NASCAR Championship

[abpk2903]

I know there are just a few NASCAR fans that visit the board but with just a few weeks left in the season I thought I would start a thread for anyone that wanted to discuss.

To recap where we are at:

16 drivers made the chase and with 4 races left half the field has been eliminated. 

Eliminated in round 1 (after races 1-3 of the chase):
-Bowyer
-McMurray
-Menard
-Johnson

Eliminated in round 2 (after races 4-6 of the chase):
-Kenseth
-Earnhardt Jr
-Hamlin
-Newman

The points reset after the Talladega race yesterday which leaves us with the following 8. 4 of which will be eliminated in 3 weeks after Phoenix:
-Logano
-Kurt Busch
-Keselowski
-Harvick
-Gordon
-Kyle Busch
-Edwards
-Truex Jr.

A couple late restarts and controversial cautions lead to some fan favorites being elimated. Harvick's failing engine helped trigger a dozen plus car pile up as the final caution waived, yet was able to escape through the accident and make a final few laps to advance. 

Logano won all three races of his round but ruffled some feathers in the process. It will be interesting to see if payback will be served over the next set of races.

Who does everyone think the favorites to advance to the championship race in Homestead, Fl will be?

I'm going to go with Harvick, Kurt Busch, Gordon, and Kyle Busch.

[konjo78]

What harvick did was a disgrace. If nascar had any integrity they would remove him from the chase. You cant preach safety and then let someone do that. Sure his playoffs would of ended but he wrecked multiple cars and potentially ruined others chances to advance.

[abpk2903]

How so? First of all, there has to be some proof he wrecked Bayne on purpose. Beyond that, the precedent has been set by NASCAR for years that they will not punish (if not encourage) drivers pushing the limits and possibly beyond the limit to get themselves further in the championship chase.

Looking at just the last 2 chases, when the newest championship format has been used. Here is just some of the very questionable wrecks between chase contenders:

•Newman dumps Larson on the last lap of Phoenix to advance last year.
•Kenseth ran Logano into the wall twice last week trying to advance via a win. 
•Logano then decides to dump Kenseth and basically knock him out of the championship.
•Keselowski ran over Gordon last year at Texas theoretically knocking him out of the chase on a restart.
•Kenseth blatantly failed to brake into the corner at Martinsville driving Harvick into the wall and into a must win situation at Phoenix last year.
•Johnson makes it 3 wide into turn one less than a hundred laps into the chase. Drives over Harvick cutting a tire and causing him to hit the wall.

These all happened in the last 10 chase races. I could think of more if you gave me time. 

How is Harvick protecting his position and initiating contact any different then any of the examples above? In many cases above, Harvick was a victim that only could dig out of the hole by winning a race later in the round.

[konjo78]

Its not about the contact per say but the knowledge he wouldnt be able to accelerate his car. Having a stalled car during a restart at these tracks is how you really risk people. He couldnt get up to speed even on the false green the first attempt. Racing for position is one thing. But he knew he couldnt hold any positions so he kept his 10th place, caused a wreck (yes he caused it intential or not) and got to finish high because he didnt need to get up to speed. Its a huge disgrace to a sport that preaches safety.

[abpk2903]

I'm not going to argue with you but his sponsors and team pays him millions of dollars to do everything he can to get the best finish possible. That's what he did. 

[babyfacenelson]

I dont like what Harvick did but if i were in his shoes i probably would have done the same thing. Now as for the wreck, he turned to the other car to spin him. If you would listen to his in car audio i bet the spotter never gave him the all clear on that.