[NASCAR] Jeff Gordon will force a rule change
For the last few weeks, we have heard about the controversy some folks are calling Bottlegate. Jimmie Johnson was fined last week for blocking the big, blue, Powerade bottle placed on the top of the car in Victory Lane. This following a warning from Mike Helton to the drivers not to mess around with promotional displays.
Jeff gordon upped the ante this week at Indianapolis when he didn't even go to Victory Lane. He did his interview at the start/finish line and didn't give the marketing slugs the opportunity to get the Powerade bottle on his car. Powerade is owned by Coca-Cola. One of Jeff Gordon's and Jimmie Johnson's primary sponsors is, coincidentally, Pepsi.
I fully expect NASCAR to institute a rule this week that the winner proceed directly to Victory Lane at the finish of the race. Meanwhile, a good race team with Jeff Burton is still looking for a sponsor thanks to NASCAR's selectively capitalistic and unjustifiably puritan policies. It's pathetic that it has come to this. NASCAR should be making rules concerning competition, not marketing.
UPDATE: Jayski is reporting that the likelyhood of Jeff Gordon getting a fine or penalty for his misbehavior is pretty slim. More selective enforcement from the boys down in Daytona. (10:00 CST, 8/9/04)
Jeff gordon upped the ante this week at Indianapolis when he didn't even go to Victory Lane. He did his interview at the start/finish line and didn't give the marketing slugs the opportunity to get the Powerade bottle on his car. Powerade is owned by Coca-Cola. One of Jeff Gordon's and Jimmie Johnson's primary sponsors is, coincidentally, Pepsi.
I fully expect NASCAR to institute a rule this week that the winner proceed directly to Victory Lane at the finish of the race. Meanwhile, a good race team with Jeff Burton is still looking for a sponsor thanks to NASCAR's selectively capitalistic and unjustifiably puritan policies. It's pathetic that it has come to this. NASCAR should be making rules concerning competition, not marketing.
UPDATE: Jayski is reporting that the likelyhood of Jeff Gordon getting a fine or penalty for his misbehavior is pretty slim. More selective enforcement from the boys down in Daytona. (10:00 CST, 8/9/04)
1 Comments:
Jeff Gordon won $518,053 for his win at the Brickyard 400. Dead last Jason Leffler, who only completed 3 laps, was awarded $116,359. Given that Coca-Cola sponsorship money helps to pay these winnings, I'd think Gordon et al. would be thrilled to have a blue Powerade bottle on top of their car. The real question is, which is more obnoxious, an unsolicited Powerade bottle on the roof, or a Lowes sign to hide the unsolicited Powerade bottle?
FWIW, I'd wear a blue bottle as a hat for a mere $100,000.
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