Leave it to NASCAR to find the most creative ways to cheat

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Chris
Elmira, NY
Male 20 years old

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I am currently a majoring in Music Business at SUNY Potsdam. Other than spending time in school I of course enjoy spending time on Faniq and watching NASCAR and the best team in baseball, the New York Yankees.

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Leave it to NASCAR to find the most creative ways to cheat

CMB

8/18/08

It has been well documented over the last few days, but if you missed the story here it is. Joe Gibbs racing used magnets to help gain an advantage in the post-race dyno test Saturday after the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. That is one of the oddest things I could recall happening in in NASCAR, but then I also thought of these instances that have happened in recent years.

Just like any other athlete, NASCAR drivers will try anything in the heat of battle to assist them. Robby Gordon was penalized at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2006 when he threw a piece of foam from inside the car onto the track with 35 laps remaining so he could draw a caution to help get him closer to the front. Ken Schrader also tells a story here about many how years before in Seattle he similarly did what Robby Gordon did in this race:

"He (Schrader) was leading on Lap 90, but his tires were fading and his top challenger was closing fast when the caution flag flew. Schrader figured he could get a big enough jump on the restart to hold him off for a few laps, but that wouldn't be enough. So during the caution he reached for the fire extinguisher that drivers carried in their cars in those days, pulled out the pin and stuck it between his legs. He bolted to a big lead on the restart, but the second-place car had crept into his rear-view mirror by lap 96. So Schrader hoisted the fire extinguisher up next to his car window while racing and set it off."

The competitor thought the engine was getting ready to blow up so he backed off and Schrader went on to win the race.

It didn't work, but Michael Waltrip's team tried to use an illegal additive found in jet fuel in the 2007 Daytona 500.

TIRE-GATE in 1998. The always controversial car owner Jack Roush had a lot to say to rival car owner Ray Evernham during the 1998 season. As the season went on and Jeff Gordon (driver for Evernham at the time) continued to dominate over Roush's 5 drivers, Roush decided to stir up some trouble:

The Monday after the race the TV show RPM 2night on espn2 reported Roush said he had received a letter that claimed Gordon's team had bought chemicals marketed to enhance tire performance. Roush claimed Jeff Gordon's lap time decreased by 0.7 seconds after that two-tire pit stop, and he wondered how they could go faster on two fresh tires than everybody else with four. RPM 2night viewers watched a tape report showing Jack Roush yelling "Get out of here!" at Ray Evernham in the Loudon garage area after the race. Evernham's reply was, "I'm going. But I'll tell you what we're putting in the tires. It's air, Jack." At that point a Roush team member put his hand over the camera lens.

NASCAR veteran Sterling Marlin (pictured above) in my opinion, owns the record for most humorous attempt of cheating in any NASCAR race. Sterling Marlin, at the Daytona 500 in 2002, was just barely involved in an accident with six laps remaining. As a result of the accident, the race was red flagged and all the cars were stopped on the backstretch with Marlin in 1st place. His crew told him to get out and assess the damage but Marlin made the ultimate mistake. He tugged on the fender and immediately was black flagged. As a result, Marlin finished a disappointing 8th place and missed out winning his 3rd Daytona 500.

In any sport, athletes try to gain whatever advantage they can to finish better than their competitors. Granted some of these instances aren't as blatant as what happened Saturday night after the Nationwide Series Race, but just what makes them think they can get away with this? Will teams continue to cheat if NASCAR gets tougher on them and begins to actually eject them from races instead of fines and point deductions which have obviously not worked up to this point?

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