Now, I'm not a NASCAR fan...

...but this is just ridiculous.

Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost his appeal of a 25-point penalty and $10,000 fine for using a vulgarity during a postrace TV interview.

Instead of leading the Nextel Cup standings Monday by a point with five races to go, Earnhardt trails Kurt Busch by 24 points. ...

NASCAR punished Earnhardt on Oct. 5, two days after he cursed during a live television interview with NBC after winning a race in Talladega.

Rather a misleading description. What actually happened is that he was asked how he felt about having won this particular race five times now and he said "It doesn't mean shit - Daddy won it 10 times."

This is the sin grievous enough to cost him $10,000 and him and his team any realistic chance at the year's championship? When did we all get so high-falutin and delicate-eared?

But you want to make this really stupid? Try this:

Meanwhile, the Parents Television Council, an advocacy group to protect children against sex, violence and profanity in entertainment, filed an indecency complaint against NBC with the Federal Communications Commission.

It wants the FCC to levy a fine against every NBC affiliate that aired the interview.

Mary Whitehouse had nothing on these twerps.