RacingWest.com - From The Hobo's Point of View: SQUEAKY CLEAN NASCAR OR THEM DAYS DONE GONE BYE BYE
Read an interesting story in the NASCAR Newsletter the other day that a lot of folks better pay attention to. Written by Jim Huber, of Turner Sports Interactive, he titled his bit, "In the Spotlight, for better or worse." It had to do with NASCAR's poster boy, Jeff Gordon, and his trials and tribulations concerning his upcoming parting of the ways with the former Miss Winston, Brooke.
Back in the good ol' days of NASCAR with it's rough and tumble rednecks, beer and hotdogs, tee-shirt and dungaree uniforms, 'bout the only place you'd hear about it would be in the pits, maybe in the local bar, or Chris Economaki might mention it in Speed Sport News.
Today, whether you want to or not, you're gonna read, and hear, and see all about it 'till it's over. And then when it is all over, all the experts are gonna tell you all about it again, and again some more.
Welcome to the "big time", NASCAR. You wanted it, you got it. Two and a half billion dollar TV contract; major corporations; media attention; your own TV show; in fact you got so big you had to enlarge your grandstands to hold all the new race fans and even build some more new tracks. (Of course, the ticket prices went up in proportion. Did I hear somebody say greed?)
Now, it ain't all bad. In my humble opinion, auto racing is the greatest sport in the world. And when you look at the spectator attendance around the world, I'm apparently not by myself. And although many sports writers, and sports editors, hate to admit it, the athletic ability of those involved is just as great as in any other sport, sometimes more so. Try driving 500 miles in a . . . . . But that's another story.
NASCAR today offers many people many things. There's a tremendous opportunity for up-and-coming drivers, and older ones too, to make money and a name for themselves. The opportunity for corporations, and small businesses too, to to get their name in front of the public. Though not necessarily directly, NASCAR provides jobs for thousand of people both within and out of the sport. And many people, myself included, think that it's about time the sport finally gets its' recognition.
BUT, and here's my point. Along with the recognition, comes scrutinty. Everyone associated with NASCAR today is going to be under the gun from the news media. Like it or not. Every time an NBA or NFL player stubs his toe, it makes world-wide headlines. God help him if he gets into mischief.
Remember ol' Curtiss Turner, he of the "Good Ol' Boy's" of NASCAR? The story goes that he used to party all night, race up and down the streets, and then the next morning he'd be laying on the hood of his race car sobering up waiting for the green flag. Yesterdays headlines? None. Todays headlines? "Drunken NASCAR driver ... "
And so I say to you, whether in the Southwest Series, the Winston West, Northwest Series, or any NASCAR division, mind you're p's and q's. On the race track, in the pits, in the grandstands. And I'm sorry to say, even in your private life. It may not be private any more. We done gone "big time" now.
Ask Jeff Gordon.