2010 NASCAR running thread

[Batman]

In 2004, Kurt Busch blew an engine in Atlanta and finished 42nd. This was Race 7 of the first Chase.

In 2004, Kurt Busch won the Nextel Cup.

I didn't say it was impossible to win the championship. I said it was awfully difficult.

Yes, Busch won the Cup after blowing up in Race 7. He finished first, fifth, fifth, sixth, fourth, fifth, 10th, sixth and fifth in the other nine races and won the title by only eight points.

A traditionalist such as myself would argue Busch shouldn't have even been in the mix for the championship to begin with, since he was 293 points out of first place in the standings after the end of the so-called regular season. The Chase format put him only 30 points out of top spot, and then he won the first playoff race.

Even with his dynamite Chase results, he would only have picked up 46 points on previous leader Jeff Gordon. As it was, because he got a fake 263-point boost in the standings going into the Chase, he ended up beating Gordon by 16.

And if the 2007 Giants hadn't gotten into the playoffs with a 10-6 record, they never would have beaten the 18-0 Patriots in the Super Bowl. Same with the 2005 Steelers or any number of NFL teams that have made championship runs from the wild-card spot.
If baseball hadn't added the wild card, half the champions from the last decade would not have won.
It sounds like the people who hate the Chase want NASCAR to be like college football -- just crown the one at the end that seems to be the best and give 'em a trophy. The Chase still rewards consistency. If you put up top 10 finishes every week, you can win the Chase without winning a race. If you finish fifth one week, 25th the next, 16th the next, and first the week after, you're probably not going to win.

 

[playthrough]

There's plenty of contrived things to diss in NASCAR (and probably more on the way), but I think the Chase is far down the list.

 

[thestatman]

There's plenty of contrived things to diss in NASCAR (and probably more on the way), but I think the Chase is far down the list.

Potholes respectfully disagree.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Anybody see the Nationwide finish last night? Last three laps were pretty cool.

Hope today is as exciting.

 

[imjustagirl]

I just hope Kenseth wins with the new blood on the pit box.

 

[Moderator1]

Anybody see the Nationwide finish last night? Last three laps were pretty cool.

Hope today is as exciting.

We turned it on last night just in time for the G/W/C - saw all we needed to see.
My goal is to catch the last 10 or so laps of every race this season. Nothing more.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Anybody see the Nationwide finish last night? Last three laps were pretty cool.

Hope today is as exciting.

So are you enjoying the Fontana Kiwanis parade?

 

[Derek_W]

What a surprise. Another Jimmie Johnson win. :

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

What a surprise. Another Jimmie Johnson win. :

Nice job by his pit crew to get him out before the leader when the caution flag dropped.

 

[westcoastvol]

I laughed my ass off when FOX showed a promo for the new season of "Glee" before they dropped the green flag to start the race. I saw the last 25 laps, thought Happy might do some rubbing with JJ for the checkers, but he decided to rub the wall instead.

Doesn't matter, I had both in my fantasy lineup anyway. I am RULING in both my leagues, although, I'm megabummed that espn and yahoo both don't have salary cap fantasy racing anymore. The only one I know of is foxsports.com and I only found out about that yesterday. IMO, both espin and yahoo screwed the pooch with the changes. Too easy now.

 

[imjustagirl]

I'm in a league in which you pick one driver a week, but you can't use the same driver twice. I'm saving Hamlin for Pocono, JJ for charlotte, etc.

I've used Harvick and Kenseth so far. I'm one point out of the lead.

 

[westcoastvol]

How does that break down, pointswise? Do you get one point per place and the lowest score wins?

If they shorten first Bristol down to ten laps, that might be the week to use Blaney (who I feel horrible for, btw).