Richmond has always been a important race, its the final race before the playoffs start and it sets the field for the playoffs. The chain of events that we saw on Saturday and in the days following is something that has taken NASCAR to its knees and all of Michael Waltrip Racing is to blame.
Fans want to blame Bowyer for the events and Jeff Gordon fans are holding bonfires with Bowyer gear but that doesn’t change the ruling, fact of the matter is, by keeping Bowyer in the chase, NASCAR has sent a message that it is okay to cheat to get your car in the chase, as long as you have an extra 50 points between you and tenth. Bowyer will forever be the guy with the bloody sock, as far as most fans are concerted he might as well have killed someone by his act of bring out the caution at Richmond.
The $300,000 dollar question remains, did Bowyer spin out on purpose?
I can be like most of the NASCAR garage area and dance around the question but instead, I’m just going to say it, Hell yes!
As soon as Newman took the lead, Bowyers lap times dropped like a rock and we have all seen the in car footage and audio, NASCAR will not call it, but I will. NASCAR doesn’t want to admit that a driver cheated and got two drivers in the chase and two drivers out of the chase because that means that NASCAR would be wrong. This might be breaking news to some, but NASCAR isn’t perfect. The people that run NASCAR have a very difficult job that I wouldn’t want but they do the best that they can. There was talk of reducing the number of officials at the track to help cut costs and this weekend is just prof that NASCAR needs more.
The ball is in NASCAR court now, just as it was on Sunday and Monday, if NASCAR wants to put this behind them they need to take Bowyer out of the chase for sportsman like conduct for the spin and give the 12th spot in the chase to Jeff Gordon, the driver that was in the chase before the spin. What about Joey Lagano? Keep him in the chase, Joey raced his way into the chase, just like Gordon did and they both should be able to race in the chase.
It was Michael Waltrip Racing that cheated and lied, and yet they still have a spot in the chase and Bowyer has a great chance to win the title this year. NASCAR needs to understand they cheated and lied and it effected more than one team. Take Bowyer out of the chase.
If and when Bowyer wins a race or the title this season, it will all be for not. The fans will not forget this one quickly and as long as Bowyer races in the Chase, fans will tune out. And that’s bad for everyone.
What do you think?
