In a pre-race drivers meeting several weeks ago, drivers were warned by NASCAR President Mike Helton, to watch their language and to maintain a suitable level of decorum during live television (and radio) interviews in the wake of Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl halftime show. Helton said. “We have a policy about profanity, and that is under more of a microscope today than it ever has been.” Following the Sam’s Town 300 Busch Series race at LVMS, Johnny Sauter, driver of the #27 Kleenex Pontiac, had a bone to pick with Michael Waltrip and let loose a string of expletivities during a post-race radio interview. NASCAR may come down hard on him, to make an example of what shouldn’t be done. If penalties are in order, they will probably be announced by next Tuesday.(Insider Racing News)(3-9-2004)
UPDATE: NASCAR has fined Johnny Sauter $10,000, deducted 25 NASCAR Busch Series championship driver points and placed him on probation through Dec. 31 for using inappropriate language following the NASCAR Busch Series race on March 6 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sauter, driver of the #27 Pontiac in the NASCAR Busch Series, was penalized under Section 12-4-A of the NASCAR Rule Book (Actions detrimental to stock car racing: Use of improper language.) for his comments during a post-race broadcast interview. The loss of 25 driver points dropped him from second to fourth in the NASCAR Busch Series championship standings, with an adjusted total of 425 points. The use of inappropriate language and NASCAR’s lack of tolerance for such behavior was brought to the attention of all drivers by NASCAR President Mike Helton during the drivers’ meeting held for the NASCAR Busch Series on Feb. 21 and the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series on Feb. 22 during the race weekend at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C.(NASCAR PR)(3-10-2004)
UPDATE 2: Brewco Motorsports and driver Johnny Sauter have decided to appeal part of his penalty for using profanity in a post-race radio interview following the NASCAR Busch Series race at Las Vegas. Sauter was fined $10,000, placed on probation through the end of the year and docked 25 Busch Series driver points after a live radio interview with Performance Racing Network. Sauter and the team will appeal the points reduction and their appeal is scheduled to be heard Tuesday before a three-member panel of the National Stock Car Racing Commission in Daytona Beach, Fla. During the race weekend at Rockingham, N.C., NASCAR President Mike Helton warned participants the sanctioning body would be strictly enforcing its restrictions on the use of profanity in radio and TV broadcasts. Helton cited the Federal Communication Commission’s recent crackdown on such language for its toughened stance.(ThatsRacin.com)(3-21-2004)
UPDATE 3 – upheld: The National Stock Car Racing Commission announced Thursday that it had rejected NASCAR Busch Series driver Johnny Sauter’s appeal of financial and points penalties levied earlier this month. The Commission, consisting of Chairman George Silbermann, NASCAR’s director of administration; former sports car driver Lyn St. James; and former track owner Mike Staley upheld NASCAR’s $10,000 fine and 25-point penalty. Sauter has the right under Section 15 of the Busch Series rulebook to appeal the decision to National Stock Car Racing Commissioner Charles D. Strang and Thursday his team owner, Clarence Brewer, said the team was seriously considering that move. “As of right now we plan to appeal,” Brewer said. “Because I think we’ve been made an example of. My biggest problem with the whole situation is not the fine for cursing, because I agree with it. Even if it were more I wouldn’t have a problem with it. The problem I have as a team owner is that when you deduct points for an action that the driver did, you’re affecting Clarence Brewer and the team more than the driver. If Johnny were to finish second in points instead of first because of the 25 points (penalty), it’s going to cost Clarence Brewer $200,000 in driver point fund money that’s shared between the team and the driver.” Sauter is currently 10th in the Busch Series driver standings, 113 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. Without the 25-point penalty, Sauter would be tied with Bobby Hamilton Jr. for sixth position. Brewer said he looked back through five years of records and could find no record of anyone being penalized points for cursing, only for breaking other rules in the rulebook. Sauter, who also competes in the Nextel Cup Series, was penalized — including being placed on probation for the balance of this calendar year — for cursing in a live broadcast interview March 6 following the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in which he finished 16th. According to a statement issued Thursday by the Commission, during the hearing Tuesday, Sauter acknowledged that the infraction had occurred. He did not contest the fine or probation, but appealed the loss of driver points, arguing that points had not been deducted for improper language violations in the past. Witnesses further argued that the loss of driver points would have an adverse effect on the team. In its statement the Commission countered that, in considering the appeal, it recognized that NASCAR drivers in the top tiers of the sport are high-profile celebrities and should conduct themselves accordingly. They also noted that NASCAR had issued specific warnings to contestants during the driver briefings at the preceding event, at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, regarding the use of inappropriate language during live event broadcasts. The Commission noted that the violation occurred on-air at the racetrack during the live broadcast of a NASCAR event, not in a casual private conversation or off-site activity. Brewer said Sauter had to pay $200 to appeal the penalties to the Commission. The appeal to Strang carries the same fee.(NASCAR.com)(3-25-2004)
