During the Chase for
the Nextel Cup's first four years, two races were dubbed as the two "wild card" races during the Chase -- Martinsville
and Talladega. However, if Sunday's wacky and wild race at Kansas
has anything to say about it, there's no such thing as a wild card.
Kansas Speedway opened in 2001,
serving as a track that offered single-file racing.
Through its six years
of aging, the track has opened up several grooves for drivers to use, and has created some great racing.
But many call Kansas a "cookie
cutter" racetrack -- a track that is an almost copy of other 1.5 mile tracks NASCAR races on, like Chicagoland, for instance.
Knowing that, and its typically clean racing, no one thought we'd see a big shakeup in the points last Sunday.
We were wrong.
Whether or not the race
ended at lap 148 due to rain, the race would have shaken up the Chase points in a big way anyway. Many Chasers like Kurt Busch,
Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon already pitted for fuel while others like Tony Stewart stayed out, hoping the race would end
early and they would be sitting pretty.
After an over two-hour
rain delay, NASCAR let the race continue, originally shortening the event from 267 laps to 225. On the restart at lap 154,
Michael Waltrip and Ken Schrader got together, triggering a multi-car crash off turn 2 that collected Chasers Martin Truex
Jr. and Matt Kenseth, and gave cosmetic damage to Stewart's Chevrolet.
Crew chief Greg Zipadelli's
decision to leave his driver Stewart on the track would prove to be a bad one, as a rubbing fender caused the left front
fender on Stewart's Chevrolet to let go, taking himself and Chaser Carl Edwards out of the race.
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Had the race ended after
the torrential downpours, Stewart would have won, while drivers like Gordon, Johnson, and Kurt Busch would have had to settle
for sub-25th place finishes, and a pretty hefty deficit to overcome in order to win the title.
Instead, Stewart crashed
his car from poor pit calls, Gordon and Johnson received top 5 finishes, and Kurt Busch earned a top 10. The Hendrick teammates
top the point standings, separated by a mere six points, while Stewart sits in 4th, 117 back.
I wonder how many people
thought Kansas
would be a "wild card" race in the Chase.
2006 StockCar Review.
