NASCAR Driver Admonished By Federal Election Committee!!

Kirk Shelmerdine, a former pit boss for the late Dale Earnhardt and now NASCAR driver, has been reprimanded by of all people, the Federal Election Commission for displaying a Bush-Cheney '04 sticker on his car.

This followed a complaint by a Democratic activist.

Now, this seems silly to me that such an organization should get involved in such as a small matter. Don't the have bigger matters to attend to?

In a decision announced Tuesday, the FEC sent an “admonishment letter” to Kirk Shelmerdine Racing. Kirk Shelmerdine, a former pit boss for the late Dale Earnhardt, has been an unsuccessful, underfunded and undersponsored driver. He has never finished higher than 26th.

So back in 2004, in a move perhaps designed to draw some attention to his car, he placed a “Bush-Cheney ’04” decal on his rear quarter panel, which was otherwise unencumbered by advertising. Democratic activist Sydnor Thompson complained to the FEC, and the agency found that Shelmerdine “may have made an unreported independent expenditure or a prohibited corporate expenditure.”

www.examiner.com...

Well, I'd have to agree with this view:

Former commissioner Bradley Smith dissented in one of the case’s early votes and blogged about the result this week. He has written that in reference to the FEC’s $250 expenditure limit, “evidence is strong that the market value of Shelmerdine’s rear quarter panel was approximately $0, give or take $249.”

www.examiner.com

And, I'm sure that if someone offered Shelmerdine a reasonable sum for that quarter panel, the political bumper sticker would disappear, but without a sponsor, the quarter panel is without value.

I hope he keeps it.

[edit on 2007/1/7 by GradyPhilpott]