Happy Hour: The next round of the Chase, a title idea, Keselowski and more
Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to [email protected] or @NickBromberg.We’ll post them here, have a good time and everyone’s happy.
Who’s excited for the second round of the Chase? Are you awake from Dover? Nothing against long green flag runs, but man, that race was a snoozer. And that’s become pretty typical of Dover, recently. Outside of Jimmie Johnson jumping the restart, when was the last real signature Dover moment in the Cup Series? Is it Joey Logano flipping down the banking in the COT? (The concrete coming up on the track and blasting into Jamie McMurray’s car and being fixed by a man in an Earl Weaver shirt does not count.)
Before we get into questions, we’re going to introduce something we’ll have in Happy Hour every week: pre-2014 Chase standings. Given how good some of the drivers at the top of the standings have been throughout the season, it’ll be fun to track how the 16 Chasers would do throughout the 10 races if there were no eliminations and points resets. Would the champion change? How close would the title race be at Homestead?
Here are the standings through the first three races.
1. Brad Keselowski, 2,140
2. Joey Logano 2,136
3. Kevin Harvick, 2,23
4. Jimmie Johnson, 2,121
5. Jeff Gordon 2,117
6. Kyle Busch, 2,111
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2,104
8. Matt Kenseth, 2,097
9. Carl Edwards 2,091
10. Ryan Newman 2,091
11. Denny Hamlin 2,081
12. Kasey Kahne, 2.079
13. AJ Allmendinger, 2,077
14. Kurt Busch, 2,073
15. Greg Biffle, 2,072
16. Aric Almirola 2,061
While the third round of three races cuts the most drivers in terms of percentage of the field, this second round of Kansas/Charlotte/Talladega has the potential to be the most bizarre. Kansas has been interesting since the track was repaved, though the spring race played out pretty much to a 2014 intermediate-track script. The big question going in is if Kyle Busch can break the hex that’s on him there.
This leads us nicely into the first question.
I think you can work this one both ways. One extreme says that the winners of the first two races (or winner, if someone wins both) will play it safe, ride around and just make sure nothing crazy happens at Talladega. It’s a plausible scenario, especially since we’ve seen Talladega be a bit more conservative than in the spring in the Chase. The prospect of elimination may see drivers willing to hold on to their positions rather than risk a crash. This points format penalizes DNFs more than the old one did.
The other extreme is that the drivers with wins can simply go for the win and not care. These restrictor plate cars won’t be used again this season, so it’s not like the car will need to be saved for another race unless it’s for next year. We saw how Brad Keselowski’s strategy didn’t change at all after the first race.
The conservatism is another reason why I like carrying over bonus points for wins from round to round. It’d be an opportunity for a driver who may be solidly in the next round of the Chase to go for a last lap pass. Now, if you’re in second place in the race and 10th in the points and know you’ll advance by simply holding your position, there’s not much championship incentive to make a move.
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I have an idea on how to make the new playoff system a bit more interesting and maybe more fair. Crown the Champion at Daytona. Run the first nine as they are, but only eliminate two leaving ten for Homestead. At Homestead chase drivers shift to chaser only points 10 to 1. Maybe a point or two bonus for winning. Maybe run it as a separate race on Saturday, or not. Here’s the change. Scrap the Shootout, it lost meaning when they changed the criteria. Replace it with a two race battle for the crown. The first race a sprint on the road course. The second on the speedway. Each one the distance of a thankful. It would be even better if they could throw in 50 lapper on the Daytona short track, or New Smyrna which would be perfect and maybe there is a way. As far as the banquet, hold a couple weeks later at Las Vegas. – Bill
I’ve softened on the idea that a restrictor plate race can’t be the last one in the Chase. Each of the 10 races in the Chase count for the same number of points, so it’s going to be the same factor no matter what. However, with the one race, winner-take-all format, no way. Restrictor plate racing is not the place for that. (Given the breakdown of the NASCAR schedule, Homestead is the perfect place to end the season for the format.)
If eliminations are still part of the game, only eliminating two through 90 percent of the Chase leaves the field too open. Without eliminations, there wouldn’t be 10 drivers mathematically alive for the title.
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I’m a Brad Keselowski fan and I’m thrilled he is still #1 in this weeks power rankings. I’m also very happy he is finally getting the recognition he deserves for the driver he is, both on and off the track.- Kathy
Is Keselowski finally getting the recognition that he deserves? He’s been one of the biggest names and most go-to drivers for opinions and comments since he won the 2012 championship.
However, I totally understand why Keselowski is using the line of thinking he is by saying the second title is a validation that the first title was a fluke. it’s a great motivational tactic and with the Chase format, he can say he got it done more than once.
If Keselowski wins the title this year, I think you could make the argument that 2014 would have been a bigger accomplishment than 2012. While that has something to do with the format, there are a bunch of drivers who are formidable opponents.
This is one of the biggest stretches for Kansas City-area sports in a long, long time.
The Kansas City Chiefs are at San Francisco this weekend, so with the Royals not in the playoffs the race would set up to be the biggest event in the city. It’s definitely not now. The Royals, especially with the way they came from behind to beat the A’s on Tuesday, have captivated the city and tickets are selling for three and four times face value for the game on Sunday night, which is the first true playoff game in Kansas City since 1985 if you don’t want to count Tuesday night’s Wild Card play-in game. (And there’s a slight chance the Royals could take both games in Anaheim on Thursday and Friday and be in a position to clinch Sunday night.)
But the key thing is that the Royals are at night, so the game will not overlap with the race. The race will start at about 1:15 p.m. CT while the Royals game starts at 6:30 p.m. The race will be over by about 4:30 p.m. or so, giving people plenty of time to trek across town for both games. Will I be doing it? Well, I’m going to try my damndest. If you’re going to do the double too, tweet me or shoot me an email. I’d love to chat with you at the Speedway on Friday or Sunday.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
