NASCAR CHASE and Champions

I have to ask you, NASCAR, if this is how you imagined your “championship” to play out. Because these boys are just not acting like champions if you ask me… If you look at you best active champion, Mr. Six-Time, I think you can see the difference.

When Jimmie had a parts failure and was eliminated; he was disappointed but proud of his team. He is a true champion of his sport. Kevin Harvick did not do what a champion should do when his engine failed at the end of the Talladega race. Instead, to ensure he moved on to the next championship round, he wrecked the field, eliminating Junior’s chance to beat Logano fairly and move on. And a black flag to the NASCAR officials who called off the first restart for a do-over because Jimmie and Kyle Larson landed in the grass- there was nobody in harm’s way- and we all know it. Couldn’t live with your one green white checker change- seriously sounds like WWF rules to me.

In the closing laps at Texas, Jimmie and Brad left it all on the track fighting for the win, but raced each other like champions. Jimmie won without spinning his opponent. In nearly the same situation, Joey, who is clearly not a champion, chose to wreck Matt Kenseth in order to eliminate competition- because he had already ensured his place in the next round he could have raced clean for the win and chose not to.  Shame on Brian France for supporting that move. Quintessential NASCAR my fanny.

Matt wrecking Joey out at Martinville was pure joy to watch (and rewatch). Because he had it coming!  NASCAR benching Matt was wrong after they did NOTHING to Kevin Harvick after he altered the end of the previous race. But how could they bench the defending series champion…

(NASCAR also killed Matt’s streak of 571 consecutive starts, which was the second-longest active streak behind the Gordon's 795 in a row. Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have each started 502 consecutive races since the 2002 Daytona 500.)

Icing on the cake was Joey blowing out the back end of his car on lap nine yesterday when his tire exploded- I think the only person happier than me was Matt Kenseth. Points to him for the best post-race Tweet:

''Good work @JimmieJohnson! Textbook pass for the win at the end of the race when someone is trying to take your lane. #quintessential''

And with the Chase format that is supposed to emphasize wins, NASCAR, how are you feeling with the 3 biggest winners of 2015 not being in your final four? Jimmie, Joey and Matt have 16 wins between them. Are you trying to make the championship completely meaningless? Because it is working!