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If a ruling body, be it the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing or the Wyoming High School League, devises a system, one can only expect teams to take full advantage of it.

It’s like the tax code. One may feel as if a certain deduction is unwise or unfair, but one still takes it if he or she qualifies. The law’s the law.

Three of Joe Gibbs’ four Toyotas held the mayo at the Hellmann’s 500. They didn’t need to run hard to advance into the Round of 8, so they didn’t. The driver who needed to race hard, Denny Hamlin, did. The other three finished 28th, 29th and 30th, as careful as if they’d had a baby in the car.

It worked. Eight drivers remain in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and four of them – Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch --- drive Toyotas for Joe Gibbs.

Some say taking a Six Flags ride – merry-go-round, maybe -- on race day violates “the spirit of the sport.” Some think the drivers must abide by some sort of moral imperative to race hard.

Opinion is sharply divided. It falls along the lines of “I love one of those drivers” vs. “I can’t stand one of those drivers,” with “I hate Toyotas” joining the “anti” coalition.

It has been my observation that little actual principle is involved. Mainly, it’s partisan. Like politics.

The Gibbs goal was winning a championship. Winning the race was strategically expendable for three drivers whose Chase advancement hopes were enhanced by being able to stay out of trouble. The fact that not much trouble actually occurred cast more attention on what old-timers derided as “stroking.”

What irritates me is the crowd that complains about complaining, those who say “you do this, they complain, you do that, they complain, you can’t win.”

You know why? Because it’s a free country. Because people have a right to their opinions.

On this issue alone, people have a right to express their views based on whether they like the Washington Redskins; on how their favorite drivers “tell it like it is,” and the exact same words by others are “whining”; on how every single race should be on a road course, or a short track, or, even, yes, a dirt track; and how they hate wrecks but also all races that don’t have many.

Let freedom ring. Passionate people have strong opinions. Passionate people are becoming an endangered species where NASCAR is concerned. NASCAR needs passionate people.