Posted on September 18, 2006

By Passin' and Sassin'

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The columnists put their reputations on the line and predict the winner of the Championship. They are confident enough to give you the final positions of the top 11 drivers. Which writer do you think has chosen the 2006 Nextel Cup Champion? Before they reveal their final choices and reasons they chose their placement, the editorialists discuss what changes should be done in the Chase format. Additionally, they examine which driver has not met expectations to this point in the season. Is your favorite title contender a champion to one of the experts?

Q: Who is the bigger disappointment so far this season? Is it Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, or someone else?

Shannon Poe: In part they are all a huge disappointment, but for varied reasons. Biffle had everything but the locusts thrown at him in the bad luck category. As he began to fight back, it seemed the quicksand held on. Edwards for all the hype last year really disappointed me this year. I think much of the problem can be attributed to crew chief changes (giving Osborne to McMurray during the season) and his sudden negative attitude on the track. Stewart looked like he would pull a chase finish out of his hat at the last minute, but alas a crashed primary car at Richmond just could not be turned around. I don't consider Stewart to be a huge disappointment; I believe this setback will flip around next year. Tony has a way of taking adversity and turning it into cold hard success.

Christina Ribbeck: In some way, all three were a little disappointing. Tony fought until the end to make the chase, but fell short. He had a great season, stuffed just seemed to happen. With Greg and Carl not even close to making the chase, that surprised me. They are both great drivers, but stuff happens. Carl to me was the biggest disappointment and not so much with not making the chase. His attitude this year has changed a lot. I know he's had his run-ins with other drivers, but the stunts he's pulled to get them back, where just wrong. For example, when he came back out onto the track, rammed into Dale Jr.’s car, and nearly took his hand off, that was out of line for Carl, well for anyone. 

Chris Campbell: I can’t consider Tony Stewart a disappointment in the season, since he only missed the Chase by 16 points and was a contender all season long. Edwards had the proverbial sophomore slump, and Biffle was visited by the same bad luck that haunted Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. last year. Therefore, I’d actually have to say I am disappointed in the performance of Ryan Newman more than any of the other drivers. Newman, in spite of no major changes from last year except a new teammate, is mired back in the points. He never has consistently challenged for wins or poles this year.

Q: Should the Chase be tweaked? If yes what changes would you want incorporated?

Christina Ribbeck: The chase does need to be tweaked, and NASCAR can start by giving drivers more points for winning. I do not like hearing that drivers need to finish 25th or better to be locked in the Chase. What is the point of racing then if everyone just rides around and knows they can finish 25th and make the chase? What happened to winning? Let's hope NASCAR uses their heads in a good way and comes up with some good stuff for the chase.

Shannon Poe: I do believe that more points need to be awarded for race winners. However, if they instate that change, then they need to abolish this winner of the most races as tiebreaker garbage. If there is a tie leading up to the chase, then make it 11 or 12 contenders for the cup. The only time a tiebreaker will be necessary is in the event that two win the cup, then worry about tie breakers.

Chris Campbell: If I could tweak the Chase, I would start by changing the scheduled tracks, as some tracks shouldn’t be in the Chase, while others should. Then I would go to the points system, making changes almost across the board. Points should be a set amount for all drivers finishing the race in the last ten spots. I believe the top 10 finishers in each race should have a larger differential over the drivers finishing 11^th – 33^rd; I’d even give more points for finishes of 11^th – 22^nd. A driver who wins two races, but for the rest of the season finishes 20^th or worse, should have an increased chance in making the chase over teams who consistently finish in the top 20 positions. Otherwise, road course specialists would be a higher commodity than they currently are. Oh, and the name should stay the same, we don’t need additional changes in that area.

First picks of the season were not ranked, nor did we pick an 11^th place finisher. We did not include the 11^th place finisher within the percentages.

*matches actual placement as of 9/13/2006

Q: How have you arrived at your choices? Who do you think will finish 11^th in 2006 point standings?

Chris Campbell: I’m surprised that Tony Stewart didn’t make the Chase and Greg Biffle I expected him to do better in the second half of the season. I guess I’ll make it unanimous that Tony Stewart will finish 11^th place in the standings. As Christina pointed out, he has a sizeable lead over Greg Biffle and Biffle will struggle to make up those points considering Stewart is strong at most of the tracks in the Chase. It is difficult to sit and rank ten drivers in positions as I can provide many reasons as to why I placed them where I did. Kahne, Burton, Hamlin, Harvick, & Busch are all first time in the Chase and I think the pressure will ultimately be their downfall from winning the Championship. Mark Martin does not have momentum on his side, although statistically he is the better driver at the tracks in the Chase. Jeff Gordon & Jimmie Johnson both are great drivers, but Gordon’s team has not been championship material this year, and Johnson has yet to prove his team hasn’t stopped the sub-par performances they experienced in the past at the end of the season. Which leaves me with Kenseth & Earnhardt Jr. and I believe either of them is capable of winning the Championship and handle the pressure. Dale Jr. and his team have improved greatly this year with tracks they have struggled at in the past, while Jr. has also matured tremendously as well. I think they have built steadily this year to put themselves in the position to win it all, but qualifying has to improve or it might be their undoing. Kenseth has consistency and momentum on his side, along with the ability to stay out of the media’s glare. My tiebreaker for choosing between the two drivers came to the crew chiefs and rooting for the “underdog”, no matter how popular of a driver he is.

Christina Ribbeck: Missing are Jeff Burton (8th) and Kyle Busch (5th). Overall, I think I did pretty well. Casey Mears had a good chance at making the chase at the time I picked him. He has five top 10s so far and with his performances earlier in the year, that is why I chose him. His luck seemed to wind down after I chose him for the chase. He is a great driver and I think he will be in the chase, if not a champion one day soon. Tony Stewart was strong for most of the season, yet he too had problems, wrecks caused by others or him, or the set up on his car was not right. I do not believe the accidents he had outside of the Cup series had anything to do with him not making the ch