Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.
Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
It has been said you should never look a gift horse in the mouth.
Ditto for gift horsepower, at least to a certain extent.
Despite the fact that the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, which is what the stock car sanctioning body calls its new 10-race playoff system which begins this weekend in New Hampshire, has provided drivers such as Ryan Newman with a second chance to win the championship, he's not exactly thrilled by it.
In fact, he thinks it just might be the worst thing to hit NASCAR since truant officers and Jimmy Spencer. And that's even though, as the 10th qualifier for the Chase with just one victory this year, Newman is actually in better shape to win the Nextel Cup than last year, when he won eight races but was forced to settle for sixth in final points.
"Mathematically, yes," said the driver of the No. 12 Penske Racing Alltel Dodge during a break in tire testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Tuesday. "We had a great run at the end of last year and I wish we could be No. 1 right now. Nevertheless, we'll take what NASCAR is giving us this year.
"But I don't know anybody who's for it. Not a single driver or fan. The only people who are for it is NASCAR."
That's because like everything else with NASCAR, the new system is designed to create and/or ensure competition at the end of the season. Which creates and/or ensures interest among spectators.
So with 26 races in the books, it's as if NASCAR has thrown a gigantic yellow flag bunching the field for a 10-wide race to the checkered flag. The biggest problem with that, say the system's detractors, is that only 10 lucky dogs get to run for the big bucks.
I hate to sound like Bobby Labonte, who has been known to ride the fence on an issue, but I get it. And at the same time, I don't.
Most drivers, for instance, don't have a problem with the caution flag procedure, which essentially eliminates the lead that the guy out front worked so hard to build. Or the so-called "Lucky Dog" rule, which takes the first lapped car and puts it back on the leader lap when the yellow flag comes out. Or rule changes made on the fly to eliminate the aerodynamic edge one car make may have over the other two. But mention the new points system, and they blow a gasket.
If baseball used NASCAR's rules, the Cardinals would be swinging 50-ounce bats, just so the Cubs and Astros might catch up. They'd have to throw the yellow flag every time St. Louis opened a 7-1 lead after six innings.
My theory why the drivers hate the new system is because it's new and they didn't think of it, while the yellow flag has been around as long as Harry Gant.
Newman said it's more than that. His biggest beef is that the playoff system means 33 teams must now resign themselves to running for 11th place.
Under the new scheme, the standings are adjusted after 26 races with the top 10 in points lined up in 5-point increments after the pacesetter, which this year is Jeff Gordon. Those 10 guys are guaranteed a spot on the dais at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, where NASCAR fetes its Top 10 in a season-ending gala. The rest of the field won't have to worry about renting a tux.
"It eliminated people. It eliminated competition," said Newman, who had to conserve fuel at Richmond last Saturday to finish 20th and narrowly claim the final playoff spot. "I mean we had a great run there for 10th place, basically, and now it's gone. There are guys who are (around) 15th-place right now that legitimately could have finished the season fifth, sixth, or seventh."
Many believe the new system was a knee-jerk reaction to Matt Kenseth locking up last year's championship roughly by the Fourth of July. So when the NFL started its engine on Labor Day, NASCAR did not have a championship battle to hold the public interest. Or to pitch to its sponsors and advertisers.
This year, not only does it have a guaranteed fight to the finish, it had a guaranteed fight to the fight for the finish during the past month or so, with the races that established the Chase participants taking on a playoff qualify of their own.
But Newman said it wasn't as if a concocted championship was necessary, even if virtually every other sport has one.
"NASCAR is growing, it's not like we had to create a golden egg," he said.
"If NASCAR was getting pressure from NBC (both the sanctioning body and the network deny that was the case), then they need to come out from behind the table with that. The point is, I don't feel it's ideal. And I don't think (Ebert) and his buddy -- what's his name, Roeper? -- would think it's ideal, either."
That review will have to wait until NASCAR's championship drama plays out. But should Newman get on a roll and parlay this second chance into the championship, it's not going to make the Gatorade in victory lane taste any less sweet.
"Not for us," he said. "The check will still clear and the trophy stays at our house. If that's the case, then that's the way it is."
In that I detest the designated hitter and believe college football would be even better if Oklahoma still ran the Wishbone, my old school values normally would have me riding shotgun with Newman.
But here were are, just a couple of weeks into the football season, and we're still talking NASCAR.
So strap on your helmets, race fans. The Wild Car playoffs have arrived.
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