One of the things sorely lacking among the few who are considered full time beat reporters for NASCAR is an iconoclast that truly isn't afraid to piss anybody off, ESPECIALLY NASCAR. Where is a Robin Miller when you need them?
NASCAR basically has a gag order on them. Criticize the deal, and you are in violation of the agreement. Guys like Rick, Roger and Joe are smart enough not to get into a public pissing match. Doesn't mean they like the deal they signed. Rick said it without saying it right after the signing...
When someone has done 100 times more for an organization than you ever have or ever will, you show respect, even if you 100% disagree with the person. I've heard Richard Petty say a LOT of stuff over the last 45 years that has left me scratching my head, stuff I completely disagreed with, but...
How do we know he DIDN'T? Like most large organizations, NASCAR has a tendency to only respond after someone has embarrassed them in public. Richard Childress is an icon, he's basically untouchable. Steve Phelps is NOBODY. Five minutes after he retires /quits/ gets fired, nobody will know (or...
I don't disagree with anything Despain said there, but I do think you can't ignore the fact that this whole circus was set in motion BECAUSE Richmond was not honest about what was going on. His behavior and lack an explanation for it only encouraged people to jump to conclusions. No matter how...
And I don't care if a Childress car EVER won a race, he was one of the guys making sure there WAS a show every week. If guys like Phelps would have been there in the trenches with guys like Childress and Hylton and Langley and McDuffie and Means and Scott, maybe they would have a little more...
I think one of the issues NASCAR misses sometimes is that this sport exist because people are fans of drivers, cars and teams. NASCAR itself is just a necessary evil that allows the actual event to take place. Nobody has any particular loyalty to NASCAR as an entity any more than they do the...
You will get no argument from me about NASCAR management. I'm beginning to believe that gang couldn't pour piss out of a boot if you wrote the instructions on the heel.
You might be right, but even so, as a sanctioning body you really DO need to take the higher road. I'm fine with the fact that at least some in NASCAR had serious differences of opinion with RC, but those comments show a complete lack of respect for someone who has been as loyal as an ally as...
I'm not going to suggest NASCAR did everything right in either the Richmond or Mayfield cases, but as for Richmond, HE was the one who was not forthcoming and NASCAR was forced to react to what they were actually seeing; a serious illness, some erratic behavior, and a failed drug test. I happen...
Someone with RC's tenure has every right to speak his mind, and everybody has a right to voice an opinion. For NASCAR management to call someone that has been a part of your sport for almost 60 years a stupid redneck, especially considering the history of this sport is WAY beyond what should be...