I agree with Ben - if I was making the call he'd be out for the year.  Head-on under-caution incidents should have no tolerance.  I don't think his '05 Championship has as much to do with the lesser 'sentence' as the Chowder Pot's support of the track.  I'm sure that had to be taken into consideration... 

That'd put the 'bowl in a tough spot.  I think we'd all agree the track's in no position to lose any support right now and the Chowder Pot's been around as long as I've been up in the Family Section (the last 9 seasons or so).  If giving Mark 4 weeks instead of the rest of the season helps the 'bowl financially, then I don't really have a problem with it.  I

...and in a way, that's totally reverse of my usual thinking.  In a perfect world, he'd be out without hesitation, but the circumstances involving the track's future are to brittle to risk losing the support of anyone right now.  Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess...

I don't have any stats on it, but besides the 2 season ending suspensions I mentioned in my weekly ramble involving Ray Downing Jr and Brandon Plemons, I don't remember any suspension lasting more than 2 weeks or championship points being revoked.  And there's a new sherrif in town in the name of Steve Harraka - and his decisions shouldn't have to mirror any of his predecessors...

I dunno, just tryin' to throw everything out there and find a positive.  At least it wasn't a slap on the wrist - Mark's chances at repeating as champion have been pretty much eliminated now, and that should be the case.  No one who pulls that stunt should be in a stone's throw of the championship title in the same season...  Speaking of champions - the last incidents like this involve former track champs (St. Hilaire - '05 LM & Plemons '02 MS) and that's not all the great, but ya can't controll a driver when he's behind the wheel no matter what his resume is...

Anyway, just a sucky situation no matter where ya sit on the fence...