Integrity is a choice and it matters a great deal. Actions show whether a person is choosing integrity. What do your actions show?

It’s been a few days since Saturday’s controversial race at Richmond and as many others, I’ve taken some time to deal with my disappointment over decisions made within the Michael Waltrip Racing organization.

NASCAR, however, reacted swiftly and with a heavy hand to what they interpret as deliberate manipulation of the outcome of the race results. Personally, I’m glad they responded quickly, and as some others, I feel they should have gone further with penalties within the organization. 

For the purposes of this commentary, all the details surrounding Richmond are not repeated. So if you’ve been under a rock and missed all the details about the incidents of the Richmond race, please review all the other articles and videos on the topic before reading further. Perhaps there are some other incidents referenced here that will need review as well. On the other hand, even if you aren’t up to speed with the incidents at Richmond, the point of integrity remains clear.

The actions within the Michael Waltrip organization have created many victims with what their co-owner calls, ‘split-second’ decisions, that Waltrip admits he would most likely have made himself.  There is so much that is so wrong with Waltrip’s statement after the race and during his interview on Race Hub. First and foremost, admitting that he would have made the same decisions is a huge red flag.  While that shows some honesty on his part, at the same time it illustrates his lack of integrity and confidence toward his sponsors, organization, drivers, teams and fans. Racing is about a driver’s talent, not about manipulating race results. Manipulation of race results, is fraudulent.

Do fans really want to watch which team is better at manipulating the race? Do drivers really want their career or championship to reflect how well their team manipulated races?  It seems to me, drivers are racers who value their talent behind the wheel enough that if they win a race or a championship, that it is about their talent and not about how well their team manipulated races leading up to a trophy.

Those with integrity walk securely in their talent.

The other part of Waltrip’s statement that really bothers me, is his comment insults our intelligence when he says it was a ‘split-second’ decision to help a teammate. All one has to do is listen to the radio transmissions to understand that Brian Pattie‘s and Ty Norris‘ comments were not ‘split-second’ decisions. Waltrip’s re-worded spin does not change reality, because their decisions were still deliberate attempts to manipulate the race, at the expense of others, as a benefit to their organization. The irony is that those decisions did the exact opposite and may ultimately make them more vulnerable with their sponsors. It will take a long time for them to have any chance of restoring their integrity. Those decisions will set back their organization for quite some time and it will take a much different attitude to recover and yet, Waltrip says he would have made the same decisions. Really?

Without integrity, insecurity will become reality.

Most of us get it, that their intention was to help one of their drivers make the Chase to contend for a championship, because it means a great deal of prestige, and bonus bucks for the organization. But what I think Michael Waltrip and some within his organization and perhaps others don’t get, is that their Richmond decisions, and later comments after the race reflect a lack of confidence in their ability to race their way into the Chase. And to use Martin Truex Jr‘s own words – a victim of his organizations’ decisions –  he ‘raced his ass off’ to finish seventh.  Why, oh why did Brian Pattie and Ty Norris not have confidence enough to trust their No. 56 driver to do everything within his power to finish as well as possible?

With integrity there is trust.

The most obvious answer is the loss of those big bucks for their organization and the prestige that goes along with being a part of the Chase. But there’s more under the surface here that I’ve not seen addressed yet. So, perhaps at some risk, I’m putting it out there for you to decide what our commentary and actions really show about a racing culture that has developed over time.

There is a sub-culture that is swelling within racing circles. Fans know this is not the first time in past or recent history that we have witnessed teams manipulating their drivers actions on the track to benefit their organization. Fans pay hard-earned money to watch drivers ‘race’ at tracks throughout the country all season long. But how many times have fans watched as their drivers intentionally hang in the back – sometimes at team direction – rather than racing to the front. Personally, it’s not the first time I’ve heard drivers question the timing of a pit stop or the direction to slow down. Granted, there are a few legitimate situations for those directions, but all of us also know, there are those other situations when the team has information, unknown by the driver, and they are deliberately manipulating their driver to benefit the bigger picture for their organization. Manipulation to alter the outcome of the race is never the right decision – it’s fraudulent.

Fraudulence never benefits anyone.

Sadly, it’s not just seen at Michael Waltrip Racing. Now there are questions about radio communications between Joey Logano‘s and David Gilliland‘s teams. And as said before it’s known that manipulation of race results have happened well before Richmond. There is a cancer infecting the sport and it’s attacking the integrity of its people. The incidents at Richmond will hopefully bring awareness of this sub-culture to a nasty head allowing it to fester and eventually heal into a better environment of a ‘real racing’ culture.

Real racing is when a driver is allowed to race for a win using talent and skill. That’s what fans want to see on their television sets and tracks where they’ve spent their hard-earned dollars. Does anyone believe that fans want to invest their time and money in watching who makes the best deals or gets away with the best shenanigans to win any trophy? Do drivers really want to choose winning via deals and shenanigans over winning with integrity?

In my view, that’s not what fans of real racing want to see; they want to see their race winners and champions get a trophy because their driver raced hard and used their talent to race their competitors. Winning because of a deal or shenanigans degrades the talent of drivers and the sport of racing. The choice of manipulation is never an intelligent decision.

Folks, this is about making intelligent choices to do what is right. Doing the right things, the right way will never fail anyone.

Integrity matters.

The choices and decisions fans are witnessing are about how teams are manipulating the race to their advantage. It”s about money, prestige and down right manipulation for personal gain. In reality it does nothing to help their teammates – ask Martin Truex Jr. It doesn’t help their organization – ask Michael Waltrip and Rob Kauffman. And it doesn’t help their sponsors – ask NAPA, and 5-hour Energy. And it doesn’t benefit fans either.

No one wins with manipulation of results.

Yes, manipulation of results happen in other sports too, Lance Armstrong is a case in point. And the many other athletes relying on steroids versus talent. In these cases, so-called athletes are creating fraudulent results for their personal gain – money and prestige. And in each case, the end result is exactly the opposite, because there were poor ill-advised choices made for short-term gain that led to long-term negative consequences.

Just because it’s been done before or by others, does not make it right. Isn’t that what we teach our children? Two wrongs never make it a right decision…..right?

Integrity matters! Why does it matter?

Because without integrity, the concept of racing becomes a farce and those refusing to use integrity create a mockery of the sport. Talent is overshadowed by fraudulence. That affects everyone associated with the sport. Who really ‘wants’ an association with a sport that lacks integrity?

A lack of integrity degrades talent and the sport and has a wide-range of consequences.

Integrity matters a great deal my friends!