drivers to the care center.
— A duct-tape scandal over the car of championship contender Chase Elliott. “Tapegate” may or may not have been uncovered by Reddit users.
— The penalty that required Joey Logano to sit idly inside his car on pit road during an entire practice session at New Hampshire.
— A Twitter spat between several title contenders because a Ford driver claimed the Toyota camp has a sizeable advantage. (Maybe: Toyota drivers have won the first two playoff races.)
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. is retiring from full-time racing in eight weeks. He’s the face of the sport.
— Danica Patrick, the only woman at NASCAR’S top level, has no ride for next year.
And now NASCAR is part of the tense debate between President Donald Trump and the NFL over players who protest during the national anthem before kickoff. On the same day that more than 200 NFL players took a knee or otherwise protested, every NASCAR driver and team member stood during the anthem before Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motorspeedway.
Trump was appreciative of that response in a Monday morning tweet : “So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans. They won’t put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag — they said it loud and clear!”
NASCAR later issued a statement that noted respect for the national anthem “has always been a hallmark of our pre-race events.”
“Thanks to the sacrifices of many, we live in a country of unparalleled freedoms and countless liberties, including the right to peacefully express one’s opinion,” the statement said.
Maybe so, but NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Richard Childress, both currently team owners, said they would fire employees who protested during the anthem.
It is their right as employers to hold their independent contractors to any set of standards they choose, but this is where things can get sticky with NASCAR, which is so intricately tied to sponsorship. Everyone in NASCAR is beholden to sponsorship contracts and all the clauses that come with the funding that keeps teams afloat. Subway earlier this month pulled its sponsorship from driver Daniel Suarez after he handed out Dunkin’ Donuts to fans in a pre-recorded television segment.