NASCAR is a tough man’s game. When you are
driving a car in a pack of others cars at speeds upwards of 200 MPH then you
have to be tough, because you know there is always that chance that you will
hurt yourself in a wreck. As long as NASCAR has been a racing organization,
there have been injuries to its star drivers. Most recently 2002 & 2005 NASCAR
Winston/Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart wrecked hard into the wall at Lowe’s
Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. The wrecked fractured the tip of
Stewart’s shoulder blade forcing him to let way to a substitute driver the
following week at Dover.
Because of a NASCAR rule drivers are given full
points for starting a race, even if they give way to a substitute driver.
Meaning that a NASCAR driver can take the green flag to start the race, complete
one lap, give way to a substitute driver, and still receive all the points for
wherever the substitute drivers finishes. One of the leading debates between
NASCAR fans is whether or not the process of receiving full points for giving
way to a substitute driver is right or wrong.
NASCAR drivers should be rewarded for their
toughness, and drivers that do not have the toughness to complete a race due to
injury should not receive maximum points for giving way to substitute drivers.
In the late 1980s Ricky Rudd was in a fairly severe accident that left both of
his eyes swollen shut. Rudd didn’t give way to a substitute driver the next race
despite the fact that his eyes were severely swollen. Rudd did the unthinkable.
He duct taped his eyes open so he could complete the entire race, and not only
did Rudd complete the entire race, he ended up in Victory Lane.
In the 1970s Richard Petty ran a good
portion of the season with a broken vertebra. Petty did not notify anybody of
the injury for fear that they would not let him complete the season. Later news
came out that Petty had run with a broken vertebra and could have possibly died
had an on-track incident involving him occurred.
These drivers were able to tough out there
injuries, however, some drivers are psychically incapable of doing such things.
If a driver cannot run the entire race due to injury than giving way to a
substitute driver is a reasonable idea, so that the owner can still receive
valuable owner’s points. However, it is not reasonable that a driver who gives
way to a substitute driver gets to earn full points. NASCAR needs to seriously
look into changing this rule as it remains one of the strangest rules in all of
sports.
By: Julian Spivey