The 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series races at Toyota Speedway, Thunderhill Raceway, Watkins Glen Raceway and Infineon Raceway all ended in controversy…but with inconsistent outcomes.
"We assessed the penalty we normally do for aggressive driving."— Richard Buck
At the Toyota All Star Showdown in Irwindale, Peyton Sellers was your leader. Joey Logano got side-by-side with him and they collided, Sellers lost positions, Logano won and NASCAR took that win away.
At Thunderhill Raceway in Kyle (Texas), race leader Mike David was in a fierce battle with 2nd place Eric Holmes when the third place car driven by Greg Pursley in going for the lead collided with David, who spun and went back to 7th. Pursley won and NASCAR let it stick.
At Watkins Glen Patrick Long, was leading in a green-white-checker restart, when Ryan Truex bumped and banged finally sending Long off-course. Truex won the race, which NASCAR let stick.
Truex later stated that Long was blocking, “(I) bumped into him (Long) which I guess was alright." This is important to note because at Infineon Long claims Logano was blocking…but as we are about to find out…the judgment at that race was inconsistent with the judgment at Watkins Glen.
At Infineon Raceway in Sonoma the race was a green-white-checker restart (like Watkins Glen). Logano the leader goes into turn 10/11 and spins, Long wins. NASCAR took that win away.
There is a lot of similarity between Watkins Glen and Infineon Raceway…both races came down to late cautions and a last lap dash for the cash. Both incidents occurred on a turn and both winners claimed the lead car was blocking. But the similarity and consistency ends there…one driver kept the win and the other winner was denied.
After things started heating up with unanswered questions in the media room Richard Buck, director of NASCAR Touring addressed the press.
He said that they do things differently in this (NASCAR Camping World) series than they do in (NASCAR Sprint) Cup. Looking back, maybe the question of why should have been asked. Why in this series where drivers are supposed to be learning…why are they expected to run a sterile last lap… while in Cup wild and controversial finishes are quite acceptable?
Buck continued to tell the reporters that everything is based on judgment calls and they (NASCAR) try to be consistent. He said he couldn’t comment on Watkins Glen and then went on to comment on it saying, “Didn’t need a penalty at Watkins Glen.”
Already the inconsistencies start to surface. If as Buck says aggressive driving must be penalized does that mean throughout the race or only on the last lap?
During the race at Sonoma there was what could be called aggressive driving…Greg Pursley was running 5th when rookie sensation, Paulie Harraka, bumped into him. This cost Pursley a top-five finish. He finished 20th. Or how about the three car pile-up involving Jamie Dick, Moses Smith and Wes Banks? Could it not be said there was aggression involved? When there is good hard racing it is very common for an aggressive driver to be involved, they are the ones that more often than not win.
NASCAR is consistently inconsistent when it comes to "aggression".
This ambiguity has no place in professional motorsports, especially on the last lap. Fans, teams, sponsors, media and officials all need to know the game plan, and it should be done as a rule and inked in pen.
