As a child I destroyed more than one surface growing up (sorry mom and dad). Usually coffee or end tables (flat and smooth, carpet sucked). Always with my match box cars (you know Mom and Dad, its partly YOUR fault… who BOUGHT me the matchbox cars… just sayin’).
Anyway… I loved those cars. Driving them around. Pushing them off the table like cars going off a cliff. Making all the obligatory “vroooms” of the engine, “Screeech” of the tires, “Crash” of… well… the crashes. I’d clear a spot on a long coffee table, and sett up magazines and or legos to help shape an oval.
Why an oval?
Cuz I enjoyed car racing. Indy Cars, but especially Nascar. This is definitely my dad’s fault. As he too is a Nascar fan… from, of all places, Long Island New York. He was also a mechanic. So he definitely has that grease monkey slash motor head aspect to enjoying auto racing. So here I am 20 years removed from running my own Daytona 500’s on the living room furniture… and I still enjoy watching and following Nascar.
I’m not the die hard fan. I will watch races in chunks… I find it to be a great flashback from a NFL or MLB game. And as we head into Nascar’s Chase for the Cup I figured I’d talk a little Nascar.
We have our 12 cup chasers:
1st w/ 5060 pts Denny Hamlin
2nd w/ 5050 pts Jimmie Johnson
3rd w/ 5030 pts Kyle Busch
4th w/ 5030 pts Kevin Harvick
5th w/ 5020 pts Kurt Busch
6th w/ 5010 pts Greg Biffle
7th w/ 5000 pts Tony Stewart
8th w/ 5000 pts Carl Edwards
9th w/ 5000 pts Jeff Gordon
10thw/ 5000 pts Matt Kenseth
11thw/ 5000 pts Jeff Burton
12thw/ 5000 pts Clint Bowyer
if you’re wondering why there are 5 guys with 5000 points? I believe they rerack the points going into the final races. Everyone gets 5000. The difference in how they’re ranked is how often they won. Since Hamlin has won the most he is the 1 seed, despite the fact that Kevin Harvick was leading in the points.
Who I think has a shot? Three guys in my opinion.
1st. Kevin Harvick who had a very solid, very consistent year… he just didn’t win. Leads in top 10s (17). Leads in top 5s (11). Won three times. I think he is confident enough. Veteran enough. Consistent enough. Has a good team around him.
2nd Jimmie Johnson. 4 time defending champ. Also the guy I want to win. He is my favorite driver. Good dude who works hard, has a good team. You can’t sleep on his track record. Got into the chase, and is the 2 seed on the back of winning 5 races. 10 top 5 finishes. 14 Top 10s. And a huge number that I think helps me think we’ll se a 5 time Cup Champion. He had 4 DNFs. The fact that he didn’t finish (Did Not Finish = DNF by the way) – FOUR races and still got into the chase, AND is set up only 10 points behind the leader? This team is like the Lakers… they exist in an other worldly plain when they hit the “playoffs”.
3rd, and trust me when I say I hatehatehatehatehate this guy. Kyle Busch. But I think with how damn good he is. The fact that he DOESN’T care if he pisses people off, and him being up top and brimming with confidence… though… when isn’t HE? He can string together wins, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won the whole thing.
So there is a little breakdown on the upcoming Chase for the Cup.
So buckle up…
Uh… Start you Engines…
Hmm… and other racing cliche’s here.
Maybe I missed it somewhere in your article, but how are points awarded during this part of the season? The leader is only 60 points ahead of the 12th guy… is that a big lead or not?
Also, any good NASCAR video games you’d recommend? That would sure help to raise my interest.
Okay, so in the old days, the points accumulated all season long and a guy didn’t even have to win in order to take the cup and no one could catch him (sometimes). So now, they retooled the points so that the top 12 teams get 5000 points and 10 points per win throughout the season, giving the edge to teams that actually win during the season.
Now I will say this, and I have the edge of having another race down, but I think Denny Hamlin stands a chance. The only other person I would like to see win is Tony Stewart. I hope and pray Jimmie and Kyle don’t take it.
Mark
way it’s looking though, Jimmie is getting his fifth in a row, in the lead with 4 races to go, and he’s VERY good at Talladega
I wouldn’t be so quick to crown Jimmie Johnson with his 5th straight title. Unlike previous years, he has, at times, looked particularly vulnerable and Denny Hamlin (or perhaps Kevin Harvick) stand the best chance of dethroning Jimmie from his perch. NASCAR needs Jimmie to win a 5th championship in a row just as much as I need to contract syphillis from Lindsay Lohan.