Did the media miss the real story?

By Mike Harper

I love politics. If I’m not focused on racing, I’m focused on what’s happening in the political world. Call me a sucker for a good debate, but I enjoy listening to the opinions of politicians, pundits and the many voices found in the media. I also enjoy political strategies. I’ve been around long enough to notice successful or failed political or public relation strategies. It’s a game within a game.

This past weekend at Dover showed me that even in NASCAR, public relation strategies could be set in motion and put to the test. In this circumstance, I must ask if there was a strategy put forth by Richard Childress Racing to keep the focus on Bob Dillner’s SPEED Channel report from New Hampshire. If there was, then I’m darn impressed.

It’s kind of like NASCAR’s version of ‘Wag the Dog." Let me explain.

First and foremost, I’m not accusing RCR of anything. I’m only asking questions because I do find what happened at Dover to be very interesting.

Going into Dover this past weekend, two specific stories clouded RCR. The first was the Bob Dillner report about an issue during post-race inspection at New Hampshire the weekend before Dover. To be fair and honest, Dillner never accused RCR of cheating. He only reported information that was given to him. The accuracy of the report is debatable.

The second and in my eyes the more important issue surrounded a lawsuit against RCR by an ex-employee, who alleges RCR of wrongful termination, defamation and breach of contract. In the lawsuit the ex-employee also accuses RCR of cheating by claiming "Inserts were placed in the four outside corners of the cylinder head where the manifold is attached." According to David Poole’s report on ThatsRacin.com, "When tightened, the bottom of the bolts hit the inserts, leaving room for air to get between the intake manifold and cylinder head. Such air would get to the engine beneath the restrictor plate, which is designed to limit the flow of air. More air means more power, at least in theory."

The way that I look at it Dillner personally never accused RCR of cheating, however there is in fact a lawsuit in Mecklenburg County superior court doing just that – cheating.

Now to be fair, I could care less if RCR did what the ex-employee is accusing them of doing. If RCR played the game and got away with it, then so be it. That’s racing my friends. But I do find it funny that we didn’t hear any questions at Dover about the lawsuit or more about this story because the focus was on SPEED's Bob Dillner.

To me it was obvious the RCR drivers went out of their way to keep the attention on Dillner. During practice, after races and even in Victory Lane the issue regarding Bob Dillner was brought up. Not instigated by the media, but by the drivers themselves.

Sadly, we all fell victim to it. I chuckled every time an RCR driver brought it up. I was even interested in how Harvick angrily confronted Dillner in the garage area, but at the end of the day the ball was dropped on asking and following up on the lawsuit.

Do I blame RCR? Heck no. Call me a fan. In the world of public relations and opinions, you do what you’ve got to do. In fact, if they did go out of their way to keep the spotlight on Dillner instead of allowing the media to question them on the real cheating accusations filed in court documents, then I would say someone deserves a raise.

I just believe as more and more money is being spent in the world of NASCAR, the temptations of pushing the envelope get greater and the need to have a plan for damage control becomes a necessity to remain competitively and financially strong.

Without a doubt, RCR positively dominated Dover in more ways than two.