When You Fight The Law, The Law Wins
2/03/2014
PattyKay Lilley
At least
that's what we're told in an old Crickets song about cops and robbers. It kind of runs in the same vein as, "It's not nice to fool
Mother Nature." Some things in life just shouldn't be messed with.
Boss spelled backwards is Double-sob, but that doesn't change the fact that the
boss is still the boss, and the law, no matter who wrote it, is still the law
and as such, should be heeded and obeyed. To do otherwise can and does bring
swift and generally unpleasant consequences.
So...
where is all that going? What is it the Lady is cooking up this morning, and
whatever does it have to do with racing? Well, gather 'round gentle readers,
and I'll tell you about a law that all too often makes its way to the fore,
rather rudely and unexpectedly. It is, in fact, known as the Law of Unintended
Consequences, and those that fail to heed that law may pay a steep price for
their transgressions. To be sure, occasionally an unintended consequence turns out to be a good thing for some or even many. Play-Doh, for example, was originally compounded as a wall-paper
cleaner, but found a far better use in the hands of several million children
since the 1950s when it was reformulated as attractively colored modeling clay.
Penicillin was discovered when Alexander Fleming went on vacation and returned
to find that mold had killed all the bacteria in a Petri dish left unattended
in his absence.
With
regard to racing, the Law of Unintended Consequences has seldom produced a good
effect other than the one intended. One good example were
the Gen-3 cars... those smaller, fleeter, shorter wheel-based beauties of the
early 80s. Born almost of necessity, as the price of gas rose to make that
commodity a premium purchase, they did indeed race faster as well as delivering
better gas mileage to the driving public. In fact, they raced far too fast for
their aerodynamic shape to take a firm hold on Mother Earth. This was when crew
chiefs, drivers and race fans all learned that cars did not need wings to
fly... and they spent the next two decades bringing them back to terra firma.
In the
decade just past, we saw the introduction of the COT, which in itself turned
out to be an unintended consequence... a short, stout little trooper with a
splitter, wings and other things unfamiliar to stock car fans, once described
to me by a dear friend as a "pregnant roller skate." The intentions
were good; this was to be the safest car ever run under a NASCAR sanction,
following the death of Dale Earnhardt, arguably the best driver that ever
buckled into a racecar. Oh, it was safer... but it wouldn't have any part of
being racy. When running behind another short stout little COT, the car
developed what has come to be known... and dreaded... as "aero-push."
It proved to be almost impossible for those cars to pass one another. Even
though the COT is gone and the Gen-6 cars have taken over on the track, the
aero-push lives on... certainly a most unintended consequence.
And so
we come to what your scribe suspects you've been expecting and waiting for since you began
reading here... the Chase. Instituted back in 2004, a year you've heard cited
here on numerous occasions, the Chase played havoc with the way NASCAR crowns a
Champion. In its ten years of existence, the powers that be have seen it
necessary to make radical changes to the format of said Chase four times, and
this off-season brought number five! Each change has attempted to fix one of
those unintended consequences, but they keep right on happening, until last
year, NASCAR's CEO felt it necessary to step in and extend the Chase field from
12 to lucky 13... "Because I can." When that
becomes the criteria, it's about time for this old school fan to step away...
not from racing, but from NASCAR.
The dog
pile of rules and conditions set down this past week by Brian France are said
to be simple, and key on winning. To that, one can only answer, "Yes,
there really can be too much of a good thing." Readers by the dozens have
contacted me with scenarios of "what happens if this happens?" Or,
"How about if so and so does such and such; where does that leave him or
her in regards to the Chase?" The combination of happenings is endless and
multipliable by 43 to infinity. This is a mess guaranteed to happen; there's no
getting away from it. The most interesting part of all should be watching for
that Law of Unintended Consequences to show up again and again, like an
unwanted guest at a wedding.
And
that, gentle readers, is what this scribe intends to do... sit back and watch
the show. I can give you column after column from 2004, in which everything
that happened with the Chase was predicted. My entire Lady in Black column then
centered around the "Chase for No
Sponsorship." How's that working out? Today, there aren't enough full-time
teams left to fill the field, yet the sanctioning body seems hell-bent on
chasing away even more. (Pun intended) Let one or two of the biggest names be
eliminated in that first round and you'll be hearing from some mighty big money
by way of sponsorship being withdrawn. When it comes down to Homestead, only 4
sponsors of the entire roster are going to be smiling, and the ratio of happy
fans will be about the same.
This is
NOT anything akin to the "final four" in basketball, despite it
having been described as a "bracket system." That consists of
contests between two sets of teams only. The rest of the NCAA is NOT on the
field at the same time! In NASCAR, those other 39 cars are there in every race.
As long as that is the case, the word "elimination" does not apply. Sorry,
but words have meanings... and elimination, according to my Thesaurus, is equal
to removal, abolition, purging, exclusion, taking away, eradication or
riddance. All of those quite definitely mean GONE! Yet,
"eliminated" cars race on. Get a life!
So
gentle readers, no predictions are forthcoming here. Your hostess will sit back
like the rest of you and watch the comedy unfold... and it will. There are SO
many things that have not been thought through here, and the number of things
that could go wrong is exponential. Brian France and NASCAR have fought the
law... of unintended consequences. Any bets on a winner?
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay
[email protected]