NASCAR asks drivers to stop criticism

NASCAR President Mike Helton addressed the drivers and some team owners during the meeting, in which he asked them to cease making negative comments about the car, its characteristics and how that is probably affecting the racing at some tracks.

"I think it was them saying, 'Hey, we haven't raced this car at all the race tracks yet,' was the message," said Greg Biffle. "'We haven't been to Michigan with it, we haven't been to Chicago and all these other places with the car yet. So don't jump to conclusions prior to actually seeing what it's going to be like.'

"Like they said, they're making a commitment to keep working on the car or working with the teams to make the racing better. If we need to make an adjustment, I don't think they are against making adjustments as we go with this car. So, I think that was more the message."

Dale Earnhardt Jr confirmed the main topic of conversation was the Cup car and the complaints made constantly by many drivers. He says NASCAR wants drivers to stop putting out a negative message to the fans about the current status of the car.

"I think that [NASCAR] do a lot of work behind the scenes and they probably agree with us more than we tend to believe," Earnhardt said. "And they understand that the car is new and it's going to evolve and we're going to learn more.

"Maybe three years from now we'll look back at what we have today and go, man, can you believe we had that car and that was the way we did it? Because there will be some things we'll find that will be just like 'man, that's way better. Let's go in that direction.'

"So I think they're doing more than we give them credit for. They're thinking and working and trying and wanting to improve; and that us drivers should do less complaining."

Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice-president for corporate communications, did not comment on the specifics of the meeting, saying it was more aimed at raising awareness among drivers and teams about what they are giving to the fans.

"Periodically we sit down with drivers and owners," Hunter said. "The owners who were here were in the meeting and there are a lot of good things happening in the sport and it seems to us that if it weren't for the fans, we wouldn't be here.

"And with gasoline prices, and things that are happening particularly in this region of the country, we want to remind the drivers that if it weren't for the fans who come to the races and watch the races on TV we wouldn't have it as good as we have it today.

"'Keep that in mind. The fans make the sport and you guys need to stay connected to them. Do what you can for them because in these hard times they need to hear that they appreciate it'".

This year many drivers, including reigning champion Jimmie Johnson have been critical of how the new Cup car handles in traffic at the intermediate and big ovals such as Michigan, making overtaking very difficult at those venues.