LA Times again slams NASCAR
That's what had everybody talking before and after the Daytona 500 a week ago, when five teams were busted for cheating and then officials delayed dropping the yellow flag while Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin dueled to the finish line.
But the NASCAR buzz died down this week — how could it possibly compete with the weeping judge in the Anna Nicole Smith court proceedings? — and as a result, there were impossible-to-ignore sections of empty seats in the grandstands at the speedway Sunday. I'm sure it didn't help the television ratings that the ever-popular Earnhardt literally bowed out on Lap 120. After his car blew the engine and spun out into the infield, Junior calmly undid his steering wheel, climbed out and took a dramatic bow.
We know NASCAR thrives on its stars, but I think it also likes controversy, just as it doesn't mind a few fisticuffs in the garage or big crashes, as long as everyone walks away unscathed. Those things get the mainstream media coverage that chief executive Brian France craves. They stretch the discussion beyond a minute of Sunday night highlights.
Meanwhile, veteran NASCAR reporters can usually predict when the next yellow flag for "debris on the track" will magically appear, the field will be tightened for a dramatic finish, and/or a big name will rejoin the lead lap. It's known as "a NASCAR yellow" in racing circles and it's as convenient as a referee's being distracted in wrestling. Sunday, it was on Lap 225, of 250, when Jimmie Johnson had a 2 1/2 -second lead. Suddenly, a yellow flag came out. You guessed it, debris.
"If anyone did see the debris, I'd like to know where it was," Johnson said.
He looked over at Gordon, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Gordon shook his head to indicate he hadn't seen any either.
This is like the NBA, in which even the players are convinced that the league and its referees slant things in favor of the marquee teams and to stretch out playoff series.
Asked about the predictable nature of the yellow flags, Johnson said, "It did seem like there was one coming."
When pressed for explanation, Gordon motioned to the NASCAR trailer and said, "Go over there to that truck and ask." Cheating will continue in NASCAR, and so will mysterious yellow flags. These aren't new developments. More at LA Times