"Blog Extra August 8, 2010"

When reading Jim Donnelly's collaboration with Don Miller (retired VP Penske Racing South), I wasn't expecting to find out much more than what he did with Penske and the full fendered cars.

The book ("Miller's Time A Lifetime at Speed, Coastal 181 Publishing http://www.coastal181.com/) opened a window into the life of someone who changed the way drivers in all of auto racing make money. For it was Miller, working with Roger Penske, who put together what today would be looked at as a tiny trailer with what at the time was called "trinkets and trash" and discovered a revenue stream that, today insures racing drivers in all series a comfortable income--that is, of course the souvenir trailer. Miller was a drag racer of some repute, but was an even more effective marketer and builder of relationships. His relationship with the Captain's long time PR whiz Dan Luginbuhl, and what those two men would do to get the job done, were crucial to the success of Penske Racing.

Miller and Donnelly didn't sugarcoat the incident at Talladega in 1974 which cost Miller's right leg, and left him with injuries that plagued him through the years. Those would have sidelined a less dedicated person.

The most interesting facet of this book is the relationship building; not just those with Roger Penske, the Goodyear tire people, sponsors, drivers, media and fans--it includes the relationship he built, and maintains with Pat, his wife of some 48 some years. Some were fruitful, others not so much.

The net proceeds from this book are pledged to help fight child abuse and neglect in the Carolinas, which is reason enough to buy it. The other is for the window that Miller and Donnelly opens into the world of big time stock car racing.

We'll also link to Coastal181 (who's published books with Ken Schrader and the racing equivalent of the Eveready Energizer Bunny, Kenny "Herman" Wallace) from our listener page. That link is http://bit.ly/pHP28 .

Now more comments.

If a person or organization has built a relationship on openness and candor, then it causes the parties in the relationship--be they customers, fans, employees, contractors or competitors--cognitive dissonance when the first party in the relationship backs away from the openness and candor, and begins to suppress that in the name of protecting the "brand" or "relationship" (Our Twitter page says we tweet for thinkers; we've always blogged that way, and encourage you to research cognitive dissonance). Hint: it concerns perception and reality and the differences between what you think, and what really is.

If a party to a relationship backs away from candor, or punishes it, it begs some questions:

1. 
   
   Can the relationship ever regain full trust?


2. 
   
   What is the other party hiding?


3. 
   
   Is the relationship mutually beneficial, or is the other party trying to exert unfair control over the other party, when confronted with a show of equal power?

Let me state for the record that NASCAR is a private organization, and can do or say anything they please that is legal--and will most likely continue to do so. Their past history shows that they like to have a "gotcha" sanction and vague hammer that they can hold over the independent contractors who drive and compete in their series (Rule 12-A actions detrimental to stock car racing, and the absolute lack of specificity in all but the construction of the cars that compete in its series).

One does not build trust for the long run by having "gotcha's" in a relationship, be it personal or business. When Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, there were no vague clauses--just simple, measurable, definable rules on a tablet for all to see.

NASCAR--get back to being Moses, and not a Pharisee.

Comments are welcomed, and moderated for propriety, grammar and length. The best ones may be mentioned on a future "Race-Talk" program.

"Mayfield Wins Injunction, but at What Cost"

Jeremy Mayfield, as I'm sure you now have read elsewhere, has prevailed for the moment and can now resume driving in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series until the court cases have been decided, or NASCAR decides to appeal the ruling handed down in Federal District Court in Charlotte, to the Appeals Court located in Richmond.

The defense used by his legal team will be familiar to those people who may have beat a charge of driving under the influence--bring up as much doubt as possible about the validity of the testing and care of the sample. Where this gets twisted is that the sanctioning body (NASCAR) has NO, repeat, NO published list of banned substances. The sanctioning body says they want flexibility to be able to test for anything. Therein lies the rub.

NASCAR has been notorious for using "gotcha" clauses to mete out its punishment. Section 12-4 (a) (the infamous actions detrimental to stock car racing) can be invoked for any reason. The lack of a published list of banned substances is again a "gotcha". That is the reason that you will see the "lash of NASCAR justice" tag here, or hear it on my "Race-Talk program when I am describing the sanctioning body's disciplinary actions.

NASCAR is certainly within its rights to allow or not allow drivers or participants to drive or participate, and suggested that Federal drug testing regulations (which include lists of banned substances) do and should not be applied to its operations.

Those "gotcha" clauses are patently unfair. How does one know how not to break a rule, when the rule is a moving target and can be changed at any time? Moses knew that instinctively when the Ten Commandments were written in stone. More importantly, this is a trust issue.

If an organization resorts to ambiguous language in its dealings, then that organization ultimately has only its own best interests at heart; pious blatherings to the contrary. Do the interests of any organization have more primacy than the legal, ethical and moral rights of the individuals involved? There's nothing wrong with properly directed self-interest; that's the force that makes entrepreneurs survive. When self-interest is improperly directed whether by organizations or individuals, bad stuff happens.

The inspection process has for years been referred to as the "room of doom". Were I employed by Mr. Mayfield as a crew chief, or if I were an owner and considered him for a relief driver, I would make damned sure that every facet of the car conformed 100 percent to the portion of the NASCAR rule book that is in black and white. Even then, with the "gotcha" clause, cars could still flunk--and receive big fines--that would make Carl Long's indiscretions look like schoolyard follies. Would NASCAR do that? Very likely--they have done so in the past to send messages. Would Mayfield's legal team go to court to have that struck down? It'd be like a baseball player taking an umpire to court over a called third strike--a judgement call. No court would ever rule on a judgement call by a sporting official.

Mayfield will likely be tested every time he appears on track--I don't have a problem with that. It is his chance to prove his innocence and start to regain the trust of the garage area, which, for whatever reason, has been bruised. We will likely never know with any degree of certainty if Mayfield was using meth, as NASCAR alleges. If Mayfield did, he got a major league wake up call and break to get and stay straight. If he did not, Mayfield's reputation has been damaged--perhaps beyond repair--and needs to be made whole.

"Acid-Dipped Racecars? Too Much RedBull?"

Quick take from the NASCAR Justice department: The Red Bull #83 team got a major handslap because of some irregularities in the way the bodies were hung on the Car of Tomorrow. Driver Brian Vickers was whacked 150 driver points...crew chief Kevin Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad both were given a "time out" from NASCAR tracks (but not the shop...) and General Manager Jay Frye was doing the NASCAR version of the Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa ( Latin for My Fault, My Fault, My Most Grevious Fault) when the news broke. A major lash of NASCAR Justice, IMHO. Dieter Mateschitz was fined $150,000 (about an hours worth of US sales of the energy drink +/-).

The irregularities included thinner than 24 gauge sheet metal on the bodies. NASCAR did not confiscate the chassis, but sawed off the sheet metal and returned that chassis to Red Bull.

Hamlin will have a lot of time to figure out the chassis back at the shop while he is laboring in NASCAR Purgatory (a/k/a indefinite suspension).