NASCAR take the fight for TV ratings too far

Sport360 staff 14:59 10/11/2014
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  • Beyond the limit: The reaction to the scrap between Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski has cast sport a bad light.

    If you haven’t done so already, type “NASCAR” and “Texas fight” into Google. 

    There you will find startling footage of grown men, many of whom are multimillionaires and should know better, acting like a cross between angry kids in the school playground and WWE wrestling stars.

    Of course,  it makes brilliant viewing. Who doesn’t enjoy watching a surge of fury erupt at the climax of a high-octane sporting event?

    And yes, Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski, the two bloodied drivers who sparked the madness which stunned America last Sunday, certainly could never be accused of not caring about their title hopes and just picking up their – very large – paychecks.

    Furthermore, their fisticuffs weren’t without reason. Keselowski, the newly crowned bad boy of racing who is as aggressive on the track as he is off it, aimed for the slightest of gaps between Gordon, then in the lead with just nine laps remaining, and eventual winner Jimmie Johnson’s car. 

    The manoeuvre left Gordon with both a damaged vehicle and title hopes.

    Every reason, then, for some annoyance. No excuse though for what happened next.  

    The crowd were loving it. You could hear them whooping with excitement along with NASCAR bosses, who are probably still jumping with delight as the shocking images continue to keep everyone talking. 

    With TV ratings falling in the last two years and showing no signs of improvement, something had to be done. After all, battling the NFL monster isn’t easy. 

    Following the advent of the new Chase playoff system which sees the field of 16 begin to be reduced after just the third race of the season, drivers are duelling – quite literally – like never before.

    It was a brawl though which at one point looked so plastic (watch driver Kevin Harvick play the role of an eight-year-old by shoving Keselowski towards Gordon) you half expected Hulk Hogan to emerge from the pit lane wearing a crash helmet.

    NASCAR chiefs did respond: Jeremy Fuller of Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 team, as well as Dwayne Doucette and Jason Ingle of Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 team were fined $25,000 (Dh91,800) and suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series points races.

    A further $60,000 (Dh220,000) and various bans and probations were also handed out to other team members.

    When you look at the evidence though, it’s astonishing to note the drivers who sparked the whole thing in the first place escaped censure.

    The message to them? Carry on scrapping. Imagine if huge bans were dished out, if Keselowski, who was involved in another fight in Charlotte last month, was ruthlessly stripped of the chance to land his second title. 

    “Kevin likes everybody to fight for some reason,” said Keselowski.

    “I came here to race, not to fight. True race fans will say the same.”

    Of course, fighting in NASCAR is nothing new.

    Diehards become misty eyed when they recall the infamous Daytona 500 race in 1979 when Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers smacked lumps out of each other at the end of the first 500 mile race broadcast on national TV in its entirety.

    In 2006, Gordon was involved in an altercation which saw him shove Matt Kenseth.

    That earned him a hefty $10,000 (Dh36,700) fine and five month probation.

    Every finish counts. Yet at what cost? There has already been one horrific tragedy this season when Kevin Ward Jr was killed in August by Tony Stewart, an incident so awful, you’d think those involved would emerge with a totally different perspective on life.

    Just eight weeks later though, Stewart purposely reversed into Keselowski, smashing the front of his car along the way.

    Changed man? It makes you shudder to think what he’s been told behind the scenes.

    At a time when the American sporting psyche is still struggling to contend with the miscreants who are shaming the NFL, it would have only been right for NASCAR to come down on their own wayward bunch. 

    The bigger picture, though, sadly dictates. Punching fellow drivers in the head appears to spike interest more than the sport itself.

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