NASCAR’s Latest And Greatest Conspiracy Theory
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory?
When it comes to the world of NASCAR at times is seems as though so NASCAR fans cannot help but become overcome by conspiracy theories. In recent years some of the sports best conspiracy theories have involved Jimmie Johnson being handed championships and phantom cautions. Heck, some theories have even involved Johnson winning because of phantom cautions.
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This season one of the theories that got some steam involved Kurt Busch after his return from his suspension. Busch almost won his second race back in the series only to have the cautions not fall his way late. After that happened some fans felt that it was clear that NASCAR was making it so that he didn’t win because they didn’t want him to win. Fast forward a few months and he has two wins which is tied for the third in the series.
Currently the trending conspiracy theory in NASCAR involves Kyle Busch.
This past weekend Kyle Busch won for the third time in 2015. In fact, he won for the third time in eight races. Don’t forget that Busch has only run in eight races after missing the first 11 races due to injuries sustained from a wreck in Daytona back in February. As a result of missing 11 races, Busch had an uphill battle if he wanted to make the chase this season. Not only would Busch need to win a race but he would also have to make it into the top-30 in points before the start of the chase.
Before Busch returned to the track NASCAR granted him a waiver for the races that he missed. However, NASCAR did not grant him a waiver saying he could make the chase with a win but without being in the top-30 in points.
Following Busch’s third win of the season it seemed as though the conspiracy theorists were sprinting out of the woodwork to cry foul. The theory is simple in their minds; NASCAR wants Busch in the chase but doesn’t want to offer a waiver on the top-30 rule. As a result, NASCAR is handing wins to Busch to assure he gets into the top-30 in points before the chase begins.
Like many conspiracy theories this one holds very little weight.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
First and foremost if NASCAR truly was concerned about the top-30 rule they would have provided that waiver when Busch came back. For argument’s sake let’s say that was an error on their part and now they are concerned about it and feel it’s too late to provide that waiver. If that were the case they wouldn’t need to hand Busch wins to get him into the chase. Busch finishing in the top-five after he won in Sonoma would get him to where he needs to be. Heck, Busch finishing in the top-13 each week would get him to where he needed to be.
The thought that NASCAR is allowing Busch to stockpile wins sort of ridiculous. Not only would that not be a sufficient way of accomplishing their supposed goal, but it could lead to more issues down the road.
Let’s say this is what NASCAR is doing. Wouldn’t it be less obvious to make sure he finishes inside of the top-five as opposed to handing him wins? I mean if NASCAR can rig races to make sure certain drivers win one would have to assume they can make sure drivers finish in the top-five or top-10 as well. Moreover, what happens if Busch has all of these wins and then something out of their control happens? What If Busch has a few engine failures or wrecks down the road in the next seven races?
Does having a driver with one win and missing the chase look better or worse than having a driver with three or more wins missing the chase? Throwing wins at Busch and him missing the chase due to things out of their control would only make NASCAR look worse.
The bottom line here is that if NASCAR wanted to ensure Busch to be in the chase they could have provided a waiver to excuse the top-30 rule based on the fact that he hit a wall that should have been protected but wasn’t. From there NASCAR could have said if you win you’re in depending on how many wins everyone else has. NASCAR has far larger issues on their plate than making sure a driver who has never won a championship makes it into their version of the playoffs. No offense to Busch fans but it’s not like we are talking about six-time champion Jimmie Johnson or Dale Earnhardt Jr., the face of the sport currently.
At least if we were talking about one of those drivers it would make a sliver of sense as to why NASCAR might go out of their way to make something like this happen. However, when it comes to Busch or any other driver in the field; it doesn’t make sense and it’s not practical or even logical. That being said, certain fans will always believe that NASCAR races are determined each week based on the highest bidder or some predetermined list deciding whose turn it is to win on any given weekend.
If you’re one of those fans, that’s all well and good for you.
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