The Chase is on! Race Three in Kansas…

I have to admit when NASCAR introduced the whole Chase for the Championship format a few years ago, I was not impressed. Not to say I’m one of those “stuck in the past type people,” but I just didn’t see anything wrong with the old point system. I couldn’t understand why NASCAR would want to tweak something that worked. As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t busted, don’t fix it.” But, the powers-to-be in the NASCAR head office hauler had some changes in mind. With 10 races left, the top 10, now the top 12, in the points would have a magic wand reset their points. Then, in somewhat of a play-off fashion, during the final 10 races of the season, they would race for the championship.

But, now I must admit the Chase format is certainly creating some very exciting racing, and yesterday was no exception. Coming up in this post I actually have three things I want to address;

1. Cousin Carl’s Best Quote Of The Race
2. Kyle “Cry-Baby” Busch Proves Why He’s NOT Championship Material
3. Remembering An Acting/Racing Icon

1) Cousin Carl’s Best Quote Of The Race
Wow! What an incredible finish for the third week in a row! Greg Biffle saw his winning streak come to end, and Jimmie Johnson notched another win. Could he be heading to his third straight championship? If Johnson wins three in a row, that would put him into a very elite class of NASCAR champions. Cayle Yarborough is the only other driver to win three championships in a row starting in 1976. Not even King Richard Petty or the Intimidator Dale Earnhardt accomplished three championship titles in a row!

But, the most exciting aspect of the race, and what should become the most quotable quote for NASCAR, revolves around the ending of the race. Johnson was running first and Carl Edwards in his 99 hot rod was second.

On the last lap Edwards suddenly went low and shot around Johnson like a rocket! As soon as he cleared the 48 car, Edwards proceeded up the banking and hit the wall hard. He managed to hold onto the car, running against the wall, but Johnson shot back around him for the win. Edwards finished second behind Johnson, and is now in second place for the points, behind Johnson, by just 10 points.

Emerging from the car Edwards was asked about the daring last lap move and he said…

“”I planned on hitting the wall, but I didn’t plan on the wall slowing me down that much. In video games, you can just run into the wall and run it wide open. That’s what I did, but it didn’t quite work out the same as the video game. I just really, really wanted to win this race.”

Well, no one can say Edwards let off while trying for the win that’s for sure.

2) Kyle “Cry Baby” Bush Proves Why He’s NOT Championship Material
The media tried to make him out to be the darling of NASCAR and the next big up and coming race star. I for one never bought into the hype of Kyle Busch. He’s just like his brother. Brash, rude and crude with no respect for anyone else out there on the race track. Some have even gone as far as to call him “Rowdy” Busch. Well, folks, lets remember something very important here. The character of Rowdy in The Days of Thunder movie crashed and burned. He ended up friendless, unable to race again because of his recklessness. If people want to call Kyle Busch Rowdy, that’s fine with me because let’s remember, Rowdy was NOT the star of Days of Thunder.

In his post-race interview after the Kansas