NASCAR Has A Respect Problem

The talk regarding Saturday's Mission 200 at Watkins Glen in the NASCAR Xfinity Series should be all about 18-year-old phenom Connor Zilisch. The young prospect took the field to school and earned the win in his debut at NASCAR's secondary level, despite having to save fuel in the late stages.

Unfortunately, another primary takeaway will be that -- stop if you've heard this one before -- the race's finish was marred by several accidents, with multiple overtime attempts extending the event past its scheduled distance.

Some race fans may blame the overtime rule, or NASCAR's double-file restarts, for creating more opportunities for chaos. The real problem is obvious, though: it's a lack of respect from drivers. Anytime there's a late restart, all racing etiquette goes out the window and it becomes a demolition derby. Just take a look at this wreck, which occurred on the first overtime restart after a car had stalled on track to bring out the caution:

None of these drivers were racing for the win. In all likelihood, they weren't even racing for a top-10 finish. Welcome to modern NASCAR, though, where drivers think they can win the race from 25th place with two laps to go, and have no problems using the other cars to help them turn as if it's a video game.

This is no video game. It's real life, and there are real consequences for wrecked equipment. Not only does it put oneself and one's competitors at risk safety-wise, but it costs large chunks of cash for teams to repair those cars. It seems like this is something drivers used to generally understand the risk of, and did not drive over their heads like this unless there was something truly worth it on the line.

Now that respect is gone, and the biggest reason why has been a change in NASCAR's culture. Today's sport is long removed from the days of true blue-collar boys from humble beginnings, who worked on their own cars and knew to take care of their equipment. It's instead become overrun with pampered rich kids with corporate backing attached to their hips, and who've had it instilled in them that their only responsibility is to drive fast.

Now, a full generation into this new age and with very few veterans left to keep the youngsters in their place, this is the result: all-out anarchy. It's uncertain what NASCAR can do to put a stop to it, but something needs to change. Whether that's enforcing penalties for reckless driving or forcing drivers to pay for the damage out of their own pockets, who knows. Right now, anything would be an improvement.

Finishes like this one, and many others similar to it that have grown increasingly frequent, give the sport a bad look. They makes NASCAR seem like a circus on wheels, rather than a competition between some of the best auto racers in the world in which the objective is for true skill to shine through. Zilisch was able to provide a positive lasting note in that regard, but the carnage behind him still left a sour taste in many fans' mouths.

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