Is nascar all about cheating now?

Question

I am a Jimmy Johnson fan and a casual nascar fan (and please don't say I'm jumping on his bandwagon cause i've been his fan since 2004), but it appears there are way to many cheating incidents this year. Has it always been this way and I don't know enough about nascar to know that?

Answer 1

It has been MUCH worse in the past. The regulations on equipment were far less and the inspections were not nearly as thourough as they are now. Richard Petty was a flagrant cheater and he is in the record books with the most wins. The old expression is if you aren't cheating you aren't trying.

Answer 2

Just the opposite. There's always been a certain amount of outright cheating as well as lots of "pushing the envelope" when it came to gray areas. Back when they used factory-stock bodies, a team showed up one year with a car which had been sawed down the middle and welded back together a few inches narrower. Darrell Waltrip's crew chief, Jeff Hammond, was a notorious cheater . . . for one race he filled the frame rails with lead shot, so that the car would reach minimum weight -- early in the race, this ballast was jettisoned, resulting in an extra-light car. There are a million other stories which you can find with a little searching.

What's changed THIS year is that NASCAR is really cracking down on the rules, especially with the Car of Tomorrow. They've made it crystal clear that even minor "tweaks" which would have been ignored in the past are now unacceptable. NASCAR is becoming a "spec" series in which innovation, tweaking, or cheating are not tolerated.

Answer 3

Yeah, cheating used to be very rabid in NASCAR. In fact every Team lived by the motto "if you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin." It used to be a game where Teams would see just how much they could get away with.

However, in NASCAR's persuit to clean up the sport it has become a rabid witch hunt lately. What happened Friday was an example of NASCAR getting over zealous and out of control themselves. The violations brought against Jeff and Jimmie weren't even in the rulebook; it was a call NASCAR made on the spot. Also, in the past when a Tema failed inspection they would allow the Team to off-load their back-up car, get it inspected, practice, and qualify. This is the first time they benched Drivers for failing inspection. That was unfair.

Hendricks will appeal this and I expect either a reduction or complete absolvement of the penalties. If not I expect Dupont and Lowes to take legal actions. Someone needs to hold NASCAR accountable. It can't just make up rules in the garage as it goes along.

Answer 4

Considering NASCAR's roots, moonshiners and suspect promoters, "pushing the envelope" has been a part of the sport and some "cheats" were legendary.

"Smokey" Yunick said that if it wasn't in the rulebook, it wasn't cheating.

As an example, there used to be no rule in the book concerning the diameter of the fuel line. Smokey's cars were getting great fuel "mileage". Turns out it wasn't mileage; he just simply was able to carry an extra 2 gallons of gas in a very large fuel line.

This resulted in the diameter of the fuel line being specifically mentioned in the rule book.

Many of the biggest names in the sport have been caught "cheating". They run the spectrum from engineering genius, as with Petty's "big engine" to the ridiculous as in Jim Paschal's plan to throw a window weight through his rear window because they accidentally discovered they could get the car to go faster without it in place.

The COT is part of the plan to eliminate a lot of "gray areas" especially in aerodynamics associated with body shape.

The teams are instructed to build the COT to exact specifications that have all the dimensions of all the areas between where all the templates are placed.

The COT's specifications have no "gray areas" and to claim otherwise is dishonest, imo.

I have a feeling NASCAR has been watching the Hendricks fenders get fatter over time until they finally said, "enough, no way fender dimensions change that much by accident".

It doesn't take a lot of sophisticated equipment to monitor such changes. All it takes is an accurate measuring device like the dressmaker's tape measure Banjo Matthews used to carry in his pocket.

Answer 5

There has been more "documenty" cases of cheating the past couple of years.
I have seen NASCAR confiscate car parts from seat belts to front clip assymblies and nothing be said.But now with so many of the major teams having problems the officials have released more info and is publishing the events more.

Answer 6

There have always been some rule bending to try to get an edge over the competitors, but no it is not about cheating.
You can not cheat a good driver & the car can not win with a good driver.
In the 1970s, there were plenty of problems but the cars are tested with much more sosphicated machines now. Nothing gets by the judges.

Answer 7

Yeahhhhppp Jimmie Johnson dang gun caught cheating last year and the year before that too I tell ya what. It ok to cheat to get a dun dare advantage once in a dang gun while. Its don't be cheating if ya dun don't dare get caught.

Jimmie Johnson defently #2 on me list tell ya what

Answer 8

It's went on for years and will go on for many more years. If they would suspend the driver for a race, there would be less cheating.

Answer 9

Anyone that get caught,must pay!!!
points and fines are lax,,,they should be more..
Kurt Busch should have got a stiffer fine for almost
running over Tony Stewarts Jack man

Answer 10

Look at the history of NA$CAR. It has always been about cheating. And sometimes if you let NA$CAR catch you with one violation, you can get away with something else.