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I glory in Carl Edwards'
spunk. Last week, we defied all odds in
making a hot pass of Jimmie Johnson and
still finished second while going for
the lead. Great stuff. On Sunday, he
showed his aggressiveness by "pushing"
teammate Greg Biffle, hoping to get in
line for the victory. He luckily
finished second the first go-around, but
failed miserably at Talladega.
On the other hand, Jimmie Johnson was
conservative. He lost a lap early when
he laid back so much that he lost the
lead draft and was lapped. At Talladega,
he only had to be the first driver one
lap down to get the lucky dog (which, in
my opinion is a rule that NASCAR needs
to re-think--taking racing out of the
equation is surely a bad thing), get
back on the lead lap and move through
the field for the good finish.
Once again, NASCAR has proven that
nothing has changed. It's consistency
that matters and going for the win is
simply too risky in the Chase. By being
conservative, Johnson is in position to
win his third championship in a row,
something that only the legendary Cale
Yarborough has done in modern history.
No matter how many ways NASCAR tweaks
its point system, the secret is
finishing high and not endangering your
position by going for a win. The more
things change, the more they stay the
same.
So, what happens now? I imagine we'll
see Johnson taking the safe route to the
championship, not taking chances, and
winding up as the champ. Edwards and
Biffle will continue to be aggressive in
hopes that they can catch up. With six
races to go, my money's on Johnson and
his crew chief Chad Knaus. Why? They
know what to do. Stay in the top 10, and
if they have the car, go for the win,
but don't take any chances. Sounds like
a plan to me.
Until NASCAR adopts a different point
system for the Chase, it will always be
this way. They want to value the win,
but stop short of really rewarding those
who take chances. Adopting a 9-6-4-3-2-1
point system in the Chase would change
all of that. Only the first six
finishers would get points. Those that
finish below sixth place would receive
no points, deleting those bad finishes
that are bound to happen and keep the
field close for the final run. On
Sunday, Tony Stewart would have been
awarded nine points, Paul Menard six
points, and on down the list. Those that
finished on down the list (including
Chase constestants that had bad days)
would have received no points. Under
this scenario, Greg Biffle would lead
with 22 points, Johnson would be second
with 17 points, Edwards would be third
with 14 points, Stewart would be fourth
with nine points, Jeff Burton would be
fifth with six points, Jeff Gordon would
be sixth with three points, Kevin
Harvick, Matt Kenseth, and Clint Bowyer
would be tied for seventh with two
points, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle
Busch would tied for be 10th with one
point. Denny Hamlin would be 12th with
no points.
As you can see, everyone would sill have
a fighting chance at the championship,
but do not hold your breath. It won't
happen in our lifetimes.
It's notable that Jayski posts the
classic points on his site and it shows
that Carl Edwards would be leading if
the Chase never happened. Bad finishes
are a given in any sport, but few sports
punish one bad performance as harshly as
the Sprint Cup series. If the Chase was
about a "playoff" system, let's give
everyone a chance to achieve the
ultimate goal. Maybe we would see more
spirited racing and less stroking.
You can
contact Ron at
ron.fleshman@verizon.net
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