Post by labontefanboy on Jan 30, 2015 13:53:22 GMT -5
The unnoticed points battle
We all thought last year's Chase would be hard to top. 6 drivers entered Homestead with a shot at the championship. This year, however, just 2 races remain, and we could see an even tighter season finale. 11 of the 12 Chasers are still mathematically in contention, with each still believing that they have a shot to hoist the trophy after Homestead. All of the media attention this week and next will be focused on that, and rightly so. It is the crowning jewel of auto racing, nearly impossible to obtain, and in the Chase era, seemingly impossible to defend. Each defending champion in the Chase era has failed to even qualify for the Chase the following season. Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle can both attest to that, while 2005 champ Rusty Wallace retired after winning it all. In a nutshell - it's a pretty big deal.
Because the media pays attention predominantly to the Chase teams during the 10-race playoff, Chase critics often argue that the little teams get cast aside or are simply turning laps for no reason. After all, NASCAR is the only professional sport in which non-playoff teams are still competing during the playoffs. That doesn't faze teams, however, as many of the non-Chase teams use the final 10 races as a test session to qualify for the following year, or push hard to try and pull of a rare upset over the Chasers to grab a race victory. Joe Nemechek and Biffle pulled off upsets in 2004, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed the feat in 2005 (Johnson actually won 3 of the 10 Chase races that season), and Busch, Mark Martin, and Dale Jarrett (twice) did it last season. This year, Bobby Hamilton Jr. pulled off the upset at Talladega. But for 2 teams in particular, these last 2 races hold special importance. For Robby Gordon's #7 team and Paul Menard's #1 team, the battle to get to 36th in owner standings is especially important for 2008. You might say, "wait, I thought that only the top 35 were guaranteed a starting spot in the first 5 races of 2008?" You would be correct. But this year, the 36th position is guaranteed that position as well, because Evernham Motorsports will not be running the #19 team full-time in 2008, and that team sits in a coveted spot in 32nd. Ray Evernham has indicated that he will not look to sell the position to another team, and will simply let 36th slide into one of the guaranteed 35 spots.
As it stands right now, the #45 team of Kyle Petty has 36th. While that team is also only planning on part-time competition in 2008, the team does intend on competing in the Daytona 500 and the Infineon Raceway event, both of which are inside the first 5 races of the season. That means that Gordon and Menard's teams will have to push extra hard to bounce the #45 team out of that position, while holding off the other team. Gordon and Menard have been swapping positions almost constantly over the past few races, and Menard currently holds a 67 point advantage heading into Phoenix. Each team, however, has to assure themselves a qualification spot before focusing on the race setup, meaning that they only have limited time during pit stops to make necessary adjustments. Both drivers will be racing as hard as they ever have in order to start 2008 off on the right foot, as they continue the intense points battle they have had over the past few weeks. While ESPN will rightly be showing the championship battle on television, be sure to take note of where Menard and Gordon place on the scrolling ticker if you're at home, as the 2008 campaign for those teams could certainly be dictated by what will transpire in the next 2 races. (SPEED.com) (11/8/07)
We all thought last year's Chase would be hard to top. 6 drivers entered Homestead with a shot at the championship. This year, however, just 2 races remain, and we could see an even tighter season finale. 11 of the 12 Chasers are still mathematically in contention, with each still believing that they have a shot to hoist the trophy after Homestead. All of the media attention this week and next will be focused on that, and rightly so. It is the crowning jewel of auto racing, nearly impossible to obtain, and in the Chase era, seemingly impossible to defend. Each defending champion in the Chase era has failed to even qualify for the Chase the following season. Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle can both attest to that, while 2005 champ Rusty Wallace retired after winning it all. In a nutshell - it's a pretty big deal.
Because the media pays attention predominantly to the Chase teams during the 10-race playoff, Chase critics often argue that the little teams get cast aside or are simply turning laps for no reason. After all, NASCAR is the only professional sport in which non-playoff teams are still competing during the playoffs. That doesn't faze teams, however, as many of the non-Chase teams use the final 10 races as a test session to qualify for the following year, or push hard to try and pull of a rare upset over the Chasers to grab a race victory. Joe Nemechek and Biffle pulled off upsets in 2004, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed the feat in 2005 (Johnson actually won 3 of the 10 Chase races that season), and Busch, Mark Martin, and Dale Jarrett (twice) did it last season. This year, Bobby Hamilton Jr. pulled off the upset at Talladega. But for 2 teams in particular, these last 2 races hold special importance. For Robby Gordon's #7 team and Paul Menard's #1 team, the battle to get to 36th in owner standings is especially important for 2008. You might say, "wait, I thought that only the top 35 were guaranteed a starting spot in the first 5 races of 2008?" You would be correct. But this year, the 36th position is guaranteed that position as well, because Evernham Motorsports will not be running the #19 team full-time in 2008, and that team sits in a coveted spot in 32nd. Ray Evernham has indicated that he will not look to sell the position to another team, and will simply let 36th slide into one of the guaranteed 35 spots.
As it stands right now, the #45 team of Kyle Petty has 36th. While that team is also only planning on part-time competition in 2008, the team does intend on competing in the Daytona 500 and the Infineon Raceway event, both of which are inside the first 5 races of the season. That means that Gordon and Menard's teams will have to push extra hard to bounce the #45 team out of that position, while holding off the other team. Gordon and Menard have been swapping positions almost constantly over the past few races, and Menard currently holds a 67 point advantage heading into Phoenix. Each team, however, has to assure themselves a qualification spot before focusing on the race setup, meaning that they only have limited time during pit stops to make necessary adjustments. Both drivers will be racing as hard as they ever have in order to start 2008 off on the right foot, as they continue the intense points battle they have had over the past few weeks. While ESPN will rightly be showing the championship battle on television, be sure to take note of where Menard and Gordon place on the scrolling ticker if you're at home, as the 2008 campaign for those teams could certainly be dictated by what will transpire in the next 2 races. (SPEED.com) (11/8/07)