NASCAR's punishment unequal

The Judicial Branch of the NASCAR Nation was busy last week, levying fines and suspensions, and docking points in the wake of the Las Vegas Nextel Cup race.

Call me crazy, but I fail to see the logic in some of the penalties. The Hendrick cars of Jimmy Johnson and Kyle Busch, which finished 1-2, were heavily penalized for relatively minor infractions that could have occurred inadvertently as the result of adjustments during the course of the race. The 48 Team's $35,000 fine is ten grand more than that levied on Kevin Harvick's crew chief, Todd Berrier, for a blatant, deliberate cheating incident in qualifying.

It's like assessing a harsher penalty for a parking violation than for armed robbery! All three teams lost 25 Championship points. Berrier was suspended for four races, and Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus and Busch's crew chief Alan Gustafson each received a two-race suspension. Rick Hendrick is appealing the penalties levied against his cars, so Knaus and Gustafson will be in the pits at Atlanta today pending appeal. Look for them to sit out Bristol and Martinsville, because NASCAR's penalty rulings are overturned on appeal about as often as Morgan Shepherd wins a race these days.

NASCAR has escalated penalties in recent seasons because fines have had little deterrent effect. In fact, the points penalties don't seem to be much of a concern, at least this early in the season. The suspensions may get some people's attention, but what if they don't? What's next, public floggings, stonings, and hangings? It's gonna get interesting.

Racers keep getting younger and younger. I get a kick out of the little guys and gals, 4 years old and up, who race the Outlaw karts locally. Some of them get to be pretty good before they're out of elementary school. Now, big-time teams are reaching out to youngsters who show promise.

Look at Kyle Busch, who finished second at Las Vegas last weekend at only 19 years of age. Last Tuesday Roush Racing named four drivers to its development program, including two 14-year-olds! Roush's unique program, which incorporates an audition process called the "gong show" has produced some outstanding young talent, the most recent being Roush Craftsman Truck Series driver Todd Kluever.

One of the new youngsters is Joey Logano, 14, who has raced in the Bandolero and Legends programs against Mark Martin's son Matt, and has already run some ASA events. Marc Davis is the other 14 year old in the program. If the trend continues, it won't be long before NASCAR teams are checking out ultrasound and amniocentesis results to identify promising embryos!

Speaking of young drivers, the Legislature is considering several bills to put restrictions on teen drivers. One of the problems is that teens are never taught to properly handle a car, or how to react in emergency situations. But there is a solution right here in Northern Nevada.

It's the Next Level Driving School's Teen Driving Program at the Reno-Fernley Raceway road course. The school provides a safe, controlled environment for teens to learn things about driving they won't get anywhere else. The class focuses on car control, driver safety, and situational awareness with exercises on the skid pad, the paddock area, and the road course.

"How to drive a stick shift" is one of the classes offered, and one I highly recommend. There are one and two-day classes at a cost of $195 per day. Instructors are licensed professional racecar drivers. Students can use their own (or dad's) car, or they can rent a school car. Classes will be held on weekends for the remainder of March, and then will shift to a weekday after-school schedule once we switch to daylight saving time in April.

While I'm still not a fan of the NASCAR Nation show on the SPEED Channel, I am happy that the network has signed Bob Jenkins to co-anchor SPEED News. Jenkins has spent nearly 30 years as a Motorsports announcer, mostly on ESPN and ABC, and I always found him to be one of the most professional, thoughtful, and lucid of the breed. I won't be watching much of NASCAR Nation, but I will be tuning in to SPEED News on a regular basis.