| Published:N/A |
| Date: September 2007 |
| Section: Nascar/Opinion/Satire |
| Comments: |
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By: Ian Essling
Sparks flew and sheet metal exploded across the track all night, but the biggest story of the race for many fans was not the wild red-flag inducing racing at Richmond International Raceway that marked the 26 th race of the Nextel Cup season. Instead, many fans were distraught that for the second time in three years, NASCAR's most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the 10-race "Chase for the Cup." The Chase, NASCAR's version of the playoffs, begins next week at New Hampshire and lasts the final ten races of the season.
After blowing in a motor in the final qualifying race at Richmond, Earnhardt ended up over 200 points behind Kevin Harvick, who took the final transfer spot in the Chase by virtue of his 12 th place position in the standings.
That was the story that most fans fell asleep to Saturday night. Harvick fans rejoiced, and Junior fans looked forward to next year, when the driver will join Hendrick Motorsports, arguably the strongest team in NASCAR.
Hours after the race ended, however, NASCAR put out a press release to all major news organizations that the 12-man Chase was not the end-all result of the final race of the regular season. The release stated that a "Lucky 13" rule was a part of the original set of rules governing the changes to this year's format, and by virtue of that rule, Earnhardt Jr., who ended up 13 th in the standings, will now be allowed to compete for the championship.
NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston defended the move, stating that the "Lucky 13" rule has been in existence since the new Chase format was announced earlier this year, and that the rule would have been used for "any driver," not just Junior, who is, coincidently, the most popular driver in NASCAR.
After Earnhardt and superstar Jeff Gordon missed the Chase in 2005 and defending champion Tony Stewart missed the Chase last year, NASCAR widened the field from 10-12 this year, prompting many critics to argue that the new rule was simply a buffer to make sure the superstars (and thus, super-sponsors) made the final 10 race playoff.
The twelve drivers were apparently not enough for NASCAR; Poston further elaborated on the "Lucky 13" rule, stating that they were also looking into possible wild card entries to the Chase next year, including a fan vote, a lottery system, a reward for poles, starts, and attempts and a "gimme" for those with many DNFs.
Two final means of qualifying are already approved and will be used next year, and they include country of birth and car manufacturer, two attributes that would insure that the highest driver in the standings from every country and the highest ranked car of each manufacturer would also be present in the Chase. The country of birth rule would seem to be aimed at the influx of open wheel drivers who, NASCAR hopes, will bring in more international fans. The manufacturer rule is obviously a huge boon to Toyota, the latest entry into NASCAR Cup racing, which has struggled mightily to simply make races, much less contend for wins and championships.
Poston was asked if that sort of attitude towards the Chase would dilute the format, but he declined to comment, stating that, "Emperor France has proclaimed that these changes will take effect next year, and under no circumstances will I discuss these additions with anyone outside of NASCAR leadership, nor will I allow some outside organization to influence how we run our series. No one owns us! No one!"
Poston delivered his final comment from the seat of his brand new 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser before speeding away from the track.
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