September 20, 2011
By Doug Demmons
There was a great deal of indignation expressed last week over MenardGate.
Not over the fact that Paul Menard conveniently spun safely through the infield grass at Richmond after getting hitting by nobody just as his Childress teammate, Kevin Harvick, needed a caution to catch race leader Jeff Gordon.
Not over the fact that the entire incident earned the -Gate suffix that anything with a whiff of scandal acquires.
The indignation was over the very idea that anybody would suggest that such a thing -- team orders -- might go on in a fine sport like NASCAR and/or at a fine team like Childress.
But let’s get real. Team orders have been around as long as there have been teams.
It’s just human nature.
But just because it has gone on for a long time doesn’t mean it isn’t a fraud committed against racing fans or that a sanctioning body should turn a blind eye to it.
Team orders have eroded Formula One’s credibility on numerous occasions. Ferrari was fined $100,000 last year when Felipe Massa moved over to let teammate Fernando Alonso win a race.
And even this year Red Bull ordered Mark Webber not to try to pass teammate Sebastian Vettel during the British Grand Prix, an instruction Webber ignored.
It’s different in NASCAR, but drivers are not always on the track to compete for the best finish possible. Start-and-park teams tell drivers to pull in after a few laps. Some teams are formed for the express purpose of gathering information to help other teams.
Of course, what Menard was accused of doing was several steps beyond that. He was accused of affecting the outcome of the race.
Everyone at Childress denied that Menard was told to bring out the caution. Maybe it really was just coincidence. Maybe the fact that the team switched over to an encrypted radio channel just before the spin was also a coincidence.
NASCAR cleared the team of any violation of its rules. Of course, they didn’t have much choice. There was no evidence, no smoking gun.
Certainly not like when Dale Earnhardt Jr. fessed up after bringing out a caution to help his own cause.
“I can’t say that I’ve ever done anything compared to what Jeff was insinuating in his comments,” Earnhardt said at Chicagoland Speedway. “But, I’ve tried to help myself out by bringing out a caution so maybe that is about the same thing, I guess. I got in trouble though. If you do anything like that, you just can’t admit it.”
He learned his lesson -- keep your mouth shut.
The problem inherent in “MenardGate” is not so much whether the outcome at Richmond was tainted by unsportsmanlike behavior. It’s the fact that there is no way to determine what did or did not happen.
NASCAR had no choice but to wash its hands of the matter since there was no evidence. And Childress is unable to dispel the lingering suspicion among some fans that Menard took a dive to help Harvick because no one knows what was said or not said on the private channel.
The way to make sure this doesn’t happen again is to ban the use of encrypted radio communication completely. There are rules about when to use the private digital channels, but they aren’t exactly simple.
Here’s how Jimmie Johnson explained it:
“We use it so we can talk openly about a variety of things,” he said. “Strategy can be a part of that, things taking place during the race. I am on the digital radio when the car is parked. There is a rule there that the car has to be stopped and the engine off in order for us to use the digital radio. I will use it and speak on it during practice to talk about what we need to.
“During the race, I am not sure what level really takes place there. What happens for us is truthfully everybody in the pits is on the digital radio and then they scan the analog and then Chad (Knaus, crew chief), myself and the spotter talk on the analog. When I come in they literally unplug one radio and plug me into the digital so that I can join that conversation and as I leave to go out on the race track, Chad is typically thinking about his next change and will be instructing the guys get this ready, that ready maybe some conversation between he and the engineers about next steps and things like that. So that traffic is not in my ear while I am driving around.”
Got that? Does it sound like it would be ripe with potential for some teams to abuse?
Every channel used should be accessible.
If teams need to convey proprietary information, they’ll just have to wait until they get back to the garage. Safeguarding the integrity of the sport is a vastly more important goal.
Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at Blog of Tommorow
Follow Doug on Twitter: @dougdemmons
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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