"The Call" is as much a part of NASCAR lore as, say, the bootlegging roots of Junior Johnson or the infamous mean steak of Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Or even the mysteriously-sanitized mustache of Jeff Gordon when he was in his short-lived good ol' boy phase as a rookie.
FOX Sports' Ryan McGee explained the conspiracy here. Basically the premise is simple, a certain team/driver combination will be tipped that NASCAR (the sanctioning body) will essentially look the other way by easing up on the pre- and post-race inspection process, thus allowing said team to cheat in any of the thousands of possible ways, win the race, and reap NASCAR the avalanche of publicity generated by the occasion.
Conspiracy theorists point to Dale Earnhardt's first and only Daytona 500 win, the win by Dale Jr. at Daytona after his father's death, and even Jeff Gordon's "free Pepsi" win of 2004 as documentation of "The Call."
Would NASCAR looking the other way in the inspection process result in a win?
Not unequivocally, but the chance increases on a big track like Daytona in which there are some specific aerodynamic tricks that can aid a car significantly in handling.
There have always been some dubious practices of favoritism in the series slanted towards the larger, innovative teams. A crew member in the (at the time) NASCAR Busch Series (don't even get me started on the musical-chairs of series names) told me a story about the team he was working for buying a race-winning superspeedway car used the previous year by (2000 series champion) Jeff Green. Some of the Bond-style engineering included an umbrella-like handle under the steering wheel that could be pulled to flare the fenders and generate extra downforce, thus handling better in the corners for passing. He said that there was no way such a car would make it through inspection by his own mid-level team, and thus was of little use.
But I digress...I'd rather pick today's race winner in advance - Mark Martin.
It's no surprise that NASCAR is struggling putting fans in seats and sponsors on quarter-panels.
Fatherhood seems to have dulled some of Jeff Gordon's domination instinct, the 3-time Bland Champion Jimmy Johnson has failed to connect with the public in a meaningful way, while Dale Jr. is too busy being Dale Jr. to put in the work necessary to become a consistent race winner.
So, this year it's up to Martin to save the sport, and what better way to start the charge towards his first championship than a win at NASCAR's Super Bowl, which is still awkwardly positioned at the start of the season when half the country still needs an ice breaker to get up their driveways.
So what better way to jump start the season than a feel good story written by the one driver EVERYONE (north, south, east and west) loves?
Martin is the winner without a championship, the veteran without a Daytona trophy. He's affable enough to chat on talk shows, yet still down-home enough to be popular with the traditionalists decrying the current state of the sport.
NASCAR's big-time ambitions hang in the balance. And it is far from the first sport to take matters into it's own hands. Post-strike baseball juiced it's wa
The march to the sports pages and Regis and Kelly has been paved by positive public relations and shrewd stage management of races (like the famous French driver Jacques Debris, bringer of 1001 caution flags). But the public appears to be losing interest quickly, and the sponsors have noticed. Empty stands dot the schedule (Atlanta) and empty bank accounts have driven a record number of teams from the sport.
So take it from me. Martin gets The Call this year. Kellogg's can put him on a Corn Flakes box
At least until Dale Jr. takes NASCAR off call waiting.
