All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
- George Orwell, 'Animal Farm'


Who is putting the pressure on NASCAR these days? Is it an external or internal force? Money makes the world go 'round and it'll make you or me or just about anyone else dance to whatever tune is being played at least most of the time. I'm not proud to admit that but there it is.

And so it is with the France family and those that have a financial stake in NASCAR. Racing at this level is obviously a big business. And business owners are keen to see their business not only continue but grow. Money is good. And more money is even better.

So is it from within that the NASCAR ownership is being pressured to make the decisions they make these days? Or is it the bigger owners? The sponsors? The cynical fan says it surely cannot be him. NASCAR is the ruler of the garage. Let there be no doubt of that and rightly so. But even the ownership of NASCAR is beholden to someone and to the something that those someones bring to the table.

My take on this is NASCAR has had a problem with rule breaking, rule bending, grey areas, etc from Day 1. With the huge amount of money on the line in the top tier, owner's money, sponsor's money, etc, it is understandable that the NASCAR ownership will take rules and the application of rules to the n-th degree. America is the land of lawsuits after all. So of course they will do everything in their power to keep all involved happy and not in the suing frame of mind. The stakes are too high now to risk being seen as biased or sloppy. Being seen as running a crooked game is not good for business.

So NASCAR must be seen to be the absolute authority. Every fair-minded race fan loves the idea of a true level playing field as well. Ideally it should come down to the skill of the driver, the team and the crew chief. Cheaters will be punished. Winners will never be doubted.

Alas, alas. If only the world was such a naive place. See my earlier money comment.

So what is NASCAR's ulterior motive here? Maybe this is NASCAR's way of dissuading the 'Start and Park' teams from showing up? This is NASCAR's new dress code. A Hendrick or a Roush has deep pockets (not that either wants to lose $200,000, mind you) and has the people in place to check the little things (the 0.0007" things) that can and obviously will bite you. The Carl Long's of the world, however, are trying to get into this party wearing brown lofers with a rented tux. You get the distinct impression they ain't welcome this year.

For a sport that has built itself up by the efforts and support of working class people and, up until recently perhaps, has billed itself as the working man's sport, the recent cold shoulder that NASCAR has shown, in my opinion at least, to its supposed core fan is just a shockingly bad business decision. It had something once, this sport. It was a certain hick-ish, common man charm. It set it apart. Perhaps it was all an illusion. Anyway, that didn't really matter so long as the racing was good. Whether it is true or not, the masses have decided the competition lately isn't up to par. But this Carl Long thing will not play well with the core. Doesn't it follow that a fan base made up of "little guys" will react negatively to seeing another "little guy" get his neck stomped on? I can't agree with those that say this is a simple matter of rule breaking being punished.

One quote that I've noticed being used to defend or justify NASCAR's decision this week to fine (cripple?) Carl Long's race team for exceeding the maximum allowable displacement for an engine used during this past "All-Star" weekend has been: "NASCAR has drawn a line and said 'Do not cross it'."

Fair enough. Setting aside conspiracy theories and looking at the incident from a strictly engineering point of view however, how thick is that line? The numbers I've been reading on the 'net (admittedly hardly a great bastion of truth..... ) are tiny. 0.0007" over in the bore of one cylinder and 0.0004" over in the stroke. Can I get a calibration certificate on that there ruler, Mr. France, sir? Is there such a thing as an allowance in these measurements? There is a bit of forgiveness in the pit road speed limit even and that is a safety issue which trumps a supposed performance enhancing issue.

I hope for Carl Long's sake that common sense will prevail in this matter. NASCAR, at least for now, is going with the letter of the law as opposed to the spirit of the law. I'm not saying he should get off scot free but there must be some wiggle room in these rules. If Carl Long's penalty stands then surely Michael Waltrip's jet funny car attempt should have resulted in him being run out of town permanently. Where is the consistency here?

But I still smell a rat in so far as their motives are concerned. They felt they needed to send a message, a brutal, no-nonsense message, to both big team and small on the subject of rules infractions (and so too I suspect on the subject of drug use). In this silly, absurd case, they saw their chance to get the message across but not ruffle any big-time feathers. They squashed a little guy to get a point across. There is no way in hell that this same fine would be levied against a top team if all the facts were the same.

They slammed the door in the face of the small potatoes teams and warned the big boys with a big time wag of the finger.

I wonder if Jeremy and Carl have compared notes?