NASCAR Values

Here's a classy "play by the rules" bit where Carl Edwards rams Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of spite. Carl was presumably aware that NASCAR does have a governing body to adjudicate these sorts of things:

Here's another foray into maturity courtesy of Robby Gordon:

Cabinet Minister to Canadians: Don't think for yourselves!

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon has said that Canadians should not link the NASCAR Conservomobile to the government's stand on climate change. Apparently Cannon thinks that since the one is an issue facing the government and the other is an act of self-promotion by the governing party, the two have nothing to do with each other and should never be considered together.

Sorry Loose, err, Lawrence Cannon, I don't much appreciate being told when I can and cannot put two and two together. And by the way, if another party did something internally as a party and not as a government that somehow reflected poorly on them, would you, or would you not use it for partisan gain Monsieur Cannon?

Who watches Canadian NASCAR anyway?

I have a confession: I used to like auto racing. A lot. I went to races, I knew the names of a ridiculous number of drivers. I could rhyme off all kinds of stats, results, whatever. One thing stands out though, I never cared about Canadian stock car racing. The sad thing is, I cannot figure out who does. There are other smaller series that may lead someone onto greater things (Formula 1, Indy stuff like that) Canadian stock car racing is not going to be one of those things though, never has been.

As a hobby (aside from the emissions implications) it's fine. I'm sure it's fun for the drivers, the crews and their friends and families. It is not, however, anything that remotely reaches a wide audience. So who exactly is being reached by the Conservatives with this approach? If I recall, it's probably a pretty conservative bunch of people. In other words, how does this expand their base? Even race car fans, for the most part, would probably rather watch the Nextel Cup on TV than go over to a racetrack and watch the Conservomobile rumble around.