“Cheat Me in the Price, But Not the Goods”

Who would believe that NASCAR would be “rocked” by a scandalous tale of cheating on the eve of the sport’s biggest race? Isn’t NASCAR a “good old boys” sport? Evidently our perceptions were wrong in this case, as it was discovered on Sunday that Michael Waltrip’s Toyota “stock car” was in violation of various NASCAR rules. Amongst the violations was an intake manifold (brings air into the engine block) laced with a jet fuel performance additive, which obviously would give the team an unfair advantage over the field. NASCAR reacted by indefinitely suspending and fining Waltrip’s crew chief and team director who were escorted from Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday.

Waltrip maintains that it was the act of individuals, not his team. Like scandals in other sports, this incident will undoubtedly cost Waltrip his reputation and possibly his career. During an interview on Monday, Waltrip appeared rattled to the point of not even plugging his sponsors (something he is known for). He did the admirable thing by trying to pull out of the Daytona 500, but was talked out of it by NASCAR officials and his wife. Is this act of unfair play attributable to Waltrip? Some would concur that he was behind it, as the second year owner-drivers comes into this season after an atrocious 2006 season that included no top 10 finishes.

This coupled with the fact that his lot of cars are three of the cars sponsored by the newcomer Toyata, Waltrip is indeed under a massive amount of pressure. Besides the personal effects on Waltrip, many wonder what the reaching influence will be on the sport as a whole. Will this tarnish the reputation of NASCAR, a sport that has become immensely popular over the past decade? Other instances of cheating have perpetually hampered the images of other sports, such as the Black Sox Scandal of 1917, where the Chicago White Sox (mainly 7 players) threw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. This forever changed our view of baseball and pushed many fans away from the sport.

Michael Waltrip and his team have paid the price from an administrative point of view. But the actions of his team have ceaselessly tarnished the very “goods” that NASCAR gives its fans. NASCAR will surely scrutinize the cars they inspect even more so than they do now, which could in theory lead to more instances of botched cheating. NASCAR is a cut throat sport where all of the cars are essentially in the same plane and finding the slight LEGAL edge over the competition is on the minds of all the teams. NASCAR’s rules concerning many aspects of performance enhancing are considered to be dense to the point of being unclear. It appears as if NASCAR has some work to do and the season has yet to begin.