Should NASCAR Announce All Fines Levied on It's Drivers

I live in a family that is die hard NASCAR fans. Members of my family have special drivers that they root for. If their driver or my driver wins, We rub it in on each other. I have been a NASCAR fan ever since I was a teenager.

Feuds and Fines
In the past few years, feuds between the drivers and their teams have spilled over into the public eye. This has added to the growing popularity of the sport, while at the same time given the sport a black eye. Many times the fines have to be made public, because the incident was viewed by the public. However, there have been incidents out of the public's eye that has been dealt with secretly.

A case in point is the incident involving Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya. During a meeting last month in Darlington, Newman punched Montoya. Word came out that NASCAR fined Newman for $50,000. This all came about as NASCAR had summoned both drivers for a sit-down in the running feud. A sit-down that didn't go well. This is the second time that Newman has secretly been fined.

In other major sports, fines are made public to the press and eventually the fan base. Why is it that NASCAR secretly covers up their incidents and fines? Doesn't the NASCAR fan base have a right to know what is going?

Another example of these covert fines was leaked this past Monday on an incident between Richard Childress and Kyle Busch. Childress was fined the large amount of $150,000 for attacking Busch after a truck race last Saturday at the Kansas Speedway.

The Public Eye
All fans know that NASCAR is not a squeaky clean sport. Incidents are going to happen. These drivers and teams are in a very financially competitive sport. Incidents should be dealt with in the public's eye. This would not only keep fans updated, but would place a sense of responsibility on the drivers and teams. Hiding incidents is not the way to go.

sources; www.espn.go.com