Move along, there's nothing to conspiracy here

There's a faction of NASCAR Nation wearing tin-foil hats and continually monitoring the skies for black helicopters. It's the group that believes there's a conspiracy theory behind every move the sanctioning body makes and that the folks in Daytona Beach are really a secret society worthy of the X-Files.

And in their world, Juan Pablo Montoya's speeding penalty Sunday in Indianapolis was just the latest scheme hatched to manipulate the sport.

Juan Pablo Montoya pays the price on Sunday for speeding on pit road. (Getty Images)

The conspiracy supporters were out in full force after Montoya saw his huge lead erased when NASCAR penalized him for exceeding the pit road speed limit in Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. For whatever reason, these folks believe NASCAR did not want Montoya to win and pulled out a bogus speeding penalty to stop him from doing so.

Montoya's penalty opened the door for the Hendrick Motorsports brigade, led by Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin, to continue its season dominance. Team owner Rick Hendrick is a favored son of NASCAR, according to these paranoid souls, so of course the rules would be bent to pave the way for more success.

To those who truly believe this scenario, please accept my deepest sympathies.

It is beyond delusional to think that NASCAR would manipulate things in such a way. If anything, NASCAR would have loved to tell the story of Montoya becoming the first man to win both the Brickyard 400 and Indianapolis 500. His victory would have also helped trumpet the sport's quest for more diversity. The Colombian driver standing in Victory Lane certainly would have helped bring more attention from Latino and Hispanic fans around the world.

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For whatever reason, NASCAR continues to battle a perception problem regarding its credibility. There is a large group that simply doesn't trust many of the moves and decisions made by the sanctioning body, whether it's the cry of "mystery" debris caution flags or the belief by some that NASCAR spiked Jeremy Mayfield's drug test and urine sample, as the embattled driver alleges.

It's ludicrous to think a billion-dollar sport like NASCAR would do anything to put its credibility on the line or, in the Mayfield case, cross a criminal line for self-serving purposes.

Comparing NASCAR to wrestling -- as many fans who believe there is some kind of behind-the-scenes maneuvering going on like to do -- is an insult to those who participate, officiate and cover the sport.

My question to these accusers has always been simply this: Why watch? If you are so convinced that the outcome of each event is fixed or that there are forces at work to manipulate the results, what possible reason is there to follow NASCAR racing?

If you like watching cars going around in circles so much, you'd be better off setting up a lawn chair at the neighborhood cul De sac.

Things happen in all sports to change the end result, and NASCAR is no different. But there isn't anyone pulling the strings up in the tower or on pit road.

My advice to those who think I'm wrong is to make sure you're not wearing that tin-foil hat if a lightning storm breaks out.

Garage chatter

• The Roush Fenway Racing sponsorship situation for 2010 has come into focus, and in its aftermath, so has the team's driver lineup. Crown Royal will shift from Jamie McMurray's No. 26 ride to Matt Kenseth's No. 17 next season, leaving McMurray as the odd man out when the team shrinks from five to four teams to adhere to NASCAR's cap. While RFR would like to shift McMurray to the Yates Racing stable, which shares an alliance with the team, there is growing speculation he's in line to join Earnhardt Ganassi in the No. 1 seat vacated by Martin Truex Jr.

• Richard Petty Motorsports is another team that will shrink, but not by design. Sponsorship struggles will force RPM to scale down from four to three cars with Reed Sorenson the odd man out, a move that will slide A.J. Allmendinger from the No. 44 to No. 43 Dodge, perhaps in the next few weeks.

• The new Nationwide Series car will make its debut in 2010 with five races in the plan as NASCAR rolls out the next evolution of the machine, much like it did with the Sprint Cup Series COT. The debut might not come until next July's midsummer stop at Daytona, and series officials are open to the possibility of adding more races to the debut schedule if teams are behind the idea.

• Ford announced it will use the Mustang as its Nationwide entry beginning next season, a move that could open the door for an influx of "Pony Cars" into the series. While Chevrolet has maintained the Impala would continue to be the manufacturer's Nationwide car of choice, there is growing sentiment the Camaro could be put into play. Dodge will use the Challenger in the series while Toyota will stick with the Camry.