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This weekend in Chicago, regular ARCA series driver Shelby Howard becomes the latest victim of the tobacco laws. Howard began competing in the ARCA series last year. He has done quite well for himself this season, with one top-five and six top-ten finishes, appearing in all 16 races. Coming into this weekend, he ranks 6th in series points.
He’ll drop considerably in the standings after this weekend’s ReadyHosting.com 200.
Why? Because he won’t be racing. You see, the ARCA race is part of a larger weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. The feature attraction will be an Indy Racing League event on Sunday. That race is sponsored by Marlboro. Therein lies the problem.
Shelby Howard is 17 years old. The current law of the land states that no one under the age of 18 can participate in an event sponsored by a tobacco company.
The ARCA race isn’t the one being sponsored by a tobacco company, so why penalize the ARCA driver? It makes no sense.
What also doesn’t make sense is the fact that there will be thousands of people in the grandstand under the age of 18 sitting there all weekend and looking at Marlboro signs posted all over the place. Do you really think Howard is going to have a lot of time to study them and be impacted by them as he drives by at 150MPH?
No, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Kyle Busch, younger brother of Kurt, was barred from participating in a Craftsman Truck Series race in California last year. In fact, the ARCA entry list for this weekend should have also contained the name of 16-year-old Sean Stafford, who was blacklisted from the event for the same reason.
Enough already. I think we all get the point that you’re not supposed to smoke if you’re under 18. Preventing Shelby Howard and others from participating in a race is not the way to go about solving the problem. Here is a team and driver that have worked hard all season long to put themselves in a solid position in the series. Penalizing him because other people smoke is causing more harm than good. It doesn’t really do any good at all.
He’ll drop considerably in the standings after this weekend’s ReadyHosting.com 200.
Why? Because he won’t be racing. You see, the ARCA race is part of a larger weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. The feature attraction will be an Indy Racing League event on Sunday. That race is sponsored by Marlboro. Therein lies the problem.
Shelby Howard is 17 years old. The current law of the land states that no one under the age of 18 can participate in an event sponsored by a tobacco company.
The ARCA race isn’t the one being sponsored by a tobacco company, so why penalize the ARCA driver? It makes no sense.
What also doesn’t make sense is the fact that there will be thousands of people in the grandstand under the age of 18 sitting there all weekend and looking at Marlboro signs posted all over the place. Do you really think Howard is going to have a lot of time to study them and be impacted by them as he drives by at 150MPH?
No, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Kyle Busch, younger brother of Kurt, was barred from participating in a Craftsman Truck Series race in California last year. In fact, the ARCA entry list for this weekend should have also contained the name of 16-year-old Sean Stafford, who was blacklisted from the event for the same reason.
Enough already. I think we all get the point that you’re not supposed to smoke if you’re under 18. Preventing Shelby Howard and others from participating in a race is not the way to go about solving the problem. Here is a team and driver that have worked hard all season long to put themselves in a solid position in the series. Penalizing him because other people smoke is causing more harm than good. It doesn’t really do any good at all.
