The Chase Is On

It's the third Thursday in February, which means Daytona is here.  And just like that, NASCAR's 36-race, 10-month odyssey to a championship begins.  And for NASCAR, this will be a year like no other.  For the first time, none of the Holy Trinity is an active driver (Jeff Gordon has moved upstairs to the booth), and there's a rookie on the pole.  Meanwhile, Tony Stewart is starting his last season as a full-time Cup driver, and he won't even be at Daytona!

As Kyle Busch showed us last year, though, you don't need to be at Daytona to win the Sprint Cup.  He actually didn't race until April in 2015, but dominated the rest of the season.  Kyle Busch was clearly the best driver on the Sprint Cup circuit last season.  Gordon might've been the sentimental favorite at Homestead, but the right guy ended up as the series winner.

What Kyle Busch's Sprint Cup victory proved, too, is that the Chase For the Championship works.  Under the previous points system, he would've been so far out of it because of those 10 missed races that winning the championship wouldn't have been something he'd even think was possible.  It still took NASCAR granting an exception to the rules that you have to enter every race for him to even have a chance last season, but giving it to him was the right move--in more ways than one.  Busch missed races because of injury.  He didn't deserve to be penalized for that.  Also, if the main criterion to qualify for the Chase is winning a race, and he was doing that repeatedly, why shouldn't he be able to go for the title?

I hope Kyle Busch's title last year was the start of a trend.  Because Tony Stewart deserves the same consideration in his final season.  Once Stewart comes back, if he's got a car good enough to win a race and he's a full-time driver, he should be eligible for the championship just like everybody else.

Stewart's pending retirement and Jeff Gordon's first year as a NASCAR commentator rather than a NASCAR driver mean the new generation of Sprint Cup stars is here.  And there's no more proof of that necessary than the fact that Chase Elliott is on the pole.  Elliott, the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, was tabbed by Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick to take Gordon's place in the No. 24 car.  They were looking for a ride to give this guy this season, and now we know why.  I have no idea how he's going to do in the actual race, but it sure looks like they made the right call by replacing Jeff Gordon with Chase Elliott.  He certainly looks like the real deal.

While Chase Elliott has already made a name for himself and established himself as the early front-runner for Rookie of the Year, the Chase for the Cup should be intense.  Kyle Busch is probably the best active driver in NASCAR, but Kevin Harvick is just one season removed from a championship of his own, and Jimmie Johnson has won six.  You know he's always going to be in the mix.  I also think this might be the year Dale Earnhardt, Jr., becomes more than just Dale Earnhardt's son and does something to justify his enormous popularity.  At the very least, I expect a good run from him at Daytona.  He always does well in restrictor-plate races.

Who else will be in the mix at the end?  You know the usual suspects will get their wins and get into the Chase, but who'll have the lasting power in September/October when it really matters?  There's always one surprise Championship contender.  It's really just a matter of who.  (For some reason, I think Carl Edwards might be that guy.)

Likewise, will new driver-owner and driver-crew chief relationships be beneficial or detrimental to the drivers?  That plays a much bigger role than some people might think.  And it often makes the difference between winning and losing a race, which in turn determines whether or not you get a spot in the Chase.

Perhaps what I'm looking forward to seeing the most, though, is who'll take the baton from Jeff Gordon.  He's been the Face of NASCAR for so long, and the job is now open.  It's there for the taking, and there are plenty of worthy candidates.  But whoever it is will have to earn it.

Times are a-changin' in the world of stock car racing.  The first season without Jeff Gordon since 1992 is also the last with Tony Stewart.  Meanwhile, we've got the most talked-about rookie since Danica Patrick sitting on the pole in NASCAR's biggest race of the year.  (And he won the Busch race.)

The time for hype is over, though.  Because, as Darrell Waltrip would say, "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity!  Let's go racing!"