Following NASCAR’s warning of Brad Keselowski last weekend at Kansas to take it easy around the Chase drivers, some fans have expressed their displeasure to us this week with NASCAR’s call. I even heard some angry calls into radio shows regarding the subject. A few in the media have also reacted to the situation, including SceneDaily.com’s Bob Pockrass. I personally think it’s ridiculous for NASCAR to expect non-Chase drivers to tip-toe around the Chasers.
I understand that NASCAR wants a fair fight among those twelve drivers battling for the Championship, and they should be allowed every opportunity (within the rules) to do well. But what being in the Chase shouldn’t get you, is more favor from the other drivers and from NASCAR.
When the teams hit the track each weekend, 43 drivers are vying for not only that Cup, but also the race. Once inside the Chase, just because only 12 drivers can win the Cup doesn’t change the fact that 43 could still win the race. Those other 31 drivers have just as much right to fight for every inch and race hard as those guys in the Chase. By expecting drivers to take it easy around the Chasers, NASCAR is hurting the integrity of the competition and showing disrespect to the fans of those non-Chase drivers.
For those teams outside the Chase, running well in those final ten races and possibly picking up a win could go a long way towards success in the future. For somebody like a Jamie McMurray it could mean a solid ride for 2010 and possible sponsorship. Or for somebody struggling like Dale Earnhardt Jr., it could be the start of returning to Championship form.
As I mentioned on Twitter earlier in the week, you don’t see the NFL asking the non-playoff teams to take it easy on the playoff teams in week 17 of the regular season. The thought being that those non-playoff teams could adversely affect the the chances for those in the playoffs. Those teams would laugh in the NFL’s face, and the fans would be outraged.
So please NASCAR, does us a favor and just let them race.
Related posts:
- The Chase Isn’t Disappointing (For Me At Least)
- Guess Who’s Winning Without The Chase?
- Standings If There Had Been No Chase: Part 1
- The Chase Demands Perfection
- Guess Who Wins Without the Chase?
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on Oct 9th, 2009 at 1:00 am
exactley what I would have said if I had the talent to write an aricle like this! DITTO!!!
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 1:08 am
If that’s the case,at the 26 race mark all the cars that did not make the chase go home until February,and the next 10 races occupied by the 12 contenders. Crazy!!
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 1:37 am
“As I mentioned on Twitter earlier in the week, you don’t see the NFL asking the non-playoff teams to take it easy on the playoff teams in week 17 of the regular season.”
Is that really true?
Before I kicked the Numerous Felon’s League to the curb entirely I recall many non-play-off teams “playing for next year” and starting 3rd stringers.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Addendum to my last, the league my not ask teams to do what has been obvious, but the end result is the same. Many times teams didn’t put their best on the field late in the season.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 6:51 am
In a Twitter exchange this week, a NASCAR journalist offered to me the view that the warning to Keselowski to “be aware” of who he’s racing with had more to do with Brad’s relative inexperience than a wish to protect Chase drivers from harm.
I didn’t agree with this view, and I still find the whole episode insulting to both Keselowski and to the other non-Chase drivers. It seems like NASCAR is willing to allow a caste system during the Chase, in which the interests of the 12 are somehow more important. In this instance, it is also insulting to Keselowski, who in a limited schedule has shown that he belongs in Cup.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Absolutely right. Plus, NASCAR fans don’t stop rooting for their favorite drivers when they don’t make the chase. A win is still a win and cause for celebration. Sometimes I think NASCAR and the media give too much weight to the chase and not enough to the dynamics of each, individual race.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 8:23 am
I completely agree. It’s not just a W in the record book, there’s a lot of money at stake too.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Sadly that seems to be exactly what is happening anyway. Just look at who is running in the top ten almost all the time – the chasers! You never see that in the regular season. It seems like the other drivers are just backing off and letting the chasers go do their own thing.
You can also see it in the race just prior to the chase, “Ooo no, be careful and don’t race hard with someone trying to get in!” Worst idea NASCAR ever had!
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I do agree with the point that NASCAR should not tell their drivers how to treat the Chase guys. The drivers should know, without a lecture, how to treat them. There seem to be some drivers who could care less about the Chase, and do not have the common sense that they would expect shown to them if they were involved. These are the few that this was pointed at. Too bad it even needed to arise.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I agree with you. Since NASCAR allowed the 5th car, let it race!!!
