#ERASETHECHASE
8/01/2014
Kevin Abraham
Author’s Note: I apologize for
my absence. I have been too busy with work, and church to write my thoughts on
NASCAR the last couple of months. I hope you all have been enjoying PattyKay
and Jim’s columns, along with our weekly Fast Forward columns. Is it just me or are you sick of
hearing about the Chase? I know that it
is all I have heard about since before the engines started in Daytona for
testing this year. Every race the focus
is on locking drivers into the Chase, and who is in and who is out. I do understand that the Chase is an
important part of Brian France’s NASCAR, and it is here to stay sadly. For this NASCAR fan, I am so sick and tired
of hearing about it everywhere I go to read and learn about NASCAR news, from
the broadcasts on TV, to Jayski, and all other NASCAR sites, focusing more and
more on this contrived NASCAR ‘playoff’ that makes NASCAR look like all other
stick and ball sports, and it wears on this NASCAR fan. Does anyone remember how NASCAR used to be?
NASCAR at one time used to be a sport that weighted all 36 races equally
towards the championship. One bad race
would not cost the best driver the championship back then. They would have 35 races to make up for the
lost points. There also would be drivers
that would go on a streak, and pull away, only to suffer bad luck in a race or
two, allowing other drivers to have a chance to catch them. That was what made NASCAR intriguing to
watch. I was watching a YouTube video
recently that highlighted the 2002 Winston Cup season. This video opened my eyes to how competitive
the drivers and the races were back then, because they knew every race counted equally
towards the championship. That year
started with Tony Stewart finishing last in the Daytona 500 due to engine
failure, and had Sterling Marlin pulling out his front fender after contact
with Jeff Gordon, causing ‘fendergate’, where under
the red flag, Marlin jumped out of his car and pulled the right front fender
off his tire, drawing a penalty for working on a car under the red flag. Marlin recovered from his penalty to finish 8th,
while Stewart finished 43rd. If this was Homestead 2014, and one of the
four qualified Chase drivers finished ahead of Marlin, he would have lost the
championship. Stewart and Marlin would have lost the season championship due to
one bad race, which is not fair to the drivers, their teams, their sponsors, or
their fans. In 2002, Stewart and Marlin
had 35 other races to overcome the one bad race. For most of the year it looked
like Sterling Marlin would win the championship, even with his issue at Daytona. His Coors Light Dodge was a silver bullet and
he was having a career year. Marlin was injured in a crash at Richmond, but
kept racing due to being the points leader. He then broke a vertebra in his neck in the
fall race at Kansas speedway, which caused Marlin to have to sit out the rest
of the 2002 season. This left the title fight
between Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, and a rookie named Jimmie Johnson. Late in the season Johnson held the point
lead, however after a blown engine at Talladega, the title race was between
Stewart and Martin. Stewart did what he
had to do to win the championship.
Another fun fact of the 2002 season is that we got to see another future
champion come on strong and win three of the last five races, showing his
potential, and serving notice that he would be a contender. This driver was Kurt Busch. Can every year have a
championship battle like 2002? Or the
infamous battle from 1992, where the championship was settled by ten points
with the old point system? The answer to
that is NO!! The big difference between
those years and the current system is that the champion was the best driver
over the entire SEASON, and not the best in a given time span, which for this
year is one race in Homestead Florida. I am closing with leaving you all
with the YouTube links of the review of the 2002 season, hosted by Ken
Squier. Listen and take in the NASCAR
many loved, and long to have back.
What are YOUR thoughts on this? Am I an old timer who is off my rocker wishing NASCAR would abolish the Chase and go back to its roots? Or do you agree with me, and wish NASCAR would make one change and #ERASETHECHASE? Please sound off below your thoughts.
I am on Twitter @KevDogg329