Cautions and the Evil of Social Media
By Richard Tix
Hot Laps will be a weekly article on news in the world of NASCAR. I will write these articles any weeks where I have a thought or opinion on NASCAR news that is worth sharing. So, this could be an every week thing, or just every few weeks. Its an opinion piece, so it is open to discussion and debate and would love to here your thoughts.
Social Media's Monster in the Corner of the Room
I touched base a bit on this topic in my Pit Road Week 5 Article, but thought it was bigger then just a race review article. We are now in the day of technology, for better or worse. Lately I have seen the worst side come out and it happens all too much.
Sports stars and Celebrities have come to grips with the fact that social media and social media attention is now a part of there lives if they so sign up for it. They know what comes with the territory and normally they take it in stride.
However, there are two sides to social media and interaction. Many "fans" forget that even though they now have free rain to try and contact a driver at any moment over a social media platform that the they're still human. Within the technology and the screen sitting in front of these "fans" they lose sense of being a good person and individual.
Name calling starts coming which leads to even more vulgar statements. Pictures and memes start to circle around like a note in Kindergarten making fun of the kid with glasses. Sometimes it even goes as far as other family members or significant others getting pulled into the classless name calling.
All because people can sit behind a screen and never be seen? They can act like the tough guy because nothing will come of it? They can steal some attention because not only might that driver see it but they can maybe stir up the fan base as well. It really comes down to a sad reality that some people can stoop so low as to immature name calling and vulgarize statements. The worst thing might be is many of these "fans" teach there own children not to do this stuff to fellow friends or classmates, yet sit on there personal device to attach a driver they don't even know other then what they openly share with us.
You can have your opinion on a driver or NASCAR personality, you can dislike them, hate them, bring up reason's you think they're not good at there job, all of those are opinions. But what is with the second grade level name calling? Memes? You are degrading yourself even if these people on social media never meet you. Have a little pride in how you hold yourself accountable in day to day interactions with people you have physical and personal relationships with or those in the cyber world, because in the end we are all people.
To Debris or not Debris?
After the Auto Club 400 the Debris issue came to NASCAR's forefront. It has always been there, but now its a hot topic again. That's because on Sunday NASCAR threw a handful of debris cautions and fans got upset because of NASCAR's lack of clarity.
It also heated up because they came late in the race and may have altered the finish.
So, when does NASCAR throw a debris caution and when will they not? Everyone blames NASCAR when they do not see a shot of the debris on the track. Most of the time the anger comes more from the fans of drivers effected. So, it varies every time how upset a fan gets.
Just like NASCAR and throwing the yellow. Every debris caution is different as well as every late race spin or wreck. I think if fans were in NASCAR's shoes they would have just as hard of a time pulling or not pulling the trigger on ANY late race caution.
In the end, its a judgement call by officials that is made in a matter of seconds when they actually pull the trigger. It is not just a NASCAR thing either. Every Sport comes down to judgement at some point by an officiating crew even when that sport uses instant replay. At some point some finish will come down to judgement and going by the book. Sometimes even the book is hard to read which lead to fans saying there is no clarity or consistency. Just see the SMU game in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, fan judgement v officials judgement v rules.
So, in my opinion sometimes you have to roll with it. Now, I am one that still will argue when i think a call is wrong, but after awhile I have to move on because it isn't worth fighting something that came down to human judgement. So, have at it when discussing the ruling on Sunday, but don't blame NASCAR for every problem every time something happens, sometimes you can do nothing about human judgement except roll with it.
Side Note on the Last Caution (due to Biffle): This was completely different than the Daytona incident. At Daytona Larson was in the wall and the medical crew wasn't sure if he needed attention. It was a hard hit and they had to act right away. With Biffle it wasn't a hard hit and he eventually drove off the track before the cars got back or near him.
In fact, the whole field made it past where he spun and had no incident. Maybe you can try and fight the fact that there could have been some debris left over from Biffle, but they had no incident and with one pass by there wasn't a big concern. The other debris caution in question was with around 15 laps to go (I believe) and would have time to cut a tire AND have time for that tire to wear down. But, I do see some peoples argument that Biffles' car could have sprayed debris. The only thing we know there is nothing came of it and all the drivers made it back safe.
Martin Turex Jr. The Long Road Back
This one will be short and sweet, but I thought it was only right to continue to spotlight Martin Truex Jr and his return back to success. Ever since 2013 at Richmond life has been rough for he and his family, personally and professionally.
Well, he has started 2015 completely opposite as 2014. This year he has started with 5 straight top 10's. In 2014 he only had five total top 10's. He has also lead more laps in 2015 then he did the entire 2014 season and is currently 3rd in the points. The top 10 streak is bound to end at some point but it is great to watch while it continues.
Even when it ends, Truex and Furniture Row have shown they have bounced back and are ready to contend to make the Chase. Even more then that though, they have shown the fight that they could pull off a win or two and maybe even make a big run during the Chase.
It will be a fun run to watch all season! Good luck to Martin and the #78 team.
