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For those who are regular readers of my blog, you know that I am not a supporter of the Chase for the Nextel Cup. I did not like the original concept. I don't like the new concept, and I won't like it in the future.
To me a championship is decided when all the races are over and the driver with the most points wins.
When the Nextel Cup race is over Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, Jeff Gordon will have the most points. His team will have done the best of all the others. And all that will mean basically nothing.
Sure Gordon will move into the contrived-to-increase-TV-ratings Chase for the Nextel Cup along with 11 other drivers. He will have 5,000 points just like the other 11 drivers. And each driver will have 10 points added for each of the races they won during the real season.
However, Gordon and his Dupont team will get nothing for being in front after 26 races. That is the end of what I will call the regular season.
In my mind there should be some sort of award for Gordon as the champion of the first 26 races. He should receive a handsome stipend from NASCAR.
Once the championship of the regular season is complete, then we could move on to the “playoffs.” In other major sports there are divisional champions, and those top performers move into the playoffs. In NASCAR Nextel Cup the real chase for the championship comes to an end at Richmond, and a new, made-for-TV Chase is run to come up with the Nextel Cup champion.
If Gordon doesn't win at Richmond, when he shows up New Hampshire International the following weekend he will be 10 points behind Jimmie Johnson for the start of the Chase despite having had a huge 317-point edge going into Richmond. If Gordon stayed home from Richmond, he still would have about a 130-point edge. But all that goes for naught.
With all this manipulation of the point standings, making it so only the top 12 get to play for the title, it has really not helped the TV ratings or the attendance numbers much. That was the goal of NASCAR brass.
The fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is pretty much guaranteed not to qualify for the Chase unless Kurt Busch or Martin Truex decide to stay home will have an impact on the TV ratings. He is the most popular driver in NASCAR.
NASCAR should be figuring out a way to get Earnhardt in the Chase. Perhaps they should have planned a fan vote to pick a driver that did not make it to the Chase and put him in the field.
First-time winner
When I was 14 I was still learning how to ride my two-wheeler. Now kids that age are winning races. Penndel's Brett Michalski won his first 600 Micro Sprint feature race at Linda's Speedway in Jonestown. The 14-year-old Maple Point Middle School student started racing Micros last November after graduating from quarter midgets. He is sponsored by JR Michalski Heating & Air Conditioning.
Grand race
The richest dirt track stock car race in the area will be held Saturday night at Grandview Speedway. With $20,000 to win and $10,000 for second, fans are guaranteed to see some of the best dirt track racing talents in action in the THP Freedom 76. The 37th edition of the classic starts at 7 p.m.
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Article Number: 000040
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