The eco-fruits are at it again. This time, attacking NASCAR for racing with leaded gasoline. Like any good redneck, I'm a devoted NASCAR fan (I like Kenseth, Marlin, Sadler, Kahne, and a host of others. I'm indifferent about Gordon, and I have little patience for Stewart, Busch, and Jimmy "Mongo" Spencer).

Now, like any good NASCAR fan, I think that the biggest threat to NASCAR is the incompetence of the NASCAR regulating body itself. The way they screw with the points system, harass the drivers, and change things constantly is a detriment to the game. Restrictor plates have ruined the big tracks, and watching drivers get black flagged over every little fart is a constant annoyance.

So it bugs me to no end that the eco-hippies want to impose another friggin' restriction on NASCAR:

The Clean Air Trust “urged” NASCAR in a January 19 letter to consider the supposedly dire consequences of using leaded fuel: “By permitting the continued use of lead, your organization may be putting millions of spectators and nearby residents at unnecessary risk of suffering serious health effects, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Steve Milloy at JunkScience.com has their number, though:

“According to the EPA, lead causes damage to the kidneys, liver, brain and nerves, and other organs,” claims the letter. What it omitted mentioning was that you would have to be exposed to unusually high levels of lead before health effects would result.

The classic lead poisoning scenario involves chronic ingestion of lead-contaminated dust from deteriorating lead-based paint that is chipping, peeling or flaking in older homes in poor condition. NASCAR fans and the communities surrounding NASCAR race tracks are far removed from such high exposures to lead. There is no evidence that anyone has ever been overexposed to lead because of NASCAR racing.

Besides, read between the lines, and it seems that this is just another group of anti-NASCAR elitists, looking for a chance to mock us rednecks and our drivin'-in-circles game:

The Clean Air Trust nevertheless alleged, “Even low levels of lead damage the brain and nerves in fetuses and young children, resulting in learning deficits and lowered IQ.” Not only is this mythical assertion still unsupported up by any solid science more than 25 years after it was first publicized, it actually originated in the shadowy world of scientific misconduct.

Look, if you latte-drinkin', granola-chewin', squirrel-tongue-kissin', tree-sittin', Phish-listenin', non-bathin', babble-babblin', eco-nut hippy scumbags want to mock us rednecks behind our backs, fine. We're used to it, and we don't care. But keep your damn hands off our NASCAR.