The ups and downs of the first 25 weeks of the season have created a situation that has NASCAR salivating, as its new “playoff” comes down to one event.
One race — on a short track, no less — and 400 laps with only 76 points separating eight drivers vying for three spots in the Championship Chase going into Richmond Saturday night (realistically, all Kurt Busch has to do is show up, run a few laps and he’s a lock).
When Brian France and the boys in Daytona Beach decided to make the change in the points system, they never imagined that it would work out this well the first time out.
When TNT, which will air the race, said, “We Know Drama,” they had no idea.
Saturday night’s Chevy Rock and Roll 400 should be a brawl with the five guys looking into the top 10 crawling to move past the cut-off line, while the three guys currently on the inside try to apply the death grip to their spot.
And if this week’s points shakeup is anything like the previous two weeks, this thing will be very, very interesting.
Kevin Harvick finds himself in a precarious position. A poor run at California dropped him all the way from eighth to 15th in the points standings — 56 points back of 10th place Mark Martin, who has used two good runs to catapult himself into contention.
Harvick now has no momentum and a lot of cars to pass to get back in the Chase.
Bobby Labonte finds himself in a similar position — currently 12th after spending much of the year inside the top 10.
On the other side of the momentum coin, Jamie McMurray used a fourth-place finish last week to bounce up four spots to 11th, 25 points back of 10th.
I wonder if those are the same 25 points his team lost at Bristol in the spring.
If he misses a Chase spot by less than 25 points, then he should take someone out back and beat them.
Severely.
Jeremy Mayfield, who was in 10th place two weeks ago, has dropped to 14th and, like 13th-place Dale Jarrett, needs some help at Richmond to get in the show. Mayfield’s Evernham Motorsports teammate just needs to maintain his momentum from last week’s second-place finish to hold his ninth-place spot in the standings.
Eight drivers, three spots. By the time this column runs, I’m sure the stat guys will have it all worked out about who needs to finish where to be in — or out.
One cut tire, one blown motor, one little bump, or one flub in the pits and a driver will find himself racing for 11th for the last two months of the season.
Unless, of course, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both have trouble and more than 10 drivers end up within 400 points of the leader.
That would keep the stat guys busy and put another dramatic twist in the Championship Chase.
Andy Cagle can be reached by e-mail at acaglenc@earthlink.net
