For NASCAR, Stewart's remarks aren't all negative

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- They come in every day by the bushel. Screeds and manifestos from that small but vocal minority within the NASCAR fan base that believes in Roswell and black helicopters and second shooters on a grassy knoll. They weave conspiracy theories so outrageous, you become convinced that NASCAR chairman Brian France is personally laying down spike strips so a Hendrick car can win.

Virtually every writer who covers NASCAR gets them, those e-mails riddled with spelling errors or randomly-placed uppercase letters, written in such a rush of anger that sometimes they hardly make sense. They claim NASCAR is fixed so Dale Earnhardt Jr. can win. Or Hendrick Motorsports can win. Or Juan Montoya can win. And so it goes, over and over, until your inbox is about to explode.

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These are people who claim to be disillusioned traditional fans of the sport, but somehow have slipped into X-Files territory. And Tony Stewart has whipped them into a frenzy.

Because by making comments on a satellite radio program earlier this week likening NASCAR to pro wrestling and questioning the validity of debris cautions, the two-time Nextel Cup champion gave an authoritative voice to those who believe series officials are manipulating events. It's a ridiculous notion, especially in a sport like NASCAR, where so much is out in the open, and secrets are near impossible to keep. But it's there. It's been there for a long time. And it slowly erodes the integrity of the sport, like dripping water erodes a rock.

Some have wondered if Stewart's comments, for which he was roundly chastised by series officials on Friday, have damaged the circuit's credibility. This is nothing new; like cheating scandals, credibility issues seem to arise every few years. Remember Jimmy Spencer, after Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 2001 Pepsi 400? Had Mark Martin been less tactful and the host of a radio program, the same furor could have erupted after the Daytona 500. Once on an official race report, the reason for a caution was listed as "TBD." Press box wags immediately deciphered it as "To Benefit Dale."

That level of eyebrow-raising cynicism has always been there, and in many ways is fostered by NASCAR itself through the inconsistencies and conflicts of interest that are rife throughout the sport. Throw a caution for a spring rubber, but not when Clint Bowyer's car goes upside down? Suspend one crew chief but not another? Everything is a judgment call. Everybody has a piece of the action. Drivers own other racecars, sisters of series chairmen run track conglomerates, team sponsors are also official sponsors of NASCAR. Penalties vary wildly. Everybody has a hand in everybody else's pocket.

In that kind of environment, true objectivity can be difficult to obtain. But there's a chasm between calls that are questionable and the manipulation of events, and it's as wide as the infield at Talladega Superspeedway.

In NASCAR, secrets are impossible to keep. Anybody with the proper credentials can watch inspection or walk into the NASCAR hauler to view confiscated parts. At some tracks, race control is next to the press box, with only a glass partition separating the two. Everybody talks. Everybody knows who's dating who, whose kid is battling an illness, who's building a new house. The garage is an open forum populated by hundreds of voices. You mean to claim that we know whose marriage is in trouble, but we don't know that the sport is fixed?

Stewart's arrival not what he expected

Stewart arrived at Talladega and immediately met with NASCAR officials to discuss his behavior and criticism of officials. In the end, the former champion was fined $10,000 and put on probation for the rest of the year.

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But the black helicopter crowd sees none of that. They see the sport through the eyes of television, whose cameras often struggle to find the piece of debris that causes the caution that hurts a driver's chances of winning the race. And then more conspiracy theories are born, and the vicious cycle perpetuates itself.

NASCAR isn't alone here. The NBA has a similar problem with people believing that officials make calls in the playoffs that favor the bigger-market teams, and that commissioner David Stern even rigged the 1985 draft lottery so the New York Knicks could choose Patrick Ewing at No. 1. One columnist for ESPN.com, a respected national Web site whose parent company is a league television partner, even wrote a piece speculating as to how Stern pulled it off. Thankfully, NASCAR's press corps has yet to begin hypothesizing in print on how Dale Jr. might have gotten the "special" restrictor plate.

The NBA fines players who publicly question whether officials are favoring one team. Although Stewart was fined $10,000 for skipping media duties after his runner-up finish last week at Phoenix, he wasn't hit with a penalty for his remarks on the radio program. And that's a good thing. Because his comments, however ill-founded, have forced everyone to speak openly about an issue that's only been whispered about for years.

Openness dispels myth. It shines light in shadowy corners. In their closed-door meeting on Friday, NASCAR's brass probably told Stewart in no uncertain terms that undermining the sport's credibility could land him back in the Indy Racing League. But on the way out the door, they should have given their two-time champion a pat on the back. Because he gave the sanctioning body a chance to indirectly return fire at all those conspiracy theorists watching from their living rooms, who can now go back to claiming that the Apollo moon landing was a hoax.