All of this drama involving NASCAR and the Chase for the Sprint Cup has been as fascinating as its been surreal. But in the wake of an unusual set of circumstances, unprecedented penalties and a lot of he said/he said, I've gotta say I really admire the way NASCAR has handled this whole situation. And today's decision to add Jeff Gordon to the Chase field, giving it 13 drivers instead of the usual 12, confirms that NASCAR has done everything right in this process.
First, a little refresher on the situation. Last week's race at Richmond was the final one before the start of the Chase, NASCAR's 10-race "playoff" for the top 12 drivers. Ryan Newman was leading the race late, and a win would've put him in the Chase as one of the wild cards, which go to the two drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins. Then with seven laps left, Clint Bowyer intentionally spun out, bringing out the caution. Newman was passed when the race went green and finished third, knocking him out of the Chase. Meanwhile, David Vickers, Bowyer's teammate, made an unnecessary green-flag pit stop late in the race, giving up a number of positions on the track. It seems all of this was done so that the third member of that team, Martin Truex Jr., would make it into the Chase.
NASCAR didn't take too kindly to this behavior. Michael Waltrip Racing, the owner of the three cars was fined $50,000 and, more significantly, each of the three drivers was penalized 50 points. That was enough to move Newman past Truex and back in the Chase where he belongs.
While it's somewhat harsh that Truex is the one who lost his spot in the Chase, despite seemingly not being directly involved in any of these shenanigans, while Bowyer, whose actions got this whole chain of events started, is safely in the field. However, the penalty itself is fair. And Newman certainly didn't deserve to be victimized by MWR's deliberate attempt to manipulate the results of the race. If Bowyer doesn't do what he does, Newman probably wins and gets into the Chase. Whether or not Truex had any knowledge of or involvement in this plan is irrelevant. As a result of what happened, he took Ryan Newman's rightful place in the Chase. Unfortunately, Truex is the one who had to pay the price. (Although, in fairness, he doesn't have a spot to lose if none of this goes down.)
If you think Ryan Newman was the only victim here, you'd be wrong. It also seems another deal was made so that Joey Logano could easily pass David Gilliland for that one extra track position, and one extra point, he might need to crack the Top 10. Sure enough, Logano ended up in the Top 10 by one point. The driver he knocked out? Jeff Gordon.
Logano, understandably, vehemently denied any collusion rumors and defended his place in the field. He wrote off the perceived collusion as typical banter between spotters, although NASCAR certainly doesn't see it that way. Logano also spewed off his results this season and correctly pointed out that even if he hadn't passed Gilliland and ended up tied with Gordon, he would've owned the tiebreaker because he has a win this season and Gordon doesn't.
The MWR trio had a vested interest in Logano finishing ahead of Gordon, too, though. If Logano hadn't finished in the Top 10, he would've taken away that wild card spot they were trying to get for Truex. So, you can't say that Logano didn't benefit from the antics at the end of last week's race. While I agree that he deserves his place in the Chase, you'd have to be a fool to think that the results weren't manipulated in his favor. And just like Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon was a victim of all this nonsense.
Throughout the week, I argued that NASCAR needed to do more, even after the penalties against Bowyer, Vickers and Truex were announced. It wasn't fair that Jeff Gordon had been denied a spot in the Chase that he otherwise might've earned. It wouldn't have been right to remove Logano (or anyone else) from the Chase field and replace him with Gordon, but it also wasn't right that Gordon didn't get in when so many factors to alter the results of the race to his detriment existed.
My argument was always that they should add Gordon to the Chase as a 13th qualifier. That way, everybody wins. Sure, the whole idea of the Chase is that it only consists of 12 drivers, but really what's the difference between 12 and 13 anyway? There's still going to be 43 drivers in each race, 30 of whom aren't in the Chase, and there can still ultimately be only one champion at the end. There was absolutely no good reason NOT to add Jeff Gordon and have a 13-man Chase field this year. That's why I'm so glad NASCAR made what seemed like the only right decision.
Sure, Jeff Gordon is a four-time champion and incredibly popular, but I don't think this was done simply because it was Jeff Gordon that was affected. I'm sure his critics will look at it as a conspiracy, just like some of the things that happened at Richmond were a conspiracy, but even if it is, so what? NASCAR is a ratings-driven sport, so having one of the most popular guys still being relevant in the final 10 races is certainly in their best interest. That's not the point either, though.
All of this was done in the name of fairness. What went on at Richmond wasn't fair to a number of guys. NASCAR wasn't happy and wanted to make sure something like this never happens again. That's why they made such a bold and necessary move. A move that I don't see too many people complaining about. Unlike some of its drivers and teams, NASCAR did the right thing. Right by the idea of fair play, right by the two drivers that got screwed, and, most importantly, right by NASCAR fans.
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