Published: December 18, 2007 10:23 pm            

de la BASTIDE: Gifts under the tree

Who’s been naughty and nice in the racing world?

The Christmas season is rapidly approaching and NASCAR drivers have plenty of available cash to purchase gifts for friends and family members.

But what would Santa Claus bring competitors and promoters for the holiday?

It used to be when children were bad during the year, they would wake up on Christmas morning to find a bag of coal left by the jolly old elf from the North Pole. There are several drivers that should anticipate that Santa has a gift for the antics during 2007.

First on the list of drivers that have been naughty during the year is Michael Waltrip. Waltrip got caught cheating twice by NASCAR officials that discovered an unknown substance in his Toyota before the running of the Daytona 500. Can you say jet fuel?

Naturally Waltrip denied any knowledge of the placement of the substance in his car. NASCAR gave him a break by not disqualifying the team for the entire Daytona 500 weekend and allowed him to make the event through the qualifying races.

Waltrip’s season was effectively ended right then and there. But he continued to complain all year about how NASCAR should change how qualifying is done to give his three cars a chance to make races. For the cheating and complaining little Mikey gets a bag of coal.

Next on the list is Robbie Gordon for throwing a temper tantrum at the first race in Canada for the Busch Grand National Series. Granted Gordon might have had a beef when his car was spun out during a caution period, but he made it worse by remaining upfront, taking out the leader and then acting like he won the race.

Instead of sitting Gordon down for a couple of weeks, NASCAR let him off easy. First Waltrip and then Gordon were given get out of jail cards by officials.

Formula One czar Bernie Ecclestone also deserves a bag of coal from Santa for his failure to reach an agreement with Tony George and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to keep the F1 cars at the track.

The FI presence in Indy was not always full of bliss. There were the tire issues that parked the majority of the field and then the team orders from Ferrari that changed the outcome of a race.

Ecclestone should have given Hoosiers a break by keeping an F1 race in America. Now Bernie is taking his series to that hot bed of racing — India. I bet they sell a lot of high end cars along the Ganges river.

Santa should wrap up a victory early in the 2008 season for Dale Earnhardt Jr. with his new Hendrick Motorsports Team. Earnhardt suffered through a horrible season with the team founded by his late father and operated by the Wicked Witch of the South — his stepmother, Theresa.

Tony Stewart deserves a special gift for hosting the Dream at Eldora Speedway and putting the race on pay for view. The great part of the event was that almost $1 million went to the Victory Junction Gang Camp for children in North Carolina. With Gibbs Racing moving to Toyota in 2008 from Chevrolet, Santa should let the Rushville Rocket score the first victory for the Japanese automaker.

In the same vein Petty Enterprises deserves competitive race cars next year for Kyle’s opening the camp in memory of his late son, Adam. It would be particularly special to see “The King” have a car in victory lane.

A ride for 2008

Several Indiana drivers lost their Nextel (Sprint) Cup rides for 2008 through no fault of their own. David Stremme and Tony Raines should find a contract under their Christmas tree for a ride in a NASCAR series next year.

Andy Hillenberg, who purchased the North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, deserves good racing and a packed grandstand for the events he stages at the track next year.

A victory

Local sprint car owner Larry Contos is due to score a victory in the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway. Contos has been trying to win the classic for several decades. A win with Kokomo’s Shane Cottle driving the car would be extra special.

Local promoters of Indiana race tracks also deserve a season of packed grandstands for their continued battle to compete with the ever increasing NASCAR race dates at night.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.