High-Stakes Cheating & Low Expectations

Michael Waltrip and a handful of other drivers are suffering the wrath of NASCAR's head of competition. Unlike other sports that culminate in their biggest game of the season, NASCAR begins with their biggest - the Daytona 500. So the pressure to perform is intense, right out of the gate.

NASCAR inspects each car carefully. Teams know that. You'd think they'd exercise more care, or ingenuity.
Last season Jimmie Johnson won over $7.7 million. The teams earn many millions of dollars from sponsorships. The stakes are very high for teams to qualify for each race, complete as many laps as possible, make a top ten finish, make a top three finish or win outright. Points mean dollars. Dollars come from winning. Fans buy merchandise. Sponsors dole out millions for advertising exposure. Cheating isn't surprising.

Catching it is what surprises me. NASCAR is famous for having templates that cars must fit. Specifications are precise. Angles, weights, dimensions, materials - they're all crucial. And NASCAR has figured out a way to police all this - with some certainty of success.

I'm impressed.

I'm not a rabid fan of NASCAR. I do enjoy those behind the scenes type shows about it though. I'm fascinated by the engineering, although I admit I'm much fonder of Formula 1 where real technology rules.

However, I appreciate racing and the skills required to build, tune and drive - whether it's NASCAR, Indy car or any other type of racing. Cheating exists everywhere I suppose. In every sport, racing or otherwise. As the stakes go up, cheating goes up.

NASCAR's roots date back to the days of outlaw bootleggers. And we're shocked at the low ethics of some teams? P-L-E-A-S-E. Baseball players are juicing. Bike racers are doping. Track and field athletes are, too. Football players are steroid-enhanced. And just this past week I saw a mixed martial arts bout that ended in disqualification when a fighter put a knee to the head of his opponent while they were on the ground - a violation of the rules. After he did it twice, the bout was stopped. The injured fighter was given 5 minutes to see if he could continue - another rule. When it was clear he couldn't continue, the bout was ended. The injured fighter won by way of disqualification. The offending fighter said, "I thought this was a fight." His implication was that no rules should apply, yet the opposing fighter's manager appropriately responded by pointing out that if fights we're going to include eye-gouging and other "illegal" tactics, then all the combatants should agree on that before each fight. All participants had agreed to fight by the rules - so he felt his fighter should win the fight (and he was correct). Rules are such a drag.

Cheating, lying, deception - they're just tricks of the trade, aren't they? I mean, how can you ever win if you don't cheat. Sports talk shows lament that every top college program cheats - in every major sport. True? I don't know. My beloved Sooners football program is still stinging from the Bomar scandal of last year - a car dealer paid him for work he didn't perform. On and on and on it goes.

It's like Watergate - follow the money! Where you find money, you'll likely find cheating. And sometimes you find cheating even when there is no money. Sometimes winning is enough motivation for people to cheat. After all, cheating - if you've figured out something that works and can go undetected - can be easier than working hard to prepare to win, especially when you may lack the skills of your competition.

We don't value honorable competition. We value winning.
We don't highly prize hard work. We value the top dog.
We don't value preparation. We value the person who can mount the top of the award podium.

I work out daily. Occasionally I work with a trainer employed at the gym. He admits that probably 75% of the guys - those who are really ripped - are taking steroids. While they're not competing - they are cheating. They're cheating their health. For what? Vanity. Ego. Nothing more. But those are obviously high enough stakes.

I go to work like every other responsible person. Each day I endure lying. Somebody lies to me every single day. Every single day I discover they lie. They cheat. For what? Sometimes there is a money motive, but most of the time it's pride. Ego. Vanity. Again, the stakes are evidently high enough.

Stakes are always high, if only in the mind of the cheater. Cheating is rampant. And it's growing more creative. Kudos to NASCAR for finding ways to think ahead and catch the cheaters. It probably is the only course to pursue. Legislating ethics is impossible. Holding people accountable, while more difficult, is the best means for dealing with cheaters.

Did Michael Waltrip know his team was cheating? I don't know. I don't care. He's the fat cat at the top and he deserves to answer for it. I don't care who wins the Daytona 500. I don't have a dog in that fight or a horse (car) in that race. I just don't care. I do care that daily our world is growing more acclimated to cheating of all forms. I do care that daily we're subjected to passing the buck (see Michael Waltrip's response). I do care that people refuse to do the right thing if there are any costs associated. I do care that principles mean nothing and self-interests are always being served - no matter what. The good news is that it's all quite predictable. Therefore, it ought to be easier to combat, or cope with.

So I go to work expecting people to lie to me. I talk with people knowing some, perhaps many, are trying to deceive me. I'm not jaded, or cynical (no more than is proper for somebody trying to cope with the real world). I'm realistic. And I'm no longer disappointed (very often) because my expectations are so low...especially when I know the stakes are high. Lying and cheating become more extreme as the stakes go higher. And vanity, ego and pride are high stakes.

Michael Waltrip: The Face of Guilt, Regret or
Anger That His Guys Were Stupid Enough To Get Caught?

UPDATE: Around noon today (2/15/07) Waltrip fell on the sword a bit harder and issued another apology. Seems he had to be talked into racing today by his wife and Toyota officials (a qualifying race took place today and Waltrip earned a spot in the Daytona 500). What do you bet Toyota ripped him a new one and threatened to abandon him? Guess sponsors should all have morality clauses clearly stating they can escape contractual obligations if the team is caught cheating. I could be wrong though. Read more about his apology here.