 |
Gordon (r) Would Like To See Quarterly
Driver Meetings To Discuss Hot Topics |
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart's criticism of Goodyear tires last week after the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway "set off a weeklong discussion ... about what role competitors should play in helping set the sport's policies," according to David Poole of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. In such discussions, the "idea of a drivers' union inevitably comes up." Poole: "There should be a more formal, structured way for drivers to have input in the key decisions in NASCAR's top series." Driver Jeff Gordon: "I would like to see NASCAR have like a quarterly meeting where they bring all the drivers into a room and bring up hot topics. ... This going up into the trailer one at a time and one guy says the exact opposite of the ... next guy ... I think all it does is confuse them.'' Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that "drivers need to have a voice." Earnhardt: "The main situation is that you as a driver, you have a hard time listening and believing someone that has never been behind the wheel trying to tell you what needs to happen out on the race track or how things need to be. Atlanta is just a reminder of that really, that the drivers' opinions matter." Driver Dale Jarrett said, "I think that the drivers need to be represented and NASCAR needs to understand that it's not that we're tellling them how to go about their business, but helping them to understand how we can have better races"
(CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/16). However, NASCAR PR Manager Kerry Tharp said that the “current system remains effective.” Tharp: "NASCAR always has had an open-door policy and always will. Drivers, owners, and crew chiefs are regularly in communication with our sport's leadership. It is a system that has worked and continues to work well" (
ESPN.com, 3/14).
