The 'Voice of God'

By Shirley Buttacavoli

I’m sure everyone has seen and/or read about the “incident” between Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards that occurred during lap 32 at the Pocono 500 Sunday afternoon. And I’m sure everyone has their opinion. I won’t get into that subject. However, Tony made a statement Monday stating he took “100% responsibility.” I applaud him for doing so.

But what got me thinking about the “Voice of God” was the statement Tony made Sunday that things would be different if the #3 was “policing the garage area.”

Should a driver – even Dale Earnhardt – be the individual to police the garage?

For those that watched Inside Nextel Cup last night, you probably heard the conversation between Carl Edwards and his crew chief after he spun Tony on pit road and received his one lap penalty. I’m paraphrasing, but basically Carl was adamant that what he did was no worse than what Tony did. That all changed when Jack Roush got on the radio and told Carl to settle down. I think Carl’s last words were: “yes sir.”

But back to my question: if a driver should police the garage area. . .

Not too long ago, I believe it was Darrell Waltrip who made the statement that maybe the “Voice of God” needs to call drivers to calm them down and bring them back to reason. The “Voice of God” DW was referring to was Mr. Bill France, Jr. – NOT Brian – Bill. Do you not think that even a seasoned veteran would not stop and THINK about who was talking directly to them? He’d certainly get my attention.

I also remember a story about a conversation Mr. France and Dale had off the track. I’m sure Mr. Higgins or David Green could enlighten even further. But Dale wasn’t happy about something, and Mr. France reminded him of his yacht, his jet, his ranch, etc., and that it was because Dale was involved in NASCAR that he had these luxuries. Once again, Mr. France got his point across.

I believe if the “Voice of God” could have one-on-one conversations with drivers getting “out of control” on the track, that you might see a different demeanor from most, if not all of the drivers.

I wonder if Tony received a call from Mr. France if he would have ended his conversation with: “yes sir.”

And now is the time for everyone to correct any errors I may have made, and I thank you for doing so. The “Voice of God” doesn’t have my phone number, so I’m safe - until next week anyway - when I’m standing on the sacred ground of Daytona International Speedway!

Enjoy the weekend off!