AUGUST 9, 2002

NASCAR becomes politically-correct?

NASCAR was once the home of the fist-wielding hard men of motor racing with regular punch-ups in the pitlane. The competitors honed their driving skills as bootleggers running moonshine across the Deep South. Legend has it, for example, that whenever Buck Baker headed to Daytona from his native South Carolina he was under permanent orders from NASCAR boss Bill France to telephone from Orlando so that France could post the bail money that would be necessary in advance.

Nowadays it seems that this does not fit the image of the sport which the organizers and the sponsors want to have. In fact NASCAR is becoming very like Formula 1...

It has just been announced that Home Depot, the sponsor of Tony Stewart, has fined him $50,000 and placed him on probation for the rest of the season for punching a photographer recently at Indianapolis. Stewart has also had to pay out $10,000 to NASCAR for bringing the sport into disrepute.

They will be serving pink champagne in the paddock before you know it.