California dreamin'; Richmond should be a barnburner

Auto Club Speedway: The next Ontario?

Am I the only one who is glad California is out of the way for the season?  Hands down it is my least favorite track in Sprint Cup.  I think the drivers, teams, and NASCAR faithful out in southern California can vouch for that opinion as well.  Obviously, it is a cross-country trip for all of the participants.  Plus, with it's Labor Day Sunday date, everyone suffers from the late summer desert heat.

Thankfully, that won't be a problem starting in 2009.  The racing is not particularly exciting, as the cars get strung out, forcing someone up in Race Control to stop the insanity, spot a hot dog wrapper on the apron, and throw a caution for debris every now and then.

Add on the fact that southern California apparently isn't a hotbed for stock car racing (which is contrary to what one would believe seeing how many Sprint Cup regulars are out of the region), as the track reportedly only attracted 70,000 last night (it seats at least 90,000), and what you have is a recipe for a weekend that is hard to get hyped up for. 

Now granted, Auto Club Speedway is located a good hour east of Los Angeles, but in the #2 media market, selling 90,000 tickets shouldn't be a problem.  I guess it reinforces the stereotype that LA is not a great sports town. 

The city hasn't had an NFL team in 13 years, fans arrive late and leave early from Dodgers games, and the Lakers are only popular because Jack Nicholson likes them/they are one of the most successful franchises in professional sports history.  I've said it before and say it again: this track does not deserve two dates, and the quicker Brian France stops drinking the Kool-Aid and realizes this fact, the better it will be for everyone involved. 

They say history repeats itself, so is it really surprising that Ontario Motor Speedway, located some 5 miles down I-10 from Auto Club Speedway, was once considered a state-of-the-art facility for NASCAR and Indy racing in the 70s (ironically, USAC ran at Ontario on Labor Day weekend), before falling prey to poor attendance, bankruptcy, and destruction by the early 80s?  The brainchild of Roger Penske may follow in it's predecessor's footsteps.   In the words of Yogi Berra, it would be deja vu all over again. 

The Race to the Chase comes down to Richmond

With everyonein the Chase picture making it through Fontana unscathed, it sets up a Battle Royale of sorts for Richmond on Saturday night.  Rowdy, Cousin Carl, Jimmie, Junebug, and Jeff "Mr. 500" Burton are locked in, and need to do nothing more than go out and race for a win.

The 16 team just needs to package Greg Biffle in bubble wrap and tie him to a chair until Saturday night to prevent any freak home accidents, as all he has to do to lock up a Chase spot is take the green flag.  Harvick, Stewart, Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and Hamlin basically need to stay out of trouble and in the top 20 all night.  That's easy at a place like California, but on a short track under the lights, good luck. 

The best advice I have for them is qualify well, and keep the front of the field in sight all night.  12th is where the real fun begins.  Clint Bowyer has a 17-point cushion on David "What can brown do for you? (starting in 2009)" Ragan and 48 markers on Kasey Kahne.  Bowyer won at Richmond in May, Kahne picked up his first career victory at the track, and Ragan was in the top five all night last September, so I'd expect all three to have a strong run. 

It will come down to which one can go out there, run in the top five for 400 laps, and contend for a win.  An Elliott Sadler in 2004-esque performance is going to be necessary judging by the past performances of the three at RIR.  Now would be a great time for Ragan to go out and find victory lane for the first time, because consistency isn't going to be good enough anymore. 

My predictions?  7th-11th do enough to hold onto their cushions and advance to the Chase, while Ragan uses a top five to catapult himself over Bowyer and into his first playoff appearance. 

Yes, this is somewhat of a sentimental pick, but this young man continues to impress me each and every week.  Considering how inconsistent Bowyer and Kahne have been recently, I'd rather put my money on the 22-year old from Unadilla, Georgia come Saturday night.

In my opinion, this very well may be the most exciting last race pre-Chase in the five years of the playoff format.  For those of you who have grilled the playoff system because it puts less emphasis on the first 26 races, I don't know what to say.  Without the Chase, would we have this race within the race to anxiously anticipate? 

Would we have 4 or 5 drivers with a chance to win a championship at Homestead in November, instead of Matt Kenseth running away and hiding from everyone, a la 2003?  Kyle Busch currently leads Carl Edwards by 200+ points, and barring a massive meltdown or out-of-this-world stretch run by Mr. Ed, would not blow that lead under the old championship format. 

No one else, as the points stack up today, would even have a realistic chance.  Instead, one week from now, 12 teams and drivers will know they are just a strong 10-race stretch away from being at the top of the NASCAR world.   How can you argue against that?  Every other major sport uses a playoff format.  Why should NASCAR be any different? 

To tell you the truth, as much as I love the sport, I probably would not be paying as close attention to the fall races without the Chase format, seeing how I love the NFL just as much. 

In addition to what the Chase for the Sprint Cup does from a competition standpoint, it doesn't hurt the fact that it makes NFL/NASCAR fans like myself a little more inclined to focus intensely on the tail end of the Sprint Cup season.