"How can you race against yourself ?"
submitted by "Michael Arken"

M.L. Morgan (referee)

Well, race fans, we have decided to turn our Sound Off! page over to you. This will be your forum and we encourage you to submit your opinions to us. Don't be bashful.

If Michael Arken's name is familiar it is because he is the man who designed our Race Views site. That is not the only thing he does well - read his piece !

Mike,

Are drivers starting to race against themselves?

RCR (Richard Childress Racing) owns the cars driven by Dale Earnhardt (#3) and Mike Skinner (#31). DE Enterprises (Dale Earnhardt) owns cars driven by Steve Park (#1) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (#8).

Is there a problem here? We know that Earnhardt likes to come up behind a car, take the air off its spoiler and loosen the car up and sometimes cause him to wreck. Will Dale take the air off the spoiler of Steve Park and possibly put him in the wall? I don't know. It sure costs the owner allot of money when their cars get wrecked. Sponsors aren't happy either when something happens that causes their car not to get “TV time”. Is any of this on Earnhardt mind during a race? I think so. It may not be in the front of his mind, but it's there somewhere. And what about Richard Childress, is he thinking about it too? Do Dale and Richard share more information than would normally be shared between two competing teams? Think about it. How would you handle it?

What about next year? If the information is correct (see: www.jayski.com), Mark Martin is going to co-own a car, with Jack Roush, driven by Matt Kenseth.

What about Jeff Gordon? He’s a millionaire thanks to NASCAR. Jeff Burton, The Labonte Brothers and Dale Jarrett have amassed small fortunes. Will they be next to drive for one team and own another? I don't know.

Most of us would like to own our own business. It's understandable that drivers want to be owners. Is this a trend? Where will their allegiance be? How will this play out on the racetrack? It's just something to think about.