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Gordon, Earnhardt benefit from Chase

By JOHN ROMANO
Published July 3, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH - The network executive thinks it could be trouble.

The sponsor is secretly worried about the return on his investment. The car owner is fretting, and the fan is getting anxious.

The Chase for the Championship is creeping closer by the day, and the folks in and around NASCAR are all talking about the possibility of having Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon out of the running come September.

What would NASCAR do if Gordon, a four-time champion, wasn't among the eligible contenders? What would be the impact if Earnhardt, racing's most marketable name, was driving for nothing more than pride by season's end?

What kind of fix has NASCAR steered itself into?

As it turns out, the best kind.

You see, the pessimists have it all wrong. The playoff system isn't threatening to keep Gordon or Earnhardt away from the championship.

It's keeping them alive.

If not for the Chase, Earnhardt would be hopelessly behind in the points standings. And Gordon's chances would be practically nil. Ditto for Dale Jarrett, Matt Kenseth and everyone else out of the top 10.

Before the Chase, no one had ever come from 400 points behind to win a championship. No one had even come from 350 points behind. Yet Kurt Busch made up a 559-point deficit last season because the Chase offered a second chance.

The only other comeback even close was when Darrell Waltrip made up 341 points in the final 17 races. And that was nearly 25 years ago.

Think about it. Without the Chase, Gordon is simply 414 points behind the leader. Instead, he's only 14 points away from a new life in the playoffs.

The same is true of Earnhardt. He's so far behind the leaders today, he can't even sniff their fumes. But the Chase has given him some hope, however faint and unrealistic it might seem.

The Chase for the Championship has given a handful of high-profile drivers some breathing room in an otherwise difficult bind. They may be hundreds of points behind the likes of Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson today but, come September, they may have a chance to start fresh.

And that's the hidden beauty of the Chase. From the time it was introduced last season, there were concerns about how many drivers it would exclude in the fall. In reality, it has increased the number of contenders in the summer.

"The events before the Chase don't have less importance; they have more," NASCAR CEO Brian France said. "You're seeing that now."

Look at it this way: In the 10 years before the Chase, the leader at midseason went on to win the title nine times.

That means the second half of the season, for the most part, was just a series of one-day events. There was no build-up, no sense of drama carrying over from one week to the next. It was the Patriots winning the Super Bowl in November. The Red Sox getting their World Series rings on Labor Day.

So if you're still complaining about the playoff system ruining the purity of the championship, you're missing the point. The regular season has not been devalued. It has been reshaped. It has been improved.

It's not the joke that has become the NBA or the NHL. The NASCAR regular season still means something. It essentially reduces the list of contenders from 40 to 10. And it sets up finishes that NASCAR was sorely missing.

Basically, it adds underdogs to the equation. The Ravens once won a Super Bowl as a wild card team. The Marlins have never won a division title but have won the World Series. Twice. It happens. And it's not necessarily bad.

It's not like we're talking about a complete reversal of fortune. Brian Vickers is not going to get lucky and win a cheap championship. And Johnson won't be cheated out of the playoffs barring a complete flop.

Chances are, the top 10 is not going to change appreciably between today and Sept. 18. The best teams, by now, have already been identified.

So maybe Biffle won't be as hot. And maybe Gordon's luck will have changed. But the contestants in September will look a lot like the top 10 list this morning. A couple new names will sneak in, and a couple current contenders will slip away. It is, essentially, just like a pennant race.

Fans are obsessing about the standings, and that's a good thing. For instance, Gordon's followers aren't just watching the No.24 car. They're also watching Biffle, because they need Gordon to stay within 400 points of the leader. And they're watching Jamie McMurray because they're hoping Gordon passes him to slip into the top 10.

Having Gordon or Earnhardt miss the Chase would not be the worst thing that could happen. Not by a long shot. It would be far worse if NASCAR officials reacted to that scenario by panicking.

There were whispers earlier this week of provisional passes. Of a fan ballot to ensure popular drivers would not be left behind.

France, thankfully, shot down that talk for 2005. His only mistake was not ruling it out for as long as he is in charge.

The Chase for the Championship may eventually put some big-name drivers on the outside, but that's the price of real competition.

That's the beauty of the system.

That's the thrill of sport.

[Last modified July 3, 2005, 02:15:16]