The NASCAR Drivers Council last week took the "unprecedented action of denouncing" a $35,000 fine the racing circuit fined Tony Stewart for critical comments about a rule change, going so far as "offering to help Stewart pay for it," according to David Scott of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The suddenly "hot-button issue of lug nuts is what got Stewart in hot water with NASCAR." But it is the "principle behind Stewart's ability" to disagree with the rule "that brought him the support of his fellow racers." Driver and council member Denny Hamlin said, "It's about us believing we have the right to express our opinion." Scott noted the Council's job is to "bring the drivers' perspective to issues surrounding the sport." It is "mostly about finding common ground among the drivers, owners and NASCAR" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/23). Hamlin said, "It kind of shows a unity amongst us. It really has nothing to do with lug nuts. ... It's more so the drivers believe that they have the right to express their opinion, especially when asked in an interview. We try to do our best to give honest answers." He added, "There should be a little bit of leniency there . ...This was a way for us to send a message back to NASCAR that we believe we should have the right to speak our opinion." ESPN.com's John Oreovicz wrote while NASCAR is "still a benevolent dictator with a rulebook that pretty much allows it to fine anyone who says anything detrimental to the sport, there are signs that the situation is changing." The existence of the Race Team Alliance and the Drivers Council and the "fact that NASCAR appears to actually listen to them are developments that could not have been imagined in the days" when NASCAR Founder Bill France or his son Bill France Jr. "were running the show." NASCAR rarely "changes its position on any issue, but it appears in this case that drivers publicly airing their concerns about safety could force its hand" (ESPN.com, 4/22).
