Tony Stewart Misses the Chase

There will be no post season for the #20 Home Depot Team. The defending champ, just got stripped from that title as well. The 2006 Chase line-up is set, but there is still questions that need to be answered. Does the Chase need Tony Stewart? Is this another example of why NASCAR needs to expand the Chase points window? And, how important is it to NASCAR to have all their top stars in the Chase? I'm sure Tony Stewart got all these questions asked to him after the final race to the Chase in Richmond, and I am sure I saw Smoke coming out of his ears as he did.

No, the Chase doesn't need Tony Stewart in the 2006 Chase. If the truth was that all the top stars in NASCAR were in this years Chase, then Smoke should be in there. But the fact is plenty of top drivers missed the cut this year. Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Kurt Busch missed the Chase, and all of them have to be considered great drivers in todays league. That is what makes this format so exciting! They take the best of the best, and race them for the Championship. Tony Stewart had a great year, but not a championship year. He had his injury to deal with, along with 3 DNF's, and his fair share of enemies that kept him out of the top ten drivers of the league at this point.

Yes, this is another example of why NASCAR does have to make some changes to the Chase window. Since the Chase format was introduced, the 400 point window has not come into play yet. They need to reward more points for race wins, and expand that window to 500 points. By expanding the point window, they are not giving any free DNF's to top drivers, it would just put less focus on the top team in the league. This year was a perfect example, after Jimmie Johnson ran away as the league leader from the first race of the year, it had taken Matt Kenseth till last week to catch him. A great team can go all year without engine problems, but a smaller team would never have that chance. The league cannot use Hendrick Motorsports, or Roush Racing as it's yardstick. It is just not fair to the rest of the league.

It is important to have the top stars of NASCAR in the Chase. And that is exactly what we have this year. The best of the best this year are all going to be racing for the Cup in the last ten races of the year. Not all the stars made the Chase, but the best of the stars did. The 10th place, and last driver to make the Chase, was Kasey Kahne. The #9 has a league high of 5 wins this year. Kahne matches Stewarts 3 DNF's, but has 3 more wins then the defending champ. The league, and all the sports fans have to agree that Kasey deserves to be in the Chase more then Smoke. As with the rest of the 2006 Chasers. This years Chase proves how tough this league has become. To make the Chase, you need to be the best in the league. As it looks right now, the best are in there. Tony Stewart is the best of the ones that didn't make the cut. But NASCAR has to happy with the stars that did make this years post season.

Even though Stewart was clearly upset that he missed the Chase, and was clearly upset with his team and performance of his car. With a name like Smoke, you don't have to look far to wonder where it came from. But through all the heated words, and frustrated dialog, and smoke signals, even Stewart himself admitted to the best factor of the Chase format. "This is proof of how tough this series is and how tough it is just to make this Chase." (FOX Sports) The Chase does need some minor adjustments, and this year holds all the answers to those questions that need to be asked. Most of them can be read through the Smoke signals.

Kasey Kahne knew going into this weekend he had a lot of work to do. Being perfect was still not good enough to get him into the Chase quite yet, but a sweep in both Busch and Nextel Series this weekend, gives him massive momentum going into the final race of the Sticky Six.

Friday night it was pit strategy to get him a win in the Busch Series. Evernham wanted him in a Busch car to prepare Kasey and the team for a make-or-break the next night in the Cup. The move proved how smart this team has been this year. Before Friday nights green flag had dropped, Kasey knew he wanted that top line for the whole weekend. No doubt that line was fast, and the whole team proved they had the set-up to run it. Even major temperature changes of the track, didn't have them make too many adjustments. The Busch series ended with an amazing performance, and was just the tip of the iceberg for The Rain Man.

Saturday was a tough race. With temperatures over 100 degrees, and the sun being blinding through turn 3 for over half the night, didn't come close to the biggest obstacle of the race. A penalty for speeding on pit row, was all Kasey's mistake. It was a sign that he was a little too anxious trying to protect his lead. The #9 was forced to start on the back of the longest line. He had to start from the 24th position on lap 159 of 250.

It wasn't long to realize how dominating that EMS-128 chassis really is, after Kahne raced back up to the front with that same high line. (That car has to be being babied around the garage and hauler, because it has won 5 out of the 6 races it has run this year.) Soon enough, there was only one car left between Kahne and the checkers. Reed Sorenson made a pit gamble, and had a large lead with 4 laps to go of the night. Sorenson lost in that gamble of fuel mileage when he came up short in distance, and Kasey caught the lead right before the white flag. By the time he got the checkers, the world witnessed another dominating performance from that teams favorite car.

Perfect wasn't good enough for Kasey Kahne to rest easy on his performance. The win was not enough to break the top ten in points, because everyone in the top ten had great nights under the California Stars. The leader board was a typical who's-who in the Chase for the Championship. We have one more race left that Kahne will have to perform perfectly. One more night in Richmond, that Kasey Kahne can prove he is ready to race for a Championship. One more night. One more race. One more week to have to prove to be perfect.

I'd like to dream my troubles all away on a bed of California stars. Jump up on my starbed and make another day underneath my California stars. ~Woody Guthrie

As the NASCAR season comes full speed ahead into the Chase for the Championship, we take the show to the west coast. Into California Speedway, for a race that holds a make or break situation for some major players involved. But the news isn't that bad for most. For starters, were racing in Fontana. A wide open, high speed track. Known as the sister track to Michigan, California Speedway can be considered easy to some. Bring a super set-up, get your aero packaged dialed, make solid pit stops, and keep out of trouble.