TC-What was really behind NASCARS’s request? They must have known how angry fans were going to get.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
O.K. let’s look at the NFL comparison. How many times do you see a team with it’s playoff spot lock up play backups in that 17th week? Quite often. The reason is to “rest” the starters, but in reallity it is also to keep them from being injured and thus hurt the teams chances. The problem is Nascar does not really fit this type of “playoff”, because in the NFL the non-playoff teams no longer play once the post season starts. Unless Nascar wants 12 car races, and we will asume they don’t because that would be to much lost sponser money, then the chase is really not a good system to determine a champion. I always liked the old system myself. Each race is an event in itself and the most consistanly good driver wins the championship. I know many think more importance should be put on winning, but do you really want a 10 win and 10 dnf champion? I don’t.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I am sure that the NFL would take action against a player the took a cheap shot at a playoff bound QB and put him out of action for the season. I believe that NASCAR is right to warn non Chase drivers to not do something stupid around the Chase hopefuls. I would have been appalled if a part time team did something stupid that took out Martin, Johnson, Montoya or any other of the chase contenders. This year offers the best chase every, Jeff for a fifth, Jimmy for fourth in a row, Montoya for the first foreign driver and who is not at least going to be partly happy if Martin finally gets his first. We saw in the Nationwide race what a young driver can do when the 20 showed the 18 who was fastest. That is all that NASCAR was asking of the 25. Race hard, race clean and race smart.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
This was a message to a rookie, not a warning to non-Chase drivers. Every driver out there has gotten a similar warning in different words their rookie year.
If you only took the message at face value, you got fooled. The underlying message was that he was part of a 5-car team that has a greater vested interest in what goes on out there on the track.
Like the #48 and #5 cars in post-race, Brad was coming close to stepping over the line at the wrong time. The quickest way to get his attention when a driver generally ignores critiques of his driving style is to come in over the top with your warning.
So instead of saying, “Quit driving like a jackass,” they made a veiled threat about being careful around Chase drivers. It was meant for the Hendrick team to get their driver in line in a way that got the ears of the higher-ups in Hendrick.
Was NASCAR heavy-handed? You bet. But every time they speak, they’re gonna be heavy handed. They’re the 800-lb. gorilla. It’s been that way for 60+ years. So if you’re upset about NASCAR playing the heavy on a rookie, then fair enough. But don’t think this was a message about how they want non-Chasers to race.
on Oct 10th, 2009 at 8:52 am
tc, i would venture to say there isn’t a fan out there who supports the notion that chase drivers should get special treatment. in fact, a quick reading thru the comments from pockrass’s column confirms that. and i do understand that you used the comment made to the 25 car in order to address the larger issue.
but . . . i believe RAEckart is completely correct! the nascar message was being sent to a rookie who is being given seat time at various tracks to prepare him for next season. i, personally, would have preferred they say to someone in that situation “quit driving like a jackass!”
this particular incident is not, to me, a good point to bring to the larger argument of chasers and non-chasers on the same track. i believe nascar is very well aware of sponsor feelings on this issue and wants each sponsor to have face time on the track (altho’ not necessarily on tv, but that’s a topic for a different blog!)
as for the effect of having non-chasers do something that negatively impacts a chaser? welcome to racing. it’s been happening from day 1 and will continue unless someone decides that it’d be better just to have the 12 chasers on the track — and then the guy in 12th place could always have a bad day and trash a higher-up chaser or two.
stuff happens, intentionally or not. it’s part of the sport.
on Oct 10th, 2009 at 11:27 am
IMO this has all gotten blown out of proportion. I can’t imagine that this was the first time NASCAR has warned an aggressive driver about driving aggressively… CHASE or NO CHASE. Especially a ROOKIE. I haven’t seen an actual quote of the exchange, but it sounds like NASCAR’s mistake could have been telling him to watch how he drives certain people instead of watch how he drives period.
on Oct 11th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I agree with posters 12 thru 15, who said it better than I could. Years ago as a consequence of an NFL rule change I believe it was that noted American philosopher, Jack Lambert, who said about quarterbacks “They should put them in dresses.”
on Oct 13th, 2009 at 12:04 am
The very reason NASCAR is losing fans and suffering declining ratings is exactly because of the status quo. People are rightly fed up with NASCAR’s blatant favoritism toward certain drivers and teams, along with the same driver always winning races and championships. If Jimmie Johnson wins another championship,with the help of Cheater Chad Knaus,that will be the death of NASCAR,and will cause an even bigger exodus of fans. Boring races at cookie cutter tracks are also another thing justifiably outraged fans are fed up with along with greed,political correctness,and NASCAR betraying its Southern roots. Wake up and smell the motor oil, NASCAR, before it’s too late