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The one thing that rang loud and clear on Tuesday was that NASCAR values upholding the prestige of their precious Chase more than they care about the safety of their drivers (sorry David Gilliland).
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On Sunday in Martinsville both Danica Patrick and Matt Kenseth committed the same act. Both drivers took out another driver and did so with intent. Both drivers acted in a premeditated way and both made their intent very clear in their actions on the track. On Tuesday when NASCAR penalized both of them they cited them both to have violated the same article in the rulebook.
If Kenseth and Patrick both violated the same rule and they both did the same thing, they must have both received the same punishment right? Obviously we all know the answer to that question is no. Kenseth was suspended for two races and placed on probation for six months while Patrick was fined, lost points and placed on probation until the end of the season.
If they did the same thing and violated the same rule, what was the reason for the different penalty? The only difference in the situation was that Joey Logano was leading the race and still alive in the Chase and David Gilliland was not up front and not in the Chase.
Should it really matter whether or not a driver is leading the race or in the Chase?
When a NASCAR driver is angry enough to use their racecar as a weapon in an effort to wreck another car, NASCAR should look no further than that action when it comes to handing out a penalty. NASCAR’s ruling on Tuesday made it loud and clear that they value the drivers in the Chase more than they value the safety and well-being of those not in the Chase.
What if Gilliland was injured when Patrick wrecked him? Would her punishment have been the same? Should a driver being injured or not even factor into the punishment? Why should Kenseth sit two races and Patrick not? It’s not Kenseth’s fault that his beef was with a driver in the Chase and Patrick’s was with a driver not in the Chase.
What kind of precedent does this set moving forward?
What of this weekend in Texas Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon get into it while running inside of the top-10 and one of them wrecks the other on purpose? Does that mean that NASCAR will only be handing out fines, point deductions and probation? What if Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon get into a scuffle and Hamlin wrecks Gordon? Will NASCAR suspend Hamlin because he wrecked a Chase driver or will it not be an issue since he already clinched a spot in the finale?
The fact of the matter is that none of these questions matter because none of this should be taken into consideration when punishing a driver for wrecking another driver with intent. NASCAR is dangerous enough as it is without drivers putting other drivers into the fence on purpose. NASCAR needs to decide if they are going to allow the drivers to police themselves under the ‘boys have at it’ mantra or if they are going to punish those who wreck with intent.
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NASCAR putting different drivers in different circumstances above others is disgusting. Every single wreck on the track brings with it an element of danger. If you’re going to punish a driver for wrecking someone on purpose you need to punish everyone equally across the board. After NASCAR’s actions on Tuesday it’s hard not to walk away thinking that NASCAR cares more about Logano and less about Gilliland and that is wrong on numerous levels.
NASCAR is quickly becoming more and more like the NFL when it comes to policies and punishments and believe me that is the furthest thing from a compliment or a good thing.