NASCAR not simply lying to the media - but lying to the fans

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A guy gets a job in a sawmill.

“You have to cut 12 cords of wood a day to meet your quota,” his supervisor says.
But at the end of the first day, though, he’s only cut six.

“What’s the problem?” the supervisor asks.

“I don’t know, I can’t figure it out,” the guy says.

“Maybe something is wrong with your saw,” the supervisor says. “Let me look at it.” He pulls the starter cord and the power saw fires up.

“What’s that sound?” the guy asks.

That’s a joke I heard in the garage Sunday morning.

Tuesday afternoon, NASCAR told another joke. The saw joke was lots funnier.

What did NASCAR do by putting Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart on 6-race probations for their actions after Friday night’s on-track incident in Budwesier Shootout practice?

Nothing. Well, nothing except lie to its fans.

Think “lie” is too strong of a word?

NASCAR said the sanctions handed down Tuesday were not for what happened in the hauler when Busch and Stewart were summoned there.

Then what was Stewart sanctioned for? Busch was the one who used his car to ram Stewart’s as they came toward pit road. Stewart didn’t do anything with his car that warranted a penalty, not that I saw.

So, via the media, fans are being told one thing when another thing is obviously true. If “lie” isn’t the right word for that, pick a better one.

What’s sad is that some fans love it when NASCAR stiffs the media. That’s sad, because when NASCAR talks to the media what it’s really doing is talking to the fans.

Reporters aren’t here because we just like to be around each other for two weeks in February.

We’re here because fans care and they want to know what’s going on. You don’t have to like the media, and we don’t always do our jobs perfectly, but we’re pretty much all you’ve got when it comes to fining out what’s really going on.

So on Tuesday, NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said NASCAR is “going to redefine what probation means.” Then he said the drivers “clearly understand” the new definition, but also said “they understand what might happen, without getting into nailing down for you guys what we will do if that happens.”

What you need to understand about that is that when Hunter says “you guys,” he might have been referring to the media but actually he was talking to the fans.

NASCAR knows what “probation” means and it says the drivers know what it means. But you’re not entitled to know. You don’t need to know, but if we think of something we feel like telling you, we will let you know.

Again, they may be talking at the media when they say that, but it’s you – the fans – they’re talking to.

How funny is that?