New form of road rage the norm for NASCAR

Why are there so many wrecks in NASCAR? Maybe because there are fewer fistfights. As NASCAR has evolved from regional phenomenon to mainstream sport, those face-to-face confrontations prevalent decades ago have given way to unresolved tensions among drivers played out in crashes.

Rowdy behavior, once as much a badge of honor as grease under the fingernails, has become a blemish in a sport driven by image-conscious sponsors who demand clean-cut, well-spoken drivers who avoid controversy. It's an unwritten code of behavior: Fight, and you could lose a sponsor.

Four years ago, when driver Tony Stewart threw a punch at a photographer after a race in which he did poorly, he says sponsor Home Depot almost fired him. Stewart attended counseling with a sports psychologist.

Because drivers aren't familiar enough with each other to vent face-to-face and fighting is understood to bring suspensions and sponsorship loss, the outcome has been a rise in wrecks triggered by road rage. More at USA Today