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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
WALLACE: Team Orders
Watching Jamie McMurray finish in front of his teammate Carl Edwards on Sunday at Phoenix got me thinking...
Kenny Wallace  |  Posted November 12, 2008   Charlotte, North Carolina
Veteran NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace is an analyst for NASCAR RaceDay Built by the Home Depot and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. (Photo: Getty Images)

Watching Jamie McMurray finish in front of his Roush Fenway Racing teammate and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship contender Carl Edwards Sunday at Phoenix got me thinking.

Many were wondering why McMurray didn’t just pull over and let Edwards have his spot for the extra five points, a huge differential with Edwards vying for a championship. Amidst this, I couldn’t help but think but be reminded of Formula One racing.

In a 2002 F1 race in Austria, Rubens Barrichello was hands-down going to win the race but instead was given Ferrari team orders to pull over and let teammate Michael Schumacher around him for the victory to gain maximum points toward securing the championship. The race-fixing was so blatant that the FIA, F1’s sanctioning body, responded to the public criticism by banning team orders in a ruling that many say teams still subtly circumvent on the track. In fact, Ferrari has said they’d like to discuss rescinding the ban on team orders.

On NASCAR RaceDay this year, I talked with open-wheel and NASCAR car owners Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi. I asked each man why, if F1 and open wheel racing is so terrific, did they elect to come into NASCAR and race with us taxi cab drivers? Both responded it’s because NASCAR is the biggest and best show in the world.

F1 aficionados and fans always accuse NASCAR of operating like the WWF, saying NASCAR is just for show and is not real. Not to irritate the open wheel fans but … what constitutes a show in your opinion?

Wouldn’t you call a “show” a race in which Barrichello is forced to give up the win because the team ordered him to do so? That smacks of a staged show, a fixed race, to me. Hell, all they’re missing is the script.

But late in the NASCAR race at Phoenix, it would have been easy for car owner Jack Roush to order McMurray to give Edwards third place but he didn’t. If NASCAR was more about a desired and orchestrated finish, Roush would have done that. At Dover, the second race in the Chase, three of Roush’s drivers, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, were racing each other hard, beating and banging at the finish and crossed the line 1-2-3 because it’s all about the racing.

I debated this last weekend and now throw it out there for all open wheel and F1 fans. Do you really think NASCAR is a show? Yes, we have debris cautions and we try to make our races interesting. But for the sake of the staged “show,” why didn’t McMurray get the call to pull over for Edwards? Barrichello had to give up not only a position but a win so his teammate could secure the championship. That blows my mind. Edwards also was working toward a championship and needed every point he could get.

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear I love watching Formula One and I’m fascinated by the cars. I think they’re incredible.

But there is a distinct difference between F1 and NASCAR. In F1, it’s about the make of the car – the machine itself. How technical can we make it? They have used traction control at times; have had paddle shifters where they shift on the steering wheel with their hands; and use telemetry so they can adjust the car from the pits. In my opinion, F1 is about the make of the car, which is why fans fly their Ferrari flags and those of other manufacturers. They don’t make a big deal out of the driver like we do with NASCAR in the United States.

NASCAR is equally exciting but it’s about the car and the driver. You don’t see people flying Chevy and Ford flags often – they wave the driver or sponsor’s flag.

F1 drivers are always criticizing NASCAR, comparing us to wrestling but at Phoenix, we proved we’re not a phony and staged sport. In NASCAR, the best team gets the best position on the race track. In Formula One, the best team gets ordered to move over and let the second-best car pass. And I don’t know about you, but if my car owner told me to pull over for my teammate, I think I’d find another car owner.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Kenny Wallace is the driver of the No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, in which he has amassed nine career wins and 10 pole positions and finished in the top 10 in series points every full season he has competed. He also keeps the mood light and humorous each week as an analyst on NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. Currently in his 19th year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Wallace finished runner-up in the points in 1991 and is one of only four drivers to have won the Most Popular Driver award multiple times. He also has vast experience in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series over a span of 18 years and cites qualifying for and competing in this year’s 50th running of the Daytona 500 to be the highlight of his season. To learn more about Wallace or his Nationwide Series sponsor, please visit KennyWallace.com or BorderPatrol.gov


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