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NASCAR could use more plate races, but not in Chase

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Updated Jul 7, 2009 12:24 PM ET
     
 
Before and after every race at Daytona, the same question is always asked: If Daytona is NASCAR's most famous and exciting track, why doesn't it host a race in the Chase for Tthe Sprint Cup? Some have even suggested that the Sprint Cup season should both start and end at Daytona International Speedway, which hosts the season-opening Daytona 500 and the mid-summer classic. Many believe that the championship-deciding season finale should not be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a 15-year-old track that has only been on the Cup schedule since 1999 and sits in a market that is not exactly a racing hotbed. Instead, they contend, it should be at tradition-rich Daytona, NASCAR's "World Center of Racing." Saturday night's spectacular conclusion to the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona certainly adds weight to that argument. But it is also exactly why Daytona — and Talladega — should NOT be part of the 10-race Chase. The last-lap showdown between Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch, which sent Busch spinning into the wall and bouncing around like a pinball, was breath-taking, scintillating stuff. It was the type of finish NASCAR fans dream of and the reason races at Daytona and Talladega are among the most anticipated each year.

NASCAR has held three restrictor-plate races this season, and mayhem has broken out at the finish of two of them. (It likely would have happened at the conclusion of the Daytona 500 as well had it not been stopped and then shortened by rain.) Carl Edwards was bumped out of the lead at Talladega in April and his car wound up flying into the frontstretch fence, creating both thrilling excitement and frightening controversy. And, as a bonus, it was rookie and part-time Cup driver Brad Keselowski who sent him flying, adding a Cinderella story to the finish. In one mesmerizing moment, Talladega produced everything that NASCAR is all about — thrilling bumper-to-bumper, side-by-side competition, spectacular crashes, outrageous controversy and a storybook ending. For months, the Talladega spectacle was the most exciting moment of the season. Then came the July 4 race at Daytona, which trumped it because of the players involved. Busch, NASCAR's win-at-all costs driver and its biggest villain in the minds of many, made a brilliant move to take the lead from former teammate Tony Stewart and looked poised to steal the victory from the dominant Stewart. Then, as they sped toward the checkered flag, Stewart made his move, forcing Busch to block him and nudging him just enough to send him careening toward the wall.

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The contact ignited a spectacular crash in which Busch's car bounced off the wall and then got hit by Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano and others. The chaos that ensued sent nearly a dozen cars spinning and crashing across the finish line. It was the type of drama worthy of Daytona and a Fourth of July fireworks display. But it was also the type of incident that you don't want to see happen during a race for the championship. Imagine the controversy that would erupt if Busch, Stewart and other Chase drivers were involved in a last-lap crash while racing for the series title on the final lap of the final race of the season? Stewart and Busch were both victims of restrictor-plate racing at Daytona, as were Edwards and Keselowski at Talladega. No one was at fault. All four were doing what they had to do to try to win the race on the final lap. That Edwards wound up in the Talladega fence, and Busch in the Daytona wall, was merely a result of the type of racing that occurs at NASCAR's two fastest, most dangerous tracks. And unless it tears down the two tracks, there is little NASCAR can do to prevent it from happening. Nor should it. It is indeed the most spectacular racing of the season, and NASCAR doesn't need to tamper with tracks or a style of racing that practically guarantee thrilling finishes. In fact, you could make a strong case for more restrictor-plate racing. If tracks were awarded race dates based on competition and the shows they produce, Daytona and Talladega should each have more than two Cup races a year. Actually, if NASCAR wants to do something to entice and enthrall fans, it should find a way to add more restrictor-plate and short-track races to its Cup schedule, providing more events where contact and controversy are likely.
Fans would certainly get more excited about those events than some at other big tracks that are almost always uneventful and anticlimactic. But, NASCAR should absolutely not conclude its season at Daytona, where a thrilling finish is almost certain to include a multicar crash. Nor should Daytona be in the Chase, where each of the 10 races is crucial toward winning the championship. It also should seriously reconsider putting Talladega in the Chase. The November event at Talladega is the Chase race that championship contenders fear and dread the most. Nearly every year, at least one Chase driver sees his championship hopes evaporate in one of the big multicar crashes that are so common there. In April, nine drivers who either were or still are in Chase contention were swept into one of two multicar accidents. If that happens in November — and it likely will — it is going to cost someone a shot at the championship. NASCAR does not need its championship decided by races in which drivers have little control over the outcome because one slip can create mayhem, sweeping innocent victims into a multicar crash that ends their race and possibly their season. Though that can obviously happen at any track, it is far more likely at Daytona and Talladega. And NASCAR does not need its championship coming down to the final lap at a track where the leader is likely to get wrecked because that is just the nature of racing at that track. Saturday night's race at Daytona was spectacular, as was the thriller at Talladega in April. Both will go down as two of the best races this season. And NASCAR should try to create even more of that type of excitement. Just not when a championship is on the line.

Jeff Owens is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 46 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information.

Tagged: Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski

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