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Earlier this year it was mentioned that to really fix a race, it would be to lose, not win.
While NASCAR seems almost incessantly to have its integrity questioned, the real threat might more likely lie with the competitors themselves. While I still view the odds of circumstances working out to make this type of speculation any where near a profitable venture too long to be viable, Monte writes about it. Figure if the odds are around 45:1 to win, the odds of another driver or team or official, being in just the right place at the right time to make a difference are staggering. You can't make a dime betting on youself to lose.
I would also point out that if this something to be taken seriously the fact that the tour now visits Vegas is totally irrelevent. You can place a bet from anywhere in the country.
Monte Dutton's article:
LAS VEGAS — The growth of this gigantic desert valley, surrounded mostly by barren mountains, is almost mind-boggling. On a clear night, from the vantage point of a high-rise hotel, the twinkling lights of the housing developments stretch almost to the horizon.
Yet try as they might, all the politicians, businessmen and developers have been unable to convince major professional team sports — i.e., football, baseball, basketball and hockey — to move a franchise into this otherwise dynamic region.
They’re wary of the gambling element.
No such concern apparently exists among the stock-car tycoons who oversee their sport’s growth into a city where casinos are as prevalent as convenience stores. The difference is striking.
Without conducting a precise poll, it’s fairly safe to say that many of the drivers in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 are betting on the race. It’s safe to say that many pit-crew members, owners and even NASCAR officials are carrying gambling slips in their pockets.
Jeff Gordon opened at 7-2 in today’s race at the Las Vegas Hilton’s “sports book.” As of Saturday evening, the line had moved to 4-1. That’s the same as Tony Stewart. Sterling Marlin — who won here last year but is starting 34th — and Kurt Busch are 5-1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman and Mark Martin are 8-1. The odds vary from casino to casino, but practically all of them are in on the action.
Jamie McMurray, the rookie who finished fifth last week at Rockingham, was, as of Saturday night, still listed at 45-1. In the garage area, one prominent driver openly said he was betting on himself. When told McMurray’s odds, he said, “I wouldn’t mind getting in on some of that.”
Judging from the mischievous expression, it’s hard to say whether or not he was joking.
Wow. What a shame Pete Rose never took a lap in a stock car. He’s trying to get in the wrong hall of fame.
It really is a whole different world. No one seems the slightest bit concerned about any potential scandal.
Maybe the greatest problem isn’t what might actually happen. Maybe it’s the rumors. You couldn’t contain on two hands the past races that some old-timers will claim were fixed. The various suggestions of wrongdoing occupy a fairly notable space in the sport’s lore.
What if an official had $1,000 bet on one driver, and that driver was running second late in the race? What if that official happened to catch the leader speeding on pit road? What if he claimed that not all the lug nuts were on securely? It wouldn’t matter whether the call was an honest one, would it? If someone caught a glimpse of that official cashing in a slip on the winner, it would certainly create the appearance of scandal.
Let’s say Driver A bet on himself and also on another driver, someone like McMurray at 45-1 or Joe Nemechek at 50-1. What if Driver A, leading at some point in the race, allowed Driver B — the other driver in whom he had bet — to get back on the lead lap when the yellow flag waved?
Other sports have a term for this: point shaving.
The common response, of course, would be, “I don’t believe any of these guys would do such a thing? They’re too competitive.”
Guess what? Pete Rose, Paul Hornung, Alex Karras, Eddie Cicotte, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and all the other athletes found with their hands in the gambling cookie jar, throughout the history of sports, made the same claim.
“Do you think I’d let my teammates down just because I bet a measly 10 thousand bucks?”
Even amid the upscale spendor of NASCAR circa 2003, there are a few guys out there with a desperate need for money. There are probably people who are in danger of losing their sponsors, teams, houses, airplanes, wives … you name it.
During the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, almost every form of American motorsports was touched in some way by drivers and team owners who were found to be raising money for their teams by smuggling illegal drugs.
If a man will sell drugs to keep his business afloat, who’s to say he won’t take one for the team in other ways?
