NASCAR announces sports betting policies for drivers and crews

As regulated sports betting makes deeper and deeper inroads into American life, professional sports leagues are tasked with developing policies to keep their participants from falling prey to the easy money schemes of match-fixing gamblers. Earlier this week, NASCAR became the latest professional sports league to announce a sports betting policy to help keep its drivers and crews from getting in over their heads in race-fixing and other nefarious schemes.
Like all leagues, NASCAR knows that any race-fixing scandal would crush its fans credibility in the sport and that nothing less than the very integrity of everything it’s doing is at stake. From the get-go, NASCAR makes that clear saying, “All NASCAR members have an obligation to protect the integrity of the sport. Gambling on NASCAR Events by Members can post a series threat to the integrity of NASCAR, its stakeholders, and the industry as a whole. The integrity of NASCAR Competition remains our greatest asset.”
The policy then goes on to note that NASCAR drivers and crew members are strictly prohibited from sharing confidential information about their teams with the intent of using it for sports betting. Furthermore, the policy requires anyone who is approached with such an offer to report it immediately.
Finally, NASCAR participants are barred from participating in fantasy sports games in which the prize is more than $250.
Drivers and crew members who run afoul of the policy will be handed a sort of rehabilitation plan by NASCAR that they must follow in order to be reinstated in the sport.
Though wagering on the outcome of NASCAR races is quite popular in some parts of the country, race-fixing has yet to emerge as an issue for the sport.