NASCAR's Final Weeks Were Only Exciting in The Race For 10th Place

Sorry, but I didn't buy for a minute all that "Carl Edwards has a chance" hoopla Nascar and the media was trying to sell.  Nice try, but all us "real fans" knew that Jimmy and Chad had this one all locked up.

What they should have played up more was the intense "Battle for the Ballroom".  That was the interesting race in the final few weeks.  That is were the there was more chance for movement and where the race was tightest.

Does it really mean that much to attend "The Ball"?  There could not be a bigger yes.  Drivers who don't make it may discount it, but those who do know the importance. 

It's not just drivers who gets to go, but the crews, the owners and the main sponsors.  It's the ultimate payback for a year's hard work.  A trip to New York with the wife, the cameras on people who normally never get shown all dressed up and all the other trappings make it a wonderful event.

You're also acknowledged as "one of the best" in front of all your peers and the world.  For drivers it's a way of paying back they could never otherwise do.

"I'm leaving a lot of good friends and a wonderful home, full of the best memories of my life," said Tony Stewart about making the ball, "They helped me become a winner in this sport and I wanted to leave them as winners too.  I want our last time together to be memorable and joyous."

For others, it's about redemption.  "If you had told me at the start of the chase that I would have to be fighting tooth and nail just to get in the top 10, I would have thought you were crazy."  said Kyle Busch.  "But that's the nature of this sport.  But this team has done too much to be denied a seat at banquet this year and I'm going to make sure they have it."

In the end it was a razor close margin that got some in and left Dale Earnhardt and Matt Kenseth out.  Less than 100 points separated 7th place Jeff Gordon from 12th place Kenseth.

Each of the last five races made so much diffence in those standings.  It was so close the last race alone could have and did make the difference.  Dale Earnhardt's 41st place finish in the last race cost him his banquet table and Kyle Bush's normally upsetting 19th place finish got him and his team in.

In the last race the biggest loser was Matt Kenseth, who dropped three spots to 12th and the bigger gainer was Tony Stewart who moved up three to go from 12th to 9th. 

With little else to run for, the crews were well aware during the race of what had to be done to raise their stake in the "Run for Ballroom".  That made it all the more exciting. 

I couldn't help but notice Kyle Busch's crew celebrating.  For most fans they wouldn't understand why they were jumping for a seemingly yawn-able 19th place finish, but the die hard Nascar "true fans" knew they reason.  They were headed to New York!