Someone ought to be paying attention.
While NASCAR seems almost incessantly to have its integrity questioned, the real threat might more likely lie with the competitors themselves. While I still view the odds of circumstances working out to make this type of speculation any where near a profitable venture too long to be viable, Monte writes about it. Figure if the odds are around 45:1 to win, the odds of another driver or team or official, being in just the right place at the right time to make a difference are staggering. You can't make a dime betting on youself to lose.
I would also point out that if this something to be taken seriously the fact that the tour now visits Vegas is totally irrelevent. You can place a bet from anywhere in the country.
Monte Dutton's article:
LAS VEGAS — The growth of this gigantic desert valley, surrounded mostly by barren mountains, is almost mind-boggling. On a clear night, from the vantage point of a high-rise hotel, the twinkling lights of the housing developments stretch almost to the horizon.
Yet try as they might, all the politicians, businessmen and developers have been unable to convince major professional team sports — i.e., football, baseball, basketball and hockey — to move a franchise into this otherwise dynamic region.
They’re wary of the gambling element.
No such concern apparently exists among the stock-car tycoons who oversee their sport’s growth into a city where casinos are as prevalent as convenience stores. The difference is striking.
Without conducting a precise poll, it’s fairly safe to say that many of the drivers in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 are betting on the race. It’s safe to say that many pit-crew members, owners and even NASCAR officials are carrying gambling slips in their pockets.
Jeff Gordon opened at 7-2 in today’s race at the Las Vegas Hilton’s “sports book.” As of Saturday evening, the line had moved to 4-1. That’s the same as Tony Stewart. Sterling Marlin — who won here last year but is starting 34th — and Kurt Busch are 5-1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman and Mark Martin are 8-1. The odds vary from casino to casino, but practically all of them are in on the action.
Jamie McMurray, the rookie who finished fifth last week at Rockingham, was, as of Saturday night, still listed at 45-1. In the garage area, one prominent driver openly said he was betting on himself. When told McMurray’s odds, he said, “I wouldn’t mind getting in on some of that.”
Judging from the mischievous expression, it’s hard to say whether or not he was joking.
Wow. What a shame Pete Rose never took a lap in a stock car. He’s trying to get in the wrong hall of fame.
It really is a whole different world. No one seems the slightest bit concerned about any potential scandal.
Maybe the greatest problem isn’t what might actually happen. Maybe it’s the rumors. You couldn’t contain on two hands the past races that some old-timers will claim were fixed. The various suggestions of wrongdoing occupy a fairly notable space in the sport’s lore.
What if an official had $1,000 bet on one driver, and that driver was running second late in the race? What if that official happened to catch the leader speeding on pit road? What if he claimed that not all the lug nuts were on securely? It wouldn’t matter whether the call was an honest one, would it? If someone caught a glimpse of that official cashing in a slip on the winner, it would certainly create the appearance of scandal.
Let’s say Driver A bet on himself and also on another driver, someone like McMurray at 45-1 or Joe Nemechek at 50-1. What if Driver A, leading at some point in the race, allowed Driver B — the other driver in whom he had bet — to get back on the lead lap when the yellow flag waved?
Other sports have a term for this: point shaving.
The common response, of course, would be, “I don’t believe any of these guys would do such a thing? They’re too competitive.”
Guess what? Pete Rose, Paul Hornung, Alex Karras, Eddie Cicotte, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and all the other athletes found with their hands in the gambling cookie jar, throughout the history of sports, made the same claim.
“Do you think I’d let my teammates down just because I bet a measly 10 thousand bucks?”
Even amid the upscale spendor of NASCAR circa 2003, there are a few guys out there with a desperate need for money. There are probably people who are in danger of losing their sponsors, teams, houses, airplanes, wives … you name it.
During the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, almost every form of American motorsports was touched in some way by drivers and team owners who were found to be raising money for their teams by smuggling illegal drugs.
If a man will sell drugs to keep his business afloat, who’s to say he won’t take one for the team in other ways?
Someone ought to be paying attention.
