A lot of things have happened since I last posted here. Brad Keselowski did the impossible and won at Talladega while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson were eliminated from the almighty Chase. Almost forgot the elimination included Kyle Busch. After Charlotte, maybe Brad can replace Kyle as NASCAR fans’ most hated driver. The jury is still out on that.
Talladega saw Hendrick Motorsports have only one driver in the hunt for the championship or 25%. Penske has 100% of their team and Gibbs has 67%, so why does media continue to feed us that the best organization in the sport is HMS? I’ll let you chew on that for now.
Then came Martinsville. If you’ve followed my writing here, you know that my affection for that track is off the boards. I love the place. No track has action that leaves you on the seat of your pants lap after lap but Martinsville. I wrote a few years ago that Martinsville had become the new Bristol and nothing has happened since to change my mind. The action is fast and furious and you never know who is going to win…well, almost. Over the last decade it has been pretty much Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon or Denny Hamlin. When watching a race from start to finish, there is enough action and enough leaders to make you forget that as you watch. The place is NASCAR’s roots.
On Sunday, the usual suspects were at the front. Johnson was racy, Gordon, who was everyone’s favorite going in if it wasn’t Johnson, was up front. A newly fast Joey Logano (at this track, anyway) was challenging for the lead and Denny Hamlin looked strong. What happened during the race might raise an eyebrow. Junior Earnhardt won and Gordon was second. Brad Keselowski, having freshly saved himself from being eliminated had a mechanical problem and finished 31st. Kevin Harvick who messed up in qualifying and had a bad day joined JJ as an also ran. Ryan Newman continued his consistency streak and left everyone to wonder if he might be a Chase finalist with no wins. Matt Kenseth smiles because it was a big deal when he won one race and the championship and NASCAR came up with the Chase. It’s ironic that both are presently on the fast track to going head to head at Homestead to win the big trophy. Irony? You betcha. I thought this season was about winning. At least it was for one driver.
The ovation that Earnhardt got at Martinsville was louder than anything I’ve ever heard at the paper clip-shaped track in central Virginia. It drowned out the noise of engines and the crowd stayed long after the race was over, an unusual event at this venue. It was obvious who the crowd favorite happened to be on that day. In the end, though, Keselowski found himself with his back against the wall as well as Harvick and others. The three biggest winners of 2014—Keselowski, Earnhardt, and Harvick—could be replaced by drivers without wins, one win drivers, and Joey Logano, who happens to have five wins, the second most this year. Get my drift? Isn’t it amazing in a year where wins were supposed to be so precious and the defining attribute of the Chase, there are so many who won and dominated so much in danger of being eliminated? Think about that.
Regardless, it is what it is, but my gut still tells me that in the end, the winners will prevail, but my gut is big these days and hasn’t been right for a long time. We soon shall see.
I’d LOVE to see Ryan get his first and RCR another. Just to slap NA$CAR back to reality. Enough of gimic champions. Crown the champion the WINSTON CUP WAY!!!
Won’t NA$CAR have egg on their stupid faces when a non-race winner in the chase finishes 10th at Homestead and is crowned Champion? Could happen.
If a chaser can’t win Homestead, the 4 chasers should run a 50 lapper, right then, to prove a champion.
They continue to show their ignorance.
The fix is simple, to be in the chase, you have to have at least one win. If they are 17, then they are 17, if they are 6 , then they are 6.
Then the winner of the chase has to have a win in the chase to start with. Most wins wins the chase, then points.
Through all these top runners, someone is gonna get a win in the chase.
I agree, I truly hope the one who takes the Cup, is one of the consistent ones through out the year..otherwise..how sad for all these consistently hard working teams.