NASCAR Winston Cup Drivers - Friend or Foe?
By: Andy Kondratick
The fact of the matter is that the 2002 Winston Cup season brought about many changes for our beloved sport. Some changes were good and some were bad. Just like any relationship these changes brought some heated arguments, harsh words and, in some cases, triumphs and victories.
The start of the 2003 season looked to be one of promise and fulfillment and I was generally excited about it. I was looking forward to seeing NASCAR’s management and its drivers finally settle down and get back to the business of their work at making racing a sport of fun and tough competition once again, leaving the rule changes and other unnecessary distractions to the off season. Well if you heard all of the nasty rumors about cheating being apart of the biggest race of the year at Daytona then you know the hopes of that are already gone.
Rusty Wallace and his crew were found to have an illegal carburetor at Daytona this year and were fined. No matter how the carburetor ended up on the car, it was illegal and shouldn’t have been on there. OK. Fine. You did something wrong and you must be punished for it. Stand up and take responsibility for your own actions. Don’t try and take heat off yourself by giving the NASCAR police your version of the truth and start pointing fingers at others and getting those folks in trouble just to make your team look better.
Everyone in the garage has a common goal and that is to win races but you should not sacrifice the integrity of one's team for slander and shady, back-door deals. Rusty has always been a long time favorite of mine and, yes, I have heard all of the comments that he is nasty in person but that still doesn’t change the fact that he is a long-time friend and favorite of mine. Just because he did something wrong doesn’t mean that I should just say I am done with him and move on to some other area of the garage and turn my back every time he walks by. I have to see him every race weekend and I know that the most important thing is the bond that a true friendship can bring. I feel he has made some mistakes and will pay for them, but that shouldn’t stop me from doing the right thing. Even if he is deemed a troublemaker and someone who now might be undesirable to hang with because of the trouble, doesn’t mean that I will be looked upon as the same troublemaker.
There is some validity in saying you are guilty by association but I feel that if you view a true friend like that then you are not worthy of that person's friendship anyway. Turning your back on someone when things are bad is an easy way out and proves only one thing to me and that is that you yourself are not worthy of the friendship.
When I was in the Army we looked at this as being a “Buddy F#*!er” and that is the only way I know how to put it. Plain and Simple. You don’t turn your back when things get tough and you certainly don’t think about yourself and how you will be viewed just because you happen to be a friend or teammate of the accused.
Let's be real gang. We all know that every team in the Winston Cup garage does whatever it takes to gain the edge over all of the rest of the competition. This has long been the practice of racers everywhere. Some get caught doing things that NASCAR deems illegal but the fact still remains that these folks are people, friends of millions every week. They provide us with fun and excitement and most importantly they provide a sense of friendship and family. We are all capable of doing things wrong and we all catch some heat from time to time. Many things happen in life as it does in racing. The most important thing to remember is to stay true to yourself, your community of friends and teams and you will always be accepted as an upstanding “TRUE” friend. Even though I know in my mind what Rusty said to the media was wrong, he still remains my favorite. I will still go to the track and root for him and continue to not make such a big deal out of a situation that should have been kept behind closed doors to the media.
NASCAR is a community for all race fans and drivers alike to be a part of a family together, the likes of which has never been seen by any other professional organized sport. Where the fan and athlete feel a sense of family and community together as one. No one person being better than the next and you are only as good as your weakest link.
This has been one fan’s opinion. - Rogue Reporter Andy
E-mail me at roguereporter@comcast.net
March 8, 2003 -
When I first got involved in writing about NASCAR I was full of hopes and dreams about how I, Rogue Reporter Andy, was going to be the voice of reason when the upper management of NASCAR did something that went against my best friend in the world, “Common Sense.” I think I have done a pretty good job of it so far but I now find myself looking at the drivers of this series and shaking my head.