Post by Diamondback on Aug 12, 2006 4:18:32 GMT -6
I was going to mention this in the other thread I started, but felt I was going to get long winded, and was a little off-topic.
So, as I mentioned in the other thread,
Mayfield has been fired from Evernham Motorsports.
Mayfield responds by filing suit against EM. Why do I find this alarming, you ask?
Driver changes like this take place every year, and involve several teams and drivers. Some move on to bigger and better things, others get shafted. (Ward Burton, anyone? His last year in a Cup car was 2004. He can win in good equipment.) Whether this works out to Mayfield's benefit or not, I can assure you drivers will be taking note. They too, if they feel that they have been wronged, may want to play the litigation game. If it begins to happen frequently, I imagine that it could lead to talk of a labor union.
It may sound crazy, but it isn't unrealistic. It has been attempted before (and failed), although it was during a different era, and for a different reason.
*Sidenote: The story I am about to mention is pretty much folklore. An urban legend, if you will. I've never found concrete information to prove it, but haven't been able to disprove it either. It is word-of-mouth information passed down from fans that were alive during that era.
Talladega, 1969. The innagural event at Alabama Speedway. There were concerns from many drivers of their safety due to the unmatched speeds, as well as whether the tires would hold up under race conditions. Richard Petty (so I've been told) wanted to unionize the drivers by boycotting the event due to safety concerns. Bill France, Sr. listened to thier complaints, then confirmed the dates and times for qualifying and the race. The show will go on. And it did, with any driver he could find willing to put a car on the track. The race did go on, and Richard Brickhouse was flagged the winner. One of only a handful of starts, and his only win. There was no more talk of boycotting Tally.
So yes, it was a different time, and a different set of circumstances, but I can still see a parallel to the situations. I don't think talk of a driver's union due to contractual obligations will be as likely, because silly season doesn't typically affect as many drivers as a safety situation would. I do, however, feel that the Mayfield suit, regardless of it's outcome, could lead to similar incidents in the future. Nascar has changed a great deal in the decades since that first Talladega race. In those days, guys raced to be racing. It was thier passion. The money was just a fringe benifit. Today's Nascar seems to be more about money, from top to bottom.
It may sound silly, but the idea is there. I would call it highly improbable at this point, but not entirely impossible.
So, as I mentioned in the other thread,
Mayfield has been fired from Evernham Motorsports.
Mayfield responds by filing suit against EM. Why do I find this alarming, you ask?
Driver changes like this take place every year, and involve several teams and drivers. Some move on to bigger and better things, others get shafted. (Ward Burton, anyone? His last year in a Cup car was 2004. He can win in good equipment.) Whether this works out to Mayfield's benefit or not, I can assure you drivers will be taking note. They too, if they feel that they have been wronged, may want to play the litigation game. If it begins to happen frequently, I imagine that it could lead to talk of a labor union.
It may sound crazy, but it isn't unrealistic. It has been attempted before (and failed), although it was during a different era, and for a different reason.
*Sidenote: The story I am about to mention is pretty much folklore. An urban legend, if you will. I've never found concrete information to prove it, but haven't been able to disprove it either. It is word-of-mouth information passed down from fans that were alive during that era.
Talladega, 1969. The innagural event at Alabama Speedway. There were concerns from many drivers of their safety due to the unmatched speeds, as well as whether the tires would hold up under race conditions. Richard Petty (so I've been told) wanted to unionize the drivers by boycotting the event due to safety concerns. Bill France, Sr. listened to thier complaints, then confirmed the dates and times for qualifying and the race. The show will go on. And it did, with any driver he could find willing to put a car on the track. The race did go on, and Richard Brickhouse was flagged the winner. One of only a handful of starts, and his only win. There was no more talk of boycotting Tally.
So yes, it was a different time, and a different set of circumstances, but I can still see a parallel to the situations. I don't think talk of a driver's union due to contractual obligations will be as likely, because silly season doesn't typically affect as many drivers as a safety situation would. I do, however, feel that the Mayfield suit, regardless of it's outcome, could lead to similar incidents in the future. Nascar has changed a great deal in the decades since that first Talladega race. In those days, guys raced to be racing. It was thier passion. The money was just a fringe benifit. Today's Nascar seems to be more about money, from top to bottom.
It may sound silly, but the idea is there. I would call it highly improbable at this point, but not entirely impossible.