A Voice For The Fans ~ NASCAR Should Keep Fan Voting Fair For Everyone
5/19/2014
PattyKay Lilley
I bid you welcome gentle readers, and you as well, Mr. or Ms. assigned NASCAR reader. Today's missive will be concise and to the point, as it is Sunday as I type, the day some refer to as a "Day of rest." NASCAR, Mr. France, Mr. Helton, and I believe in this instance, Mr. Phelps, your fans, at least a large number of them, are both upset and confused today by the goings on in the fan vote for last Saturday's All-Star race. By the way, it was a great race for the most part, and congratulations to a deserving Jamie McMurray for his stunning victory and resultant $1 million and change in winnings.
Returning at once to the subject at hand, please allow me to state and affirm that I have no dog in this fight, not even a Shiba Inu. I do not, and have never participated in NASCAR voting for anything but the Hall of Fame, and for that I vote once per year. Today I broke that precedent and voted a second time, only to be sure I recalled correctly that there was NO Captcha required there to vote. Since I did not personally partake of the voting for the All-Star "Fan favorite", I have asked a plethora of folks that did if they recalled a Captcha on that vote and all said they did not.
As you know gentlemen, there was something strikingly different about this year's voting, and it centered on the eventual winner of said vote, Josh Wise. Some may ask, and fairly so, "Who is Josh Wise?" Josh is 31 years old, hails from Riverside California and has been in and around racing for some years now, having driven a few races in the ARCA series, one in the K&N Pro Series, a few in the Camping World Truck Series, 134 in the Nationwide Series and 79 in the Sprint Cup Series. He has never won a race in any of those series, and in Sprint Cup, which is what this conversation is concerned with, he has an average finish of 36.2 over 6 years, with no wins, no top-fives, no top-tens and no poles.
No reflection on Josh, whom I understand to be a nice guy, but those stats are not what one would think might prompt a groundswell of votes for the MPD, but this year was different. NASCAR dropped the ball on rules for voting. Mr. Phelps, I believe this one was in your court Sir, as head of NASCAR digital media... last I knew. The folks I have asked say that when they voted... most of them once, as that is how it's usually done in America... there was no Captcha present, but a statement from someone or someones unnamed but for Internet "handles" on reddit.com states that once the voting was underway a Captcha was added. Somewhere in there, one or the other is true, but it matters little, as the writer goes on to make point after point about how "legal" it was "according to your rules" and how they easily made actual racing fans appear foolish for even bothering to mess with such Internet gurus as this passel of teenagers... so suave and knowledgeable of all thing digital. You may read, as I'm quite sure you already have, the entire speech by clicking here.
You might have to click more than once, as it has changed several times already through last night and this morning.
Please note the friendly aura projected by referring to anyone not one of them as "Angry NASCAR fans." They feel they accomplished something by putting an unprepared racer in an All-Star race, and Mr. Phelps, we, the NASCAR fans, certainly hope they did. What we hope was accomplished is that the next vote, and all further voting on NASCAR related subjects, will be done in a properly moderated manner. Never mind unlimited voting, and certainly lose the double for mobile vote count. That is childish and silly. Your technicians know how to set both a Captcha and IP ID chip to allow only one vote per person. If not, I'd be happy to come over to Charlotte and show them... and I, Sir, am a 75-year old female fan.
I know I'm speaking here for a vast majority of NASCAR fans when I say that we did not enjoy having our sport... your sport... made the laughing stock of the sports world by this teen-age prank. Are we angry? Yes, I believe it's safe to say a large number of us are completely and totally pissed off, but not at the children perpetrating the ruse. No Sir, we are angry with you... with NASCAR, for allowing it to happen. The United States of America, where most reading this reside, has gone in most instances to computerized voting. Are we then to believe it is as easy as these kids say, to break through and destroy that privilege allotted to American citizens... the right to vote? Come on Steve, put our minds at ease. Issue a statement saying that NASCAR has seen the light and will henceforth handle voting in a fair and proper way. That's all your fans are asking... just a fair shake. In this case, it's really not about who wins or loses, but how the game is played.
To NASCAR, my gentle readers and teenagers from Reddit, please note that no names are mentioned in this article other than the driver concerned, and no Internet or counterfeit currency is the subject of this discussion, though that one might be brought up again at a later date. If either appear in comments, making it seem that I've said something other than what is here in clear black and white, the reader will be banned from commenting from here to eternity, and yes, I know how to do that too. This discussion concerns only Josh Wise and the voting method used to promote him.
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~ PattyKay