NASCAR is one of the most high octane sports there is and because of this each season brings about something new in the sport. The 2011/2012 season featured the closest cup finish in NASCAR history between C. Edwards and T. Stewart. This past season’s biggest and most controversial story came during the closing laps of Richmond International Speedway, the race that would ultimately decide the standing for NASCAR’S Chase for the Cup. After a week of reviewing the incident and listening to team’s radio conversations Nascar determined that Clint Bowyer, who had already clinched a spot in the Chase, intentionally spun out at the end of the race in order to elevate teammate Martin Truex Jr. into position to qualify. This instance bumped Gordon one point out of the Chase. NASCAR announced on the evening before the first race of the Chase (at Chicagoland) that long time racer Jeff Gordon would be added to the Chase field, making this year’s Chase 13 drivers rather than the usual 12.
NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France released a statement to the press before the start of the Chase, “We decided that due to the totality of the events that were outside of Jeff Gordon’s issues, we’re going to add a 13th position to the field so that Jeff Gordon will qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship this year,” France told reporters packed into the media center. “We believe that there were too many things that altered the event that gave an unfair disadvantage to Jeff and his team, who would have qualified. It’s just the right thing to do.”
Many of the qualified Chase drivers reacted to NASCAR choosing to add a 13th driver. Some believed it wasn’t fair, while others understood the unprecedented and extraordinary circumstances that had come from the alleged situation and agreed with the adjusted Chase format. Cup Champion and teammate Jimmie Johnson reacted to Gordon’s emergence into the Chase saying he was happy that Gordon was added although, “In my opinion, I think there should be 12 cars. One in, one out should be the deal. It’s not. There’s a lot of things to consider.”
Click the links below to see Jeff Gordon’s reaction, as well as the press conference and exclusive radio content from Richmond.
Jeff Gordon reacts to being placed in the Chase
Press conference and exclusive radio content
NASCAR choosing to add Jeff Gordon as the 13th driver to the Chase is an example of situational theory because they:
• Problem Recognition: NASCAR CEO Brian France recognized the cheating that occurred at Richmond, the final race of the NASCAR regular season, and addressed the problem to the public.
• Constraint Recognition: According to a poll on ESPN.com, precisely 60% of the population believed that putting Jeff Gordon into the Chase was the correct response by NASCAR.
• There was an extremely high level of involvement to this issue because the decision would ultimately affect the NASCAR Chase for the cup, which is the most exciting part of the entire season. The Chase is key to the sports viewership and the issue needed to be addressed in a wholesome matter.
NASCAR made the correct call in adding Jeff Gordon to the Chase for the cup this past season. Even more negative publicity would’ve been drawn to the matter if this issue wasn’t resolved. Also, Jeff Gordon is one of the most popular drivers and one of the best of all time, this decision ultimately brought more viewers to NASCAR’S Chase for the Cup.
Sources:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/jeff-gordon-added-to-chase-front-row-motorsports-and-penske-racing-on-probation-for-rest-of-season-091313#!prZs8
http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/9669892/nascar-adds-jeff-gordon-13th-car-chase