When drivers complain, just shut up and listen

Greg Biffle gathered a few car parts under his arm and drove literally across the street, from the headquarters of Roush Fenway Racing to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. He walked in without an appointment and asked to see Robin Pemberton, the circuit's vice president for competition.

Soon the Nextel Cup driver found himself in a meeting room with not only Pemberton, but officials from all three of NASCAR's national series. He was there to try to find out why his No. 16 car had been found too low in inspection following the race at Bristol the preceding Sunday. And he wanted to know what was being done about the protective foam in the Car of Tomorrow, which was showing an alarming tendency to melt.

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The surprise visit paid dividends. Soon NASCAR technical director Steve Peterson was at the Roush shop, inspecting the damage to the right side of Biffle's car. It was one of the first signs of a wider problem -- the protective foam in the right side of the Car of Tomorrow becoming overheated because of its proximity to exhaust pipes -- that affected several teams at Bristol.

Once his weekly competition meeting at Roush Fenway was completed, Biffle could have taken the rest of the day off. He could have gone home to play video games, jetted off to some remote Caribbean island, or done whatever it is that drivers do when they're not at the racetrack. Instead, he chose to knock on NASCAR's door and ask some questions. He did the exact opposite of what some believe drivers should do with the Car of Tomorrow -- just shut up and drive.

Which, of course, is the worst thing he could have done. Shut up and drive is a selfish, archaic mindset held by those who don't believe drivers are capable of acting on their own behalf, who can't separate the seriousness from bluster, who want to see the show go on regardless of the consequences. Shut up and drive keeps problems hidden. Shut up and drive lets problems fester. Shut up and drive can put drivers at risk.

Sure, drivers are picky, often superstitious, usually idiosyncratic sorts who want to find something that works and stick with it. They often have difficulty adjusting to change, or resist it altogether. At times, they're just flat-out wrong -- like those few holdouts who resisted using the Head and Neck Support (HANS) device, believing it was too bulky or restrictive, until NASCAR made it mandatory in late 2001. In the years since, it's saved untold drivers from serious injury. (Continued)