A Burden For Drivers? Too Bad

Jeff Gordon is most unhappy with NASCAR’s
schedule. And CBS Sportsline writer Jeff
Owens isn’t too thrilled, either.

"I’m ready for a vacation,"
Gordon says. Once the banquet wrapped up, "I’ve got to do all of these
things that are obligations to (sponsors) to get the marketing value out of what
they do. Then you’ve got Christmas parties for our team and our sponsors and all
those things that fill those weeks up extremely fast."

Gasp! Christmas parties filling up those
weeks! Oh the inhumanity of it all!

Gordon "is nearly burned out by the
Winston Cup schedule," according to Jeff Owens, and many others are angry
because NASCAR runs 36 point races, two specials, and has only three bye-weeks,
none in the final twenty races of the year. "Teams and families were
furious" because NASCAR didn’t cancel the New Hampshire 300 after the
September terrorist attacks. "Family vacations were cancelled, medical
appointments delayed, time off reduced……long-planned weddings were
postponed."

Welcome to the real world, you guys.

"Some crewmen even threatened to
boycott" the rescheduled New Hampshire race. Of course such does not jibe
with the love of the sport that motivates them – the love of the sport means
they are supposed to race where there is a race scheduled.

The 2001 season "took its toll on at
least one crew chief." Robin Pemberton stepped down from Penske South. In
2001 he had a chest-pain scare and admitted his work pace was wearing him down.
He also griped about how he and his family were furious over the rescheduled New
Hampshire race. "I’ve been on the road for 22 straight years and I’m ready
for a change……….I’m looking forward to staying in the sport, but in a
position where I’m in the shop (and) not a road warrior anymore."

He isn’t the only one. He may wind up as a
technical advisor for old pal Kyle Petty and Petty Enterprises, while two other
former crew chiefs, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond, are looking to return to
the sport in a direct participation capacity – one can tell from some of their
TV comments that the itch to participate is coming back. Gary DeHart is bowing
out, but that may be more because of his lack of success in his return to
Hendrick Motorsports than to genuine burnout. I suspect after a while he’ll take
on a consultancy position like he briefly did with Morgan-McClure in 1998.

"This sport is at a level where….I
don’t think we necessarily need to (visit some tracks twice a year)," Jeff
Gordon says. "It’s a lot to ask of our crews that have to travel all the
time and a lot to ask out of the drivers, because they have obligations to their
sponsors….I’d like to see a reduction (in races). It’s either a reduction or
just more breaks….I want two weeks to not be at a racetrack. That’s all I’m
asking for."

Big deal, Jeff. We all want a two-week
vacation, but in the real world it doesn’t happen that way.

It brings to mind an episode of "Arli$$"
where Roger Clemens whines about needing a jet and gets blasted because he makes
so much money he can afford to buy a jet and is just acting like "a selfish
(expletive deleted)." To hear these drivers whine about how much time they
spend on the road is insulting. Why is it NASCAR’s problem that Robin Pemberton
feels he’s burned out from 22 years as a crew chief or because Jeff Gordon is
compelled to make nonstop sponsor appearances? Crew burnout is the teams’
problem, not NASCAR’s. They’re the ones who have to deal with and solve it.

The schedule may be longer than a few
years ago, but it still doesn’t approach the 1960s schedules involving 50-60
races a year, with very long two-race-a-week periods.

As far as reducing driver workload, why
not look into shaving sponsor commitments? But such would impede in
"getting the marketing value out of what they do…." Wouldn’t it?
Well, no. We all know who Gordon’s sponsor is, we all know who Dale Junior’s
sponsor is – quite a bit of what the sponsors do really is unnecessary.
Sponsoring the car used to be enough, and there really isn’t that great a need
for all the other BS that sponsors put drivers through during the year.

Gordon has no right to ask NASCAR to drop
some of its races, because that is the ultimate insult to fans, promoters, and
ultimately themselves. This is how most of these guys became as rich as they
are, and don’t believe that they aren’t thinking "We’ll get it right this
time" when they go to a track they didn’t win at the first time around
during the season.

"For the sake of drivers like Gordon
and crewmen like Pemberton, NASCAR needs to heed the warnings. If it doesn’t, it
might soon cause numerous others to walk away from the port they love." So
let them walk if they REALLY feel it necessary. If they really love the sport,
they’ll find a reserve to keep going as they usually do. NASCAR does not need to
heed anything. The warnings are nothing but the selfish whining of people who
make like they don’t want to work, as a Goodyear engineer commented about the
whining before the New Hampshire 300 in November.

They always talk about "separating
the men from the boys." The schedule certainly takes real men to run, and
that’s what these guys are supposed to be. They run twice a year at most tracks
for several reasons, and there is no good reason not to. If anything, the
schedule could use a few more races – it can handle 40 events.

If NASCAR drivers feel "stressed
out" by the schedule, that’s too damn bad. These same drivers whined about
having to race like hell with the roof spoiler, and when in January testing they
find they can’t pass without it will whine some more. NASCAR should have told
them to shut up and race before (and if/when it puts back the roof spoiler
should thusly tell off the drivers), and should do so again here. If they want
time off, then don’t enter a few races – but leave alone those who will run
those races and those fans who will attend them.