With all the money spent by top organizations in NASCAR and other series on top drivers, should they be more strict about what they can and can't do
outside of racing within their team?
Just this week:
Jimmie Johnson breaks arm in horseplay on golfcart:
LINK
It seems like every year one or another top driver is getting hurt in some manner either in other circuits, like
Dale Jr's fiery crash a few years back. I have seen Stewart and Kenseth race in low level stuff, such
as sprint cars, a number of times here in Wisconsin; while they may have perfect control of their cars, there are many other drivers out with them,
and all it takes is one wrong move or equipment failure, and their season, even career, could be done. Teams invest a lot of money in these drivers
and cars to have their winning chances endangered by an injury, especially when it's a side event. Racing anything is dangerous as Johnson proved
with this golf-cart stunt. But are drivers that hard to keep from competing and do they have the upper-hand over the owners say so? If NASCAR's top
circuit keeps having rookie classes as successful as this years, Denny Hamlin being chief, and the COT (Car of Tomorrow) proves to be as expensive as
it seems to be for teams to field, it may not be long before team owners have more say-so in drivers' everyday lives.
[edit on 11-12-2006 by AHCivilE]
[edit on 11-12-2006 by AHCivilE]
