Release the hounds
Let the chase begin!
Dustin Long has his race report here. (Btw, if you stayed up late last night, that was Dustin standing behind Jeff Gordon during the post-race interview. Dustin was the one who didn't look like his season had just officially gone in the toilet. But that's what you get if your season has come down to battling Johnny Sauter for 25th.)
Ed Hardin riffs here on a chase without NASCAR's two biggest stars. And if you saw last night's race, expect Jeff and Junior to be mentioned only when they're about to be lapped. I never thought I'd see a Cup race where Junior wasn't covered obsessively, but that's exactly what happened to a guy who came into the race 18th in points.
The Chasers, if you didn't click the links above, are (in order) Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman.
That's four past champs (Wallace, Stewart, Kenseth and Busch the elder -- five if you include Martin, who should have won at least one in his career.) There are five Roush drivers (you know who they are - they win every darned week) and seven drivers who are making their second straight run for the chase (Biffle, Edwards and Wallace are the chase noobs).
In other words, it's a pretty good group, even without the No. 8 and No. 24 drivers. You've got several compelling story lines: Can Stewart win his second? (Don't bet against a guy who has 12 straight top 10 finishes.) Can Busch repeat? Can Rusty win in his last season? Can Martin finally get a championship? Can anyone beat Roush? In other words, Dustin will have plenty to write about, and race fans will have lots to debate.
And for all of you chase-haters out there, consider this: If not for the Chase, NASCAR already would have handed Tony Stewart the 2005 trophy. Is that what you really want?
Comments (5)
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You're last para says it all. The checkered hardly stopped waving and the Roush (and Chase) haters started climbing the walls of many forums and blogs.
The whining and crying is unprecedented. And without logic I might add. Everyone is bemoaning a Chase without JG and Dale Jr. There are crying foul because Jack "bought his way in."
Question for those logiclly challenged: If money buys a Chase spot, explain why Hendricks five teams (an argument can be made 7 teams) didn't all make the Chase?
The correct answer is performance. But some would have you belive it's cold hard cash. That hasn't consistently bought championships in other sports and it doesn't in NASCAR.
And to add to your point, the fans of the 10th place driver in points at the moment are rejoicing the existence of the Chase format. Their driver is 45 points from $5 million large and not 600 plus points out.
Posted on September 11, 2005 7:31 PM
Money does matter, Marc. Jack Roush has half the chase field, and the rest (Penske South x2, Hendrick, Gibbs and Evernham/Dodge) are the big-dollar teams in the sport. You'll never see the Wood Bros., Petty Enterprises or MB teams in the chase unless the stars align and the backstretch at Talladega swallows the front half of the field.
That said, it's how you spend your money, not how much of it you spend. And Roush, as you noted, has figured out something that everyone else, except maybe for Tony Stewart, hasn't. So good for him.
All that smart spending doesn't guarantee Roush a title, though. Just ask Kurt "How Close Can I Get to the Pit Road Wall Without My Right Rear?" Busch how luck can make all the difference.
Posted on September 11, 2005 11:34 PM
I believe Gordon was the first to say that his team did not belong in the Chase.
I found it interesting that there was already talk of expanding this field to 12 next year. No doubt NBC/TNT is concerned about ratings without the 8 & 24.
Posted on September 12, 2005 9:57 AM
Who knows what NASCAR is going to do? But, yeah, Mark, NASCAR is keenly watching its TV ratings.
The playoff problem isn't unique to NASCAR, though. The NFL dreads the prospect of a Cincinnati-Seattle Super Bowl, just like MLB would implode if the Padres and White Sox made it to the World Series.
Those leagues in the past decade or so have increased the number of playoff games. It's not so much to ensure that the popular teams get in -- if the Yankees and Red Sox are below .500, nothing short of the NHL's everyone-makes-it format would work. It's more along the lines of more playoff games mean more money.
NASCAR did the same thing last year. Its playoff format means that 10 races that used to not mean much now count for something, and for more drivers. I'm not sure there's much NASCAR can do short of giving a provisional entry to four-time champions and letting Junior get a five-lap head start at 1.5-mile and longer non-plate tracks.
Anyone have any other thoughts?
Posted on September 12, 2005 10:47 AM
As much as I like Gordon and Little E, the simple fact is they had disappointing years, in particular from Memorial Day on. In saying this I have violated an old addage that says winning the Daytona 500 makes your year.
The Chase also has a 400 point rule for everyone within that criterion; however 4th in the points is the cutoff there. According to Jayski's site Newman was 661 out after Richmond; another way to look at that is he is over 3 races behind if you divide 190 into 661.
Perhaps you change the 400 point rule to 600 or 800. At 800 points your get Harvick in at position 14; or at 1,000 points everyone is in down to Kahne in 20th.
I think it becomes a question of how diluted you want this to be. Do you want it to be the NFL or the NCAA tournement?
When you look at positions 11 - 20 you also see some strong cars. I think the last thing NASCAR wants is for one or more of these guys to get hot. It would not look good for half of the wins in the next 10 races to come out of this pool of cars.
Posted on September 12, 2005 11:36 AM