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NASCAR Driver’s Union Still Just Talk 40 Years Later

Charlotte, NC – Every couple of years, the topic of a NASCAR driver?s union comes up. Some sort of incident occurs that gets people to talking and the next thing you know, the ?U-Word? starts getting thrown around.

That was the case this week at Bristol after a number of drivers had issue with the tires Goodyear provided at the previous race in Atlanta. The drivers stepped up after Atlanta to express their displeasure with where the rubber meets the road. Some, like Tony Stewart, were extremely vocal using the media to vent his frustration.

While NASCAR fidgeted as Stewart and the rest vented their angst against the tire maker, the sanctioning body must have squirmed even more when the talk of unionization again came up this weekend. From the very beginnings of the sport, NASCAR and its founder Bill France, Sr. have staunchly resisted the establishment of such a driver?s association and twice broke efforts by the racers to launch one.

The first was in 1961 when Curtis Turner led an effort to unionize the drivers. Backed by the Teamsters Union, the effort was quickly struck down by France who banned Turner for life from NASCAR (he was reinstated in 1964).

France again laid the hammer to a possible unionization of NASCAR drivers in 1969 when the Professional Driver?s Association was formed. Most of the top drivers of the day, including Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough, were part of the association with Petty acting as its president.

Initially looking for bigger purses, the group started pushing buttons on other topics like safety. Again, tires proved to be the flashpoint to a confrontation. Back then, both Goodyear and Firestone provided tires to the circuit and when the division invaded Talladega (AL) Superspeedway for the first-ever race there in 1969, each company had trouble producing a tire that would stay together at the near 200 miles per hour speeds on the giant 2.66-mile oval.

Led by Petty and Pearson, the PDA decided to boycott the Talladega race. Only a handful of NASCAR regulars participated in the race the next day, but the fact France was able to stage the event primarily with replacement drivers all but killed off the PDA.

Since then, there has been a lot of talk as to whether NASCAR needs a driver?s association. Other professional sports, such as football, baseball, hockey, and basketball, all have unions and each has significantly benefitted its members with pay, health and retirement initiatives. All, however, have had confrontations with their respective sports and have had to resort to work stoppages ? strikes ? to get what they wanted.

For our money, we don?t think we will ever see a union in NASCAR. The organization is too powerful and unless the government ?which until recently wasn?t interested in the business of professional sports – were to get involved in this issue, a union will never be a reality in NASCAR. For the most part, rank and file NASCAR drivers (especially those at the Cup level) aren?t interested in a union. They have financial means beyond their dreams and wouldn?t rock the NASCAR boat which, in reality, has floated just fine without interjecting a union into the mix.

There does seem to be some groundswell of creating a driver?s ?advisory board? that would consult NASCAR on the issues of the day. We do see this as a possible solution to the unionization issue. Allowing drivers a voice on the many topics of the day including competition, scheduling, financial, health and retirement issues, is long overdue.

Such an association or panel of drivers ? all selected by their peers ? would allow the participants to voice the concerns of the group to NASCAR in a more positive and less explosive way than what we saw in the media after the Atlanta race. It also might mean that for the first time in the 60-year history of NASCAR that the drivers have a real say on real issues in their sport.

That would be a huge step forward for NASCAR and, racing in general.

Points Swapping

When the Cup division returns to action in two weeks at Martinsville, the field will be set by 2008 and not 2007 owner?s points. That means no matter how badly you qualify, if you scored enough points in the first five races of this season to be in the Top-35 in the owner?s standings, you are automatically in the field for the Goody?s 500.

Then again, maybe not.

Thanks to a very fluid interpretation of the rules, cars outside the Top 35 who have teammates inside the Top 35 can exchange points. For instance, that allows drivers like Kyle Petty and Bobby Labonte to exchange point totals with Petty (now 40th in the standings) making the race on points while Labonte (now 18th) having to race his way in on time.

The theory here is Labonte will make the race in qualifying easily while Petty, who has a 38th-place qualifying average in the first five races of this season (no better than 35th for any single event), might not. Should Labonte stumble on his qualifying lap, however, he?d be on the outside looking in while the No. 45 Petty rolling pylon would be in the race.

Of course, NASCAR would have to approve the points swap, but based on earlier cases, they are unlikely to stand in the way of such a move. Prior to this season. Kurt Busch gave up his 2007 points so his Penske teammate Sam Hornish, Jr. could compete in the first five events this season. The move worked as Hornish is currently 35th in the standings and locked into the next event at Martinsville while Busch made all the races this season (including the Daytona 500 on a past champion?s provisional) and is currently 10th in the standings.

Frankly, this is just wrong. The rules shouldn?t be able to be manipulated this way. You are either good enough to race your way into the show or not. This column has long advocated that any rule preventing the fans from seeing the best 43 cars compete on any given day is a bad rule. This is just one of them currently in NASCAR.

The whole business of ?locking in? anyone, the ability of teams to switch points to make a race, inserting a driver into a race because they won a championship 20 years ago, or giving competitors a lap back during an event are bad rules and completely contrary to the spirit of racing.

These totally convoluted rules dilute the competition and confuse the fans about the sport. NASCAR needs to drop these rules and level the playing field, or in this case, the racetrack, for all the competitors.

Darlington 200 MPH Club?

On the way to the beach for New Year?s Eve this year, we drove by historic Darlington (SC) Raceway and checked out the improvements to the venerable racetrack. A new infield tunnel (now in Turn 3) and a total track resurfacing were the highlights of the renovation of the speedway ? NASCAR?s first major facility opened in 1950 with the running of the inaugural Southern 500 that year.

Recent Cup tire testing on the egg-shaped 1.366-mile oval showed speeds up to 200 miles an hour entering the corners. That?s a far cry from the pole winning average speed of 82.034 mph set by Curtis Turner for the first Southern 500 event. Last year, Jeff Gordon won the Darlington pole at 164 mph and change.

While running 200 mph at Daytona sounds just fine, it will be interesting to see how that plays out at Darlington when the Cup Series stages a 500-mile event there on Mother?s Day weekend in May. Darlington is a place we would always buy a ticket for, but 200 mph there? That’s insane and man, we?d never miss that. You shouldn?t either.

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