Petty on Secret Fines in NASCAR

Following Associated Press reports Thursday that Brad Keselowski was secretly fined by NASCAR for critical remarks he made regarding electronic fuel injection, SPEED analyst Kyle Petty shared his views regarding the sanctioning body’s practice of punishing drivers for what it deems to be publicly disparaging remarks about the sport.

Below is Petty’s reaction:

Do you agree or disagree with the practice of NASCAR imposing secret fines on drivers?

Petty: “I definitely, strongly disagree with the practice of imposing secret fines on drivers or anyone in the sport. If you’re going to fine an athlete in any sport for something that a sanctioning body perceives as derogatory to the sport in any way, it’s because they obviously made a public comment. And if it’s so derogatory and it’s publicly made, then it should carry a public fine and be publicly reprimanded. I definitely disagree with the secrecy here."

Do you think secret fines compromise the sanctioning body’s credibility?

Petty: “I think it infringes on NASCAR’s credibility a bit. As a fan watching the sport, how do you know what these guys are being told, what they’re being fined for, what is being said behind closed doors? You don’t know. When drivers begin to talk and say things, you wonder if those thoughts are their true feelings or if it’s just political speak and something they’ve been told to say. At the same time, I totally agree with NASCAR that competitors should not slam the sport. It’s our sport, it’s a sport we all try to build and that we all try to build up. But I don’t see where Brad (Keselowski) said anything against the sport itself. He just said he didn’t like EFI (electronic fuel injection)."