Cheating and Toyota's Welcome
As we all know, several teams were cited for rules infractions (AKA, cheating) at various times during the days leading up to the Daytona 500. Some of the infractions seemed to have had minimal impact and, indeed, be unintentional.
Yet, NASCAR felt obligated to penalize — and penalize heavily — five of the teams, with Michael Waltrip receiving a brutal penalty as well as being the only team specifically identified by auto manufacturer in most news outlets. In addition, no specific sponsors of the various penalized teams were identified by most outlets.
The questions that beg to be answered are (1) why mention only the fifth “cheater’s‿ auto make but not mention the others; and (2) what’s the effect on loyal followers of race drivers/teams/manufacturers when these parties are found to be in violation of rules — regardless of the severity of the infraction?
My guess?—NONE!
On a related note, a lot has been written about the negative reaction of fans (and drivers and owners) to Toyota’s entry into the Nextel series (see Dustin Long’s article on Feb. 18 in the Virginian-Pilot -- http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=119660&ran=106342).
Doesn’t it seem (at least) a little contradictory that we purchase DW’s banner and die casts made in China, baseball caps made in Bangladesh emblazoned with American race team sponsors’ names, Ford Fusions made in Mexico, etc., and then react negatively to the entry into Nextel racing of an automobile made in the US of A?
Can we spell “hypocritical‿?
-- Jon