[vox_freedom]

Interesting and provoking. NASCAR is such big business now, it seems there is little left over for loyalty and friendships.
The seeking of $$$ over loyalty compromises those things which are important in life and inevitably leads to difficulties. Such is the struggle.

[WestCoastGal]

Check out this article.

Time IS Ripe For a Racing Revolution Voices From The Heartland Jeff Meyer · Thursday October 26, 2006

It is no secret that in the eyes of NASCAR, the racing game is NOT a democracy. It purely is, and most always has been, an outright dictatorship. Throughout the course of history, such dictatorships have their peak…and then, inevitably, a tragic downfall. Recent happenings have me thinking a downfall is close at hand.

[TexasCajun]

R. Gordon lucky, Burton not-so after debris yellow

Gordon denies throwing padding out window to get late free pass

By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
October 29, 2006
08:44 PM EST (01:44 GMT)

HAMPTON, Ga. -- It was just a tiny piece of debris, but it played a major role in deciding two drivers' outcomes in the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

On Lap 290, a small piece of debris emerged from around the No. 7 Chevrolet of Robby Gordon, who was the first car a lap down. The resulting caution put Gordon back on the lead lap, and he rallied to finish 10th.

Gordon denied that he threw debris out the window to create the caution. The piece was suspected to be foam rubber padding commonly used to cover roll bars.

"I definitely didn't throw anything out the window, so I don't know," Gordon told NBC after the race. "It looked like it came out the back of the car actually."

NASCAR reviewed the tape of the incident and said it was inconclusive.

Jeff Burton, who finished 13th, disagreed.

He said that drivers occasionally throw roll-bar padding onto the track to create needed cautions, and he called on NASCAR to investigate.

"We were going to be OK and they threw the caution for a piece of roll-bar padding," Burton said. "They ought to stop every car on pit road, and they ought to check every car."

Burton had just completed a pit stop seven laps prior to the caution and was seeking a stretch of green-flag racing to stay on pit cycle with everyone else. That didn't happen when the caution flew.

"Whoever threw the roll bar padding out, they ought to fine them 185 points and fine them 100 grand, because it is a huge impact on the race and it is ridiculous and it happens too often. They need to figure out who did it and penalize them."

During a Busch race at Texas Motor Speedway in April, Reed Sorenson allegedly threw a piece of roll-bar padding out the window in an attempt to create a caution.

NASCAR gave Sorenson a black flag for the incident, but he did not face additional NASCAR sanctions, which are usually distributed during the middle of the week.