Race Referees

How many times have fans questioned a call that NASCAR officials have made during a race? We frequently accuse NASCAR of favoritism. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and others all have at one time or another seemed to get preferential treatment by a NASCAR decision.

I don’t believe that NASCAR officials do, in fact, give preferential treatment to any driver or team. But, appearances are everything. I can certainly understand some fans wondering if NASCAR sometimes makes a call that is not objective. NASCAR has always wanted to “legitimatize” their sport. Fans need to see that any hint of bias or favoritism does not exist.

I’m not sure who the NASCAR decision makers are during a Cup race. I believe it consists mainly of NASCAR President Mike Helton, Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby, and Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. I don’t believe these men have an agenda that leads them to make calls during the race that may favor certain drivers, but it seems odd that the executives of the series are also the ones refereeing it. It’s kind of like having Bud Selig calling balls and strikes in MLB or David Stern calling fouls in the NBA.

NASCAR needs to have “race referees” - a small group (3?) of people that will make all calls during a race. These people cannot have any hint of bias. They cannot be affiliated with NASCAR in any other way. They cannot be affiliated with track ownership companies such as International Speedway Corporation or Speedway Motorsports Incorporated. The group working a race can be drawn from a larger group on a rotating basis much like other professional sports.

This group will have at their disposal all the scoring and monitoring facilities in place now. They will be in direct communication with pit road inspectors as is done now. It will be their call whether a piece of debris demands a caution, whether a rough driving incident has occurred, whether a pit road speeding violation has occurred, whether a pit crew member has committed an infraction, etc. As importantly, they will decide the penalty.

For NASCAR to move into the “major leagues” of professional sports they must remove any appearance of bias and favoritism. “Race referees” will do that.