NASCAR Nation by Chris Myers Page B

in the body shop without his knowledge.
    Still, many drivers are aware of what’s going on with their vehicles, and ultimately their name is attached to that car and their team. It is
their
reputation at stake. They have to ask themselves if those extra miles per hour are really worth it, and if they should sacrifice speed for safety. If a driver is branded as a cheater, no matter how fast he’s moving, that reputation will follow him for the rest of his career. It can take a lifetime to build a name for yourself in this sport, and just a matter of hours to lose it. Most teams look for that competitive edge, but they’re not going to cheat to get it. Drivers have too much to risk.
    In the early days of NASCAR, the driver was so involved and hands-on that he was part of the team fixing the car. Sometimes he knew the car better than they did. If there was cheating going on, he knew about that, too. However, back then, chances were that he didn’t care. NASCAR was a sport of rebels. The saying used to be: “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.” It was an accepted part of the game.
    Yet as the sport grew in popularity and the technology advanced, questions of safety began to be asked, and NASCAR started moving away from that mentality. The culture of cheating was very loud and clear, and I have to give credit to NASCAR for cracking down on it. They want teams to be innovative and competitive, but they don’t want to hear that old saying anymore.
    Nowadays teams are checking the manual and even studying it because NASCAR has been stricter.They know how to bring the hammer down. Their attitude is: if you’re going to play the game, it’s up to you to know the rules.
    In the case of flat-out cheating, the athlete has to ask themselves why they’re playing the sport and if it’s worth risking their reputation. The punishments for cheating used to be a lot more lenient; now that’s not the case. As much as there is an incentive to be the fastest one on the track and win at all costs, a team can get penalized very quickly – not only by NASCAR officials, but also by their sponsors and, most importantly, by their fans. It may seem like fans have less power than NASCAR officials, but when you think about who gives this sport its ratings, who buys the memorabilia, and who is essentially writing everyone’s paychecks, it’s the fans. If they collectively dislike a driver, that driver’s career will suffer considerably and could end altogether. Drivers have to choose between getting that extra speed and possibly tarnishing their reputation. They have to figure out how much that quick fix is worth.
    That quick fix, however, can be mighty tempting. Let’s say I walked up to you with a pill – something I had cooked up in my basement. Sure it’s illegal and contains all kinds of damaging substances … but what if I told you it could solve all your problems and get you ahead in life? Americans are always looking for a quick fix, a way to beat out the competition fast.Nowhere else in the world are get-rich-quick Ponzi schemes, lose-all-that-weight-in-a-week diets, and miracle pills so popular, which is why our infomercial market is so successful: it’s crammed with fast fixes. We want to throw dinner in the microwave and have it come out as a five-course meal.
    Our athletes aren’t any different. If someone could give them a pill that promised better performance instantly but shaved countless years off their lives, they very well might overlook the finer details concerning their health and well-being in order to succeed (even if it was cheating). There’s an old saying that is still whispered in modern locker rooms: it’s fine if you cheat, but not if you get caught. It’s all about whether or not you’re willing to take that risk. And that’s probably one risk drivers
shouldn’t
be taking.
    Sometimes,