During Montoya’s Busch victory in Mexico City, the flag sat still during early-race spins that one would think would force a caution. Yet later in the race, when Montoya was closer to the top, the debris cautions came out, allowing him to close some space.

Stewart said on his radio show that fans are complaining about the strange cautions — and he’s right. With Stewart, 35, nearer to the end of an accomplished career, and his general status as an ornery cuss, he has less to lose than most anybody by spouting off about what he sees as troubles in NASCAR.

"I guess NASCAR thinks, ‘Hey, wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it’s going to work in racing, too,’" Stewart said. "I don’t know that they’ve run a fair race all year."

NASCAR called Stewart's comments "very disappointing," and in the past it has denied any accusations of messing with races. But what do you expect it to say?

NASCAR is in the untenable position of proving a negative, and a pretty pernicious one at that. While there is frequent circumstantial evidence that not all is as it seems, no one has found a documented smoking gun — if there even is one —that would unequivocally tie NASCAR to manipulating results. Just like how no one has unequivocally tied NBA commissioner David Stern to an alleged "bent envelope" scheme of 1985 that allowed New York to win the draft lottery, thus ensuring Patrick Ewing would play in the NBA’s largest market.

But as Stern could tell you too many coincidences working in your favor can hit your league’s image. Would this have an effect on NASCAR’s declining TV earnings and attendance at some tracks?

As Stern also could tell NASCAR, it’s difficult to wriggle out of this position. Perhaps one thing NASCAR could do is be more transparent to fans in its operations, starting with opening its rule book to the public. Assuming the rule book is more than whatever NASCAR feels like that week.

Maybe with that first step, with that honesty, NASCAR can put itself in a position where a Tony Stewart can truly, positively compare it to professional wrestling.

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