No Penalties for Harvick, Nemechek - NASCAR getting the picture?

The fans love it. It adds excitement to any sport. Players just going out there and doing their jobs is, well, boring. You want their personalities to come out. You want to see them smile and applaud and cheer and grunt and scream and cry.

Tell me who doesn't enjoy Roger Clemens post game interviews when one gets away from him? Or seeing Lou Pinella throw a tirade? Who didn't laugh when then Knicks head coach Van Gumby clung like a rag doll to Alonzo Mourning's leg? The fans love this sorta stuff.

Additionally, the league does not have to always step in during these scenarios. A lot of it is handled under a gentlemen's agreement on the field. You hit a homer off of Clemens, you'd better now show him up. Your next time up at bat may find you ducking out of the way of a 90mph fastball into the earhole. In baseball, it's understood, you plunk my guy for no reason then I plunk yours.

NASCAR apparently has lost sight of this. They fine drivers money AND championship points if they peform any acts detrimental to the sport. Yes that vague language is exactly how it is stated in the rule book. If you ask me, Brian Vickers should be fined for bumping Mike Bliss, and spinning him during the final 100 yards of the Nextel Open. That got him a spot for the All-Star race. Then going on to finish 3rd. His actions were detrimental to the sport, especially Mike Bliss. NASCAR should fine him and make him share his winnings with Mike Bliss.

NASCAR understands that we want to see more than just the on track stuff. They have shows like NASCAR Nation and NASCAR Drivers: 360. They also have NASCAR This Morning, Trackside, Victory Lane, and NASCAR Nextel Cup Live. All of these shows let us capture more about our drivers. But when the same driver takes it upon himself to let his emotions show during a race he is penalized.

NASCAR did get it right this time around. During a restart in the All-Star race, Nemechek and Harvick ended up together. No one knows for sure what happened but it was a racing incident. Some drivers had tires some didn't, so some spun on the restart and the accordion affect, and about half the field was wrecking. After the melee, Harvick had a few choice words for Nemechek. He also asked him to check his HANS device to make sure it was ok. I was loving it. Some shoving, some throwing of equipment, some name calling. I was, of course, screaming for more. You could tell both drivers knew that NASCAR's heavy hand was waiting to swat at them and stick them with a fine if their actions were detrimental to the sport.

However, it seems that this time they are not going to fine the drivers. I guess that the format of the All-Star race breeds these kinds of actions. It's a winner take all sort of race. The difference between first and second place is about $700,000. 1 Million dollars goes to the winner and about $300,000 goes to the first loser. Drivers will claw their way to the front for all the money that is at stake. Thefore, at least for this one night, racing clean is actually what is detrimental to the sport.