Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
On Sunday in New Hampshire NASCAR screwed the pooch, plain and simple.
I am sure at this point everyone has watched the restart in which it looked like Brad Keselowski might have jumped the gun on Greg Biffle. I am sure at this point all of you are aware that NASCAR reviewed it and penalized Keselowski and as a result might have taken a win (or at least a better finish) away from the No. 2 team.
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During the telecast on Sunday, NBC NASCAR analysts Steve Letarte kept referring to the penalty as a “ball or strike” type of call. This was used to describe the fact that it was a close call that could have gone either way and ultimately the final decision is in the eye of the beholder; much like the strike zone in baseball is determined by the umpire.
The first issue here is that something like this shouldn’t be a “ball or strike” type of call. The penalty for an improper restart is crippling for a driver who is trying to win a race. When the stakes are that high there should be something in place that provides a bit more certainty than a system that produces “ball or strike” types of calls.
The second issue is with what actually took place. According to comments made by NASCAR after the race, they determined with certainty that Keselowski accelerated and passed Biffle; thus the improper restart. The problem with that is if you watch the replay it looks to be pretty clear that Biffle’s No. 16 machine simply didn’t go. Not only does it appear to not go but it slows down dramatically and bunches up the cars behind it. Sure, NASCAR could have determined Keselowski accelerated first (which he might have) and that could be the entire reason for the penalty but it doesn’t change the fact that Biffle didn’t go and then went backwards. Could it have been possible that Biffle was trying to go but couldn’t?
Lastly, the most concerning issue in all of this is NASCAR’s 100 percent lack on consistency.
Drivers really started chirping about this issue back in August. Since then Matt Kenseth appeared to mess with restarts all afternoon in Richmond and one week later Jeff Gordon appeared to jump the gun on a restart in Chicagoland. In both of those races NASCAR did not hand out any penalties. This week they nailed Keselowski and now we are left to wonder what will happen next week where there is another close call.
NASCAR deserves zero credit for ‘getting the call right’ when it comes to Keselowski. Not only is it questionable if they even did get the call right but their lack of consistency hurts them in a major way.
I understand that everything needs to start somewhere, and maybe the Keselowski penalty will mark the starting line for NASCAR. That being said, I just find it difficult to trust them after seeing the same issues for multiple weeks in a row and now the most recent one is the only one that has been dealt with. If you think it looks like NASCAR is making an example out of Keselowski after dropping the ball a few times in the past couple of week you are most likely thinking along the right track.
In New Hampshire NASCAR screwed the pooch, or at least Keselowski.