Driving NASCAR to the Brink

As the NASCAR Nextel Cup season lumbered to a rather painful and dull conclusion, the words of the Lowe's Chevrolet crew chief Chad Knaus said it all. According to Knaus, Jimmie Johnson has taught us all that winning is the highest high, but losing doesn't have to be the lowest of lows. Knaus' statement epitomizes what will be the ultimate downfall of NASCAR - passion for the sport is less important than looking good, having a model or pageant wife, and keeping a good sponsor.

NASCAR itself has fed into this picture-perfect mindset. Drivers are now fined for using harsh language during interviews or on live television or penalized for driving too "aggressively" on the racetrack. Drivers are now prohibited from having emotional responses to real incidents, like the inevitable crashes that occur on the track. Instead, drivers are required either to forego giving interviews, thereby harming the coverage received by their sponsors, or to tone down their responses to a level that lacks any real interest. As a consequence, the only live interview given by a driver turns solely into a marketing plug for the sponsor rather than a way for fans to get insight into the sport.

Drivers are taking NASCAR's message seriously. Indeed, NASCAR's bad boy Tony Stewart even went so far as to see a psychologist for anger management. Stewart, like many other drivers, was getting NASCAR's message that passion and hard driving are no longer the way of the sport.

What that new philosophy means for NASCAR fans is that the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season as been one of the dullest yet, dominated by Jimmie Johnson, a driver that is more corporate spokesman than athlete, and Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont/Pepsi Chevrolet and part owner of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet. Both drivers work for the Hendrick Motor Sports team, whose only truly interesting driver in 2007 was Kyle Busch. Busch, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's machine, was unceremoniously booted from the Hendrick team when he failed to fit its image. Busch will be replaced next year by Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose 2007 season can be characterized as nothing short of dismal.

Nevertheless, Earnhardt Jr.'s new position on the Hendrick team ensures that Hendrick Motor Sports now has three of the most marketable drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series. In a sport where marketing will either make or break a racing team, Johnson, Gordon, and Earnhardt, Jr. are a virtual trifecta of endless money-making potential. Unfortunately, for NASCAR fans Earnhardt Jr.'s move to Hendrick Motor Sports also likely means that Earnhardt Jr. will acquire the same squeaky clean image of his two built-in mentors, Johnson and Gordon. Whether that means the race for next year's chase will include Johnson, Gordon, and the cleaned-up version of Earnhardt Jr. will be determined on the track.