Happy Hour: Tracking the old Chase, SAFER barriers and burnouts
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 and have a good time.
Just like last year, we’re going to be tracking the Chase throughout the entire 10 races. After Dover, the points reset for the 12 advancing drivers. So here’s what the points standings would look like if it was a cumulative 10-race Chase. Joey Logano would have won the title last year under the old format.
Matt Kenseth would have a 14-point lead over Logano if the points weren’t reset.
1. Matt Kenseth 2,137
2. Joey Logano 2,123
3. Denny Hamlin 2,119
4. Carl Edwards 2,118
5. Martin Truex Jr. 2,104
6. Kurt Busch 2,100
6. Brad Keselowski 2,100
6. Jeff Gordon 2,100
9. Kyle Busch 2,099
9. Ryan Newman 2,099
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,098
12. Jamie McMurray 2,098
13. Jimmie Johnson, 2.086
14. Kevin Harvick 2,082
15. Paul Menard 2,075
16. Clint Bowyer 2.048
Talladega announced Thursday that it would have SAFER barrier around all the exterior and interior walls for its race in two weeks. It’s a no-brainer move that’s commendable simply because tracks have seemed reluctant to take the step to install SAFER around as many walls as possible.
Why? There’s not a good enough reason, especially in the wake of Austin Theriault’s compression fracture in his lower back after hitting a bare concrete wall at Las Vegas on Saturday in the Truck Series race. Yes, Las Vegas Motor Speedway is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., the same company that owns Bristol Motor Speedway, AKA the track that unveiled a 700-ton hanging television feature on Wednesday.
We’re glad we’re not the only people that notice the separation. SMI loves its TVs. And we don’t blame it; they do enhance the fan experience. But how about enhancing the driver safety experience while we’re at it too?
Brad Keselowski said a lot by saying very little when he was asked about SAFER barriers this week. He’s the owner of Theriault’s truck.
“I cringe, but then I get back in the race car and say, ‘What are my options?’” Keselowski rhetorically asked when he was asked if he cringes when he sees hits like Theriault’s. “As a team owner I have no ability to affect change on the tracks, and as a driver I’m consistently told how lucky I am to have a spot as a race car driver and I need to shut up and drive the car. So there are no options available for me to remedy the situation, so I move on to things I can affect change on.”
Biffle is an interesting option, not only because of his age (46 in December) but also the performance of Roush Fenway Racing. He has two young teammates and Roush doing a full reboot of sorts and going with three young drivers would make sense given the team’s performance level.
Biffle was a free agent at an inopportune time last year. Edwards was the top candidate for a fourth car at Joe Gibbs Racing, and there was no real spot for him anywhere else. So he re-upped with Roush and his performance in 2015 is worse than it was last year. He made the Chase and finished 14th in 2014. He’s currently 20th in the standings and has four top-10 finishes. He had 11 in 2014.
Can Biffle still win races? We think so, given the right equipment. But will that combination happen again? And Greg Biffle is really 46 years old this year?
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I think the burnout should not be allowed in NASCAR. Everyone knows it’s really dumb and a way a cheater can get away with something illegal to make the car better than the rest. Not to mention choking the fans with all the dust and smoke in their face. I was at Phoenix when Alan Kulwicki won the inaugural and did his Polish victory lap. That was a first with true class. Going the opposite way on the track with the checker flag so the fans can see and wave to the driver. No need for all the smoke and mirrors which these drivers do now. Those drivers should take their bag of marbles and go play with the other kids “knuckle down” and let the real drivers that don’t need to burnout honor the real celebrations as it was intended. – Roger
Is the burnout an overrated celebration? We’d lean to “yes.” Being unique is fun, and while burnouts can be fun, they’re the norm right now. If we’re thinking of notable celebrations, we’ve got Carl Edwards’ backflip, Kyle Busch’s bow, Brad Keselowski and the American flag, and maybe Tony Stewart will climb the fence one more time if he wins again.
So step it up, drivers. Go be creative.
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Should Hendrick Motorsports swap Chad Knaus for Alan Gustafson or Greg Ives now that Jimmie Johnson has been eliminated from the Chase? – Jeff
This is a great what-if question. If humans were robots, then absolutely. Give Jeff Gordon the services of Chad Knaus for the next seven races. The cars won’t be slower and race strategy will likely be better. And if Gordon got eliminated in the second round, Knaus could be moved over to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car if Junior was still in the Chase.
But we aren’t robots, so this is nothing but a hypothetical. You can’t execute a scenario like this without a ton of potential complications and conflicts. Hendrick Motorsports wouldn’t do anything of the like, even if there was a chance of getting optimal results. The issues have been on pit stops for Junior’s team, and there’s not much a crew chief can help with on that. But damn, this is a fun one to kick around.
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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!