With the Chase format, and being two races till the sound of the gun, it's time to play it safe. The big picture can't afford engine problems, human error, or enemies at this point. You want to make the cut, sigh with relief, and start stressing for a Championship. California welcomes that attitude. California Speedway, anyone can be a star.

Racers Race: California Stars

Sunday, 9/3 7:00ET NBC

We dance under California Stars, but one in particular will have to step it up. And he is bringing his good luck charm with him. Kasey Kahne will be driving chassis EMS-128. He won in this car in all of his 4 wins this season. Most weekends this car was in the lineup, it dominated from practice to checkers. It's all about the #9 this weekend. In 11th place, and -90 points outside of the Chase, someone is going to slip up, and Kahne is going to have throw down. He is the only driver that has a real chance at making the Chase at this point, but he may need some help to get him there. He will be starting at the 9th position. 

This Sunday the stars need to align up perfectly, because #9 Kasey Kahne is just out of reach.

CLICK TO WATCH VIDEO BLOG

I was going to have this video embedded into this blod entry, then discovered that they have blocked such script. I figured out how to hack my way around the security software, but then figured I shouldn't, in fear that FOX may wipe my blog clean as a result. A simple link will have to do.

As we watch the 2006 Nextel Cup season reach its arch, I can't help but think we maybe missing an important character role to complete the storied season.

His younger brother, Kyle Busch confuses me. He had the pedigree, the youth, and the look. He was poised to take his third year in the league where his brother left off. He started the year great: right on Tony Stewart's bad side. Maybe it was Smoke's fault for smacking some sense in him too early in the season. In Charlotte I caught a glimpse, because he shined. That Hans device-throwing trick, with the NASCAR official handling him like a rag doll was plot perfect. But it wasn't enough to throw him over the character arch.

The last weekend in Bristol, with the closing laps looming, I made that most famous mistake in sports writing. I readied a story line. I waited for a caution to be thrown, so that the restart would bring Kyle Busch into the rearview mirror of Kenseth. It was going to be, #17 vs. A Bristol Busch Brother-Part II. Even Kyle anticipated my disappointment with his post race interview on TNT.

"I wish we could have gotten to Kenseth. That would have been a heck of a show. I've got plenty of door dings out there and I'm not sure I could have done it clean." But his fallow up was as disappointing as the race finish. "So I'm probably glad I didn't get there, really."

Really? Why would Shrub say that? Little Busch, you're completely cheating us of our story. Maybe you're too young for the dark hat. You may have to work harder at it then your brother had to. But you have the talent, and I know it's strong within you.

So, what do we do? We don't have a story yet. The plot is too thin. Tony Stewart is not heavy enough this year to hold the weight of the bad guy. Don't even think about Carl Edwards as your character for the villain. Kevin Harvick, who? No one in the league is having a good enough year to play this important role. The Busch brothers have all the potential in the world to give us that performance we need. I have never been so mad at the Busch Brothers.

Who knows where they start, but they spread faster then Paris Hilton.

These are the rumors going around the track. August 30th, 2006. Now when I say rumor, I use that term very loose. These are just things that I have heard, and have no truth to back any of them up. You have been warned!

• There have been more rumors going around #6 Mark Martin this year, then any other driver. After deciding not to retire last year, Martin agreed to a full Cup schedule this year in the #6 for Roush Racing. That was is it, right? Then the rumor was that Roush offered him $8 million for a full schedule next year. But Martin turned it down. Throughout this entire year, Martin kept talking about a full time schedule in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2007. Now the whispers have him doing exactly that, along with a part time schedule in the Cup. But in what car? The #6? Rumor has it the AAA sponsor doesn't want any part time drivers. Rumor has it Boris Said wants some part timers to help his introduction into his new Cup team. Also Robert Yates Racing has put their hat in the ring for Martin on a part time schedule for the #88. Who knows? It's anyone's guess right now.

• Danica Patrick has silenced all of the rumors surrounding her joining NASCAR next year, but don't count out anyone else from the IRL. Sam Hornish Jr is in talks about racing some ARCA series, as well as a few Busch Series races in 2007. Hornish is one point behind the current league leader Helio Castroneves going into their last race of the season in the IRL.

• The truth is in the money! Everybody knows that Ganassi Racing wants to start racing Juan Pablo Montoya in some Cup cars, and Busch Cars this year, to get a head start on him making the transition to a full time Cup driver for the #42 in 2007. Problem was Montoya couldn't race because of contract language from his former F1 team. Rumor has it now; they will release him from that contract if he agrees to forfeit the remaining money on his contract. It's all up to the buck!

• California Speedway is a tough sell to the natives. After receiving 2 dates for the track in 2005, they can't sell the tickets. Here is a rumor about a possible rumor for next year: That people will start talking about one of those dates maybe headed elsewhere in 2008. Depending how tickets sell next year, depends on how fast the rumors will spread. The tracks involved are far too many to list here. Some of them are not even built.

• DEI didn't get their driver. Some have heard that Elliott Sadler's name was kicked around to field a 4th car for the team next year, but after he signed with Evernham, DEI pulled the plan from expanding from two cars to four in 2007. As of now, they will continue with their plans for the three teams with Junior, Truex Jr, and Paul Menard in the new car.

• The flop, turn, and river, join the #7 this weekend in California. The World Series of Poker will sponsor Robby Gordon. In conjunction with Harrah's Entertainment Inc, the #7 will dawn a special paint scheme this weekend.