BSD Vol. 30: Turkey of the Year – What was the stupidest thing that occurred in the 2007 racing season?

Kris:  I think one of the stupidest things I can think of is when ABC took over the race coverage; there never was enough time for post-race interviews, etc… Unlike the extended post-race coverage after Homestead, most of the ABC post-race coverage was cut short due to the prime-time television schedule and I feel the fans got cheated. I don't recall NBC doing that. If TV execs are more interested in Extreme Home Makeover, Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters on Sunday nights, maybe they should relinquish the rights to broadcast NASCAR races. I also think some of the most stupid comments came out of Rusty Wallace’s mouth. Maybe over the off-season, he will learn how to pronounce people's names correctly.

Kimmie:  The F1 espionage case is at the top of the list for me.  When McLaren’s management became aware that their chief designer, Mike Coughlan, possessed some of Ferrari’s sensitive technical information, it immediately informed the series of the problem. The World Motor Sport Council could not censure McLaren because there was no proof the information was used.  Instead they imposed a $100 million fine and loss of all constructors’ points.  The moral of this story: crime pays, honesty doesn’t.

Brianna:  It has got to be Juan Pablo Montoya taking out his teammate for the Busch win.  What a turkey.  With that said, he is to be given credit for winning NASCAR Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year. 

Heather: I think the stupidest thing that happened in the 2007 season was the finish to the Daytona 500. On the last lap coming out of Turn 4, there was a crash. Given that NASCAR says they do not race back to the caution, Mark Martin SHOULD have been the winner, not Kevin Harvick. Even to this day, if there is a wreck on the last lap, the race is over. No one races back to the checkered flag.

Katy:  In my opinion, the stupidest thing that happened was everything ABC/ESPN did. I hated their coverage and their commentary annoyed me. Most of the time, I would just pull up my Raceview and put the TV on mute while I listened to one of my favorite drivers. They need to get some new people in there. I know they're already getting Rusty out, but there are a couple more I can think of that need to go, too. I say keep the pit reporters and get rid of everybody in the booth! Also, I know they do this every year, but just because there's only two people in position to win the championship, doesn't mean we only want to hear about those two people. There are 41 other cars out there.

Arianne:  My Turkey of the Year Award goes to NASCAR for their latest attempt to spice up the Chase format. In the words of Ben Franklin; “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  For the most part, the Chase is not favored by fans or racers so why did they think adding two more spots for the Chase would make a bit of difference.  In fact, the same guy won the whole thing and Dale Jr. still didn’t make it in.