The "big one" never occurred, but Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Talladega sifted through Chase for the Championship contenders as well as the much anticipated multicar accident could have.
Jeremy Mayfield's 38th-place finish, his second poor result in the playoffs after being involved in someone else's accident, dropped him 280 points behind leader and race-winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. With seven races left, his title hopes seem finished.
Jimmie Johnson, who led the standings much of the season, also fell into the fringe of realistic chances. An overheating problem with 31 laps to go doomed him to a 37th-place finish and a five-place drop to ninth in the standings. He is 172 points out of first and in need of a string of top fives - at least.
"We'll come back for the next one and try to get maximum points," Johnson said. "There are a few other guys who have had some troubles and now we're in that group. I hate to be in that group, but we're there and we'll just have to race hard, and if it's meant to be, it's meant to be."
Elliott Sadler's tumble at the finish line put a spectacular ending to a unspectacular 22nd-place day that dropped him 166 out in eighth place.
Only three drivers are currently within 100 points of Earnhardt: Kurt Busch, who is 13 back after finishing fifth for the second straight week, and Jeff Gordon, who lost the lead and fell 61 points behind after finishing 19th.
Busch could be adjudicated into the lead today or Wednesday, however. If NASCAR follows precedent, Earnhardt would be docked 25 driver points and fined $10,000 for using profanity in a postrace television interview. Drivers Johnny Sauter and Ron Hornaday received the same penalty this season.
TRUCK SERIES: Zephyrhills native David Reutimann finished sixth in the American Wheels 200 Saturday at California Speedway in Fontana for his ninth top 10 of the season.
The top-ranked rookie in the series is 14th in points with three top fives and a pole in 20 starts.
RETIREMENT: Two-time NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte is expected to announce on Oct. 12 his intention to run part-time Nextel Cup schedules in 2005 and 2006.
Labonte, 47, has driven the No. 5 Chevrolet for Rick Hendrick since 1994, winning his second title two years later. He has 22 wins (seventh-best among active drivers) in 810 starts in NASCAR's top series, his most recent in the Southern 500 last August in Darlington, S.C. He has six top 10s (his best sixth place twice) and is 23rd in driver points.
Speculation regarding Labonte's future has increased since July, when Hendrick's Kyle Busch, currently second in the Busch Series, told the Charlotte Observer he would replace Labonte next season.
SAFETY SECOND: Having a job that is also your hobby can be perilous. Nextel Cup rookie of the year frontrunner Kasey Kahne flipped several times in the sprint car he owns on Saturday night in the A-Main feature at Eldora (Ohio) Speedway. Unhurt in the first-lap incident, he returned to Talladega, where he finished 27th.
SPARK PLUGS: Daimler-Chrysler announced that the Charger will replace the Intrepid in its NASCAR racing program. Dodge fielded Chargers from 1966-77, winning 124 races (six in winged Charger Daytonas). Richard Pet ty, NASCAR's all-time wins leader (200), won 37 times in the Charger and championships in 1972, '74 and '75. ... New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, citing traffic concerns, has voiced opposition to International Speedway Corp.'s plans to build an 80,000-seat race track on Staten Island. ... Chase for the Championship drivers have won all three playoff races, but seven of the top 10 at Talladega are not eligible for the title, including rookie Brendan Gaughan, who finished a career-best fourth. ... Indy Racing League driver Sarah Fisher, 24, had a respectable first experience in NASCAR's Grand National Division West Series this weekend, qualifying 14th and finishing 21st at Phoenix. She was running in the top 10 before retiring with electrical problems.
