Motorsports, Nepotism and Envy

Photo courtesy of PPG

Paul Menard’s NASCAR Sprint Cup recent win in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has gotten people talking about buying your way into top levels of racing, so let’s talk about motorsports and nepotism… and envy.

I’m kind of confused about people complaining about Paul Menard being a member of the lucky sperm club. Though as far as I know, Keith Crain and Dutch Mandel’s publications have had the good taste to avoid that particular topic, it did come up in interviews with Menard after the race. Yes, his father is wealthy, a billionaire (though he made his money himself and seems to have done it honestly) and yes, NASCAR markets itself to middle class Americans, so I can understand some resentment, but all I have to do is mention some family names besides the Menards’ and I think most folks will immediately see how silly it is to single out Paul Menard for inheriting his spot on the grid.

Andretti
Unser
Earnhardt
Walltrip
Allison
Petty
Gurney
Bell
Roush
Villeneuve
Rahal
Senna