NASCAR exec and drivers are upset by a recent article
by SI's Steve Rushin, which was "less than complimentary" of
the sport, according to Mike Mulhern of the WINSTON-SALEM
JOURNAL. NASCAR found the article reviewing the Daytona 500
to be "more sarcastic and biting than tongue-in-cheek," as
it "takes people in the sport to task for improper English
usage and their accents," as well as criticism of CBS
analyst Buddy Baker, who Rushin writes sounds "like Strom
Thurmond shot full of novocaine while eating Saltines during
larynx surgery." Baker: "I really believe I don't owe
anybody an apology for being a Southerner." Driver Dale
Jarett, on Rushin's article: "It does upset me, because we
have worked hard for the image of our sport ... you don't
pick up the paper and read about us getting out of jail. So
far as I'm concerned, he can stick it" (WINSTON-SALEM
JOURNAL, 2/20). In Charlotte, Poole & Utter reported that
NASCAR President Bill France Jr. has written a letter to the
magazine, while copies of Rushin's piece were handed to
drivers and team officials in Rockingham, NC (CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER, 2/20). In his column, Rushin wrote that after
attending a race, he "inferred" that racing fans "fell into
one of two categories: tattooed, shirtless, sewer-mouthed
drunks; and their husbands." Rushin writes that "the
entire" Daytona 500 weekend was "a linguistic revelation,"
as he had "never heard the phrases 'tar fire' (tire fire),
'cow shin' (caution) or the proper pronunciation of
'gentlemen' (it rhymes with 'cinnamon')" (SI, 2/22 issue).
