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Side By Side: Do NASCAR Drivers Need To Do More For Fans?

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_Welcome back to Side By Side. There are always two sides to every story, and we’re going to bring them both, right here, every week. Two of our staff writers will face off on an important racing question … feel free to tell us what you think in the weekly poll and also in the comments section below!_

*This Week’s Question: Do NASCAR drivers need to be more accessible to their fans on race weekends?*

Amy Henderson, Managing Editor: Drivers Can And Should Do More

Racing, like all professional sports, owes its very existence to fans. If nobody watched, if nobody cared, NASCAR would not exist, and stock car racing would not have progressed from weekend contests in someone’s hay field to see whose souped-up machine could outrun the other. There would be no racetracks that seat thousands upon thousands, no souvenir trailers hawking brightly-colored wares, no handsome paychecks at the end of the race. The fans are everything.

Brendan Gaughan Driver Diary: The Rock, Family, And Downtime

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We used the time off to do some testing. We did one of our official tests at Texas Motor Speedway. Shane and I know each other pretty well, so when we were trying to decide where to go test, we just looked at each other and went, “Texas.” It’s been a while since I’ve run well there, and that was big.

Then, we had a surprise 70th birthday party for my dad. It was funny, because right before we sprung it on him, he looked at my mom and said, “I’m so glad you didn’t throw me a $%#&$* surprise party.” My mom was awesome. She had three planes. She had our plane and two planes she had rented, and we had people everywhere. She worked hard for that party, and my dad had a great time.

Did You Notice? … NASCAR Penalties: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

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*Did You Notice?…* On some things, despite mounting criticism NASCAR has the ability to stay consistent. In the wake of penalties issued Wednesday, the one that stands out the most here is *Martin Truex, Jr.’s* penalty for being too low in post-race inspection. That six-point deduction – equivalent to about 25 in the old system – along with a $25,000 fine for crew chief Chad Johnston keeps along with the same type of infraction reaching all the way back into the previous decade.

Why I find that important is, for the first time if you asked 50 of the top media members and garage insiders what Truex’s penalty would be, I’m confident all 50 would have said what actually happened. For once, a rulebook deadpanned as written in dry erase marker has a sense of permanence when it comes to a penalty for a _specific_ violation.

Mirror Driving: NASCAR Stuck In A Box… Have We Reached Maximum Speed?

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*NASCAR has announced the penalties for three teams following last week’s pre- and post-race failures. Martin Truex Jr. was fined six points and crew chief Chad Johnston was $25,000 and placed on probation until June 5th. Meanwhile, Penske Racing teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski were each docked 25 points and both of their crew chiefs were suspended for the next six races, though they will be in Kansas as Penske Racing is appealing. Are these penalties fair? Why or why not?*

Amy: The Truex penalty was fair, provided they couldn’t prove something broke. If the rear ends on the 2 and 22 were illegal, the penalty is fine. But NASCAR has not said what was illegal, or how it was discovered, so we’ll never really know.
Summer: I guess all the penalties were “fair”, though I think it’s ridiculous how sensitive NASCAR is with these cars. Let me put it this way. I thought the points penalty and fine were OK, but the fact that they suspended as many people as they did with Penske seemed excessive.

Five Points: Ranting About Fines, Kyle’s Win And Vickers’ Vigor

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One of the things I enjoy the most about our current champion is that he is not afraid to speak his mind, giving his honest opinion. It’s a quality you need in a driver who is very much the face of the sport right now and, as the champion, I think it’s even more the case that Brad should say what he thinks. But when I first heard Keselowski’s forthright comments Saturday night, my immediate thought was that his two minutes was going to cost around $50,000 – especially when compared to Denny Hamlin’s much milder comments after the Phoenix race which resulted in a $25,000 penalty for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

But on “FOX Business News”:http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2302666422001/nascars-green-effort/?playlist_id=937116503001 Monday morning, NASCAR head honcho Brian France confirmed that Brad would not be receiving a fine even though he noted, “I would certainly disagree with everything he said.” France went on to suggest that Keselowski was just blowing off steam.

Couch Potato Tuesday: Edwards Improves, But Still A Work In Progress

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Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where we critique all kinds of different race telecasts. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were at Texas Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, the Camping World Truck Series made their annual trip to Rockingham for some action on a cheese grater masquerading as a racetrack.

*North Carolina Educational Lottery 200 at the Rock presented by Cheerwine*

On Sunday afternoon, the Camping World Truck Series returned to Rockingham Speedway for their second assault on the tricky, high-banked tri-oval. Honestly, the race was quite similar to last year’s. Turner Scott just plain dominated.

Tracking the Trucks: North Carolina Education Lottery 200

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*In a Nutshell:* Kyle Larson was the class of the field from the drop of the green flag until the drop of the checkered. He held off Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano and CWTS veterans Brendan Gaughan and Johnny Sauter on a green-white-checkered finish to win his first career Truck event. Chase Elliott rounded out the top 5 in Rockingham.

*Who Should Have Won: Larson.* It’s only been a matter of time since he made his series debut last year. Still, given the skill and poise he showed, It was hard to believe that Larson was running just his fifth career CWTS race. Larson led 187 of 205 laps en route to complete dominance on Sunday.