NASCAR’s decision to not penalize drivers Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar after their post-race fight at Bristol “was another example of NASCAR turning back to its roots,” according to Dave Skretta of the AP. The decision was “seen by many as NASCAR embracing a ‘Boys, have at it’ attitude” that had been displaced for a generation by a “squeaky clean corporate image that somehow seemed out of place.” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said on former driver Kevin Harvick’s podcast, “We’re not going to encourage fighting, but what we are going to encourage is passion.” Driver Joey Logano said, “we’ve kind of gone that direction quite a bit here recently. It seems like the American pride is definitely in the game, and I feel like the drivers, the brands they have right now, are more that direction than they have been in the past.” While the organization “doesn’t condone colorful language, it isn’t exactly punishing anyone for it.” It is “almost rewarding them for it.” At the start of the playoffs, NASCAR “unveiled a virtual ‘swear jar’ in which $5 is added every time a curse is uttered over team radios during a race; fans who correctly predict the total number can walk away with the pot.” The total after last week’s race at Kansas was 776 swear words, or a prize total of $3,880. NASCAR VP/Content Jess Smith said, “We were looking for buzzworthy ideas that would build excitement around the Chase (playoffs) … The swear jar was a natural fit because colorful driver radio is an authentic part of our sport, but it’s never been something we’ve highlighted or turned into a game.” While the swear jar “isn’t designed to dirty it up again, it is but one way the sport” is giving “new love to its past” (AP, 9/29).
LAYING THE HAMMER: In L.A., Steve Henson noted NASCAR disciplined seven people who participated in the attack on driver Corey Heim in front of a concession stand at Martinsville Speedway shortly after the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on Saturday. Chad Bryant Racing team owner Chad Bryant and crew member Steve Civitarese are suspended indefinitely from NASCAR events — including next year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, a prestigious NASCAR Regional late-model event — and also “are on probation for a year.” The disciplinary action comes after NASCAR was “criticized on social media by racing fans who wondered if the governing body would ignore the beating of Heim that was widely distributed online.” NASCAR posted its own video of the confrontation (L.A. TIMES, 9/30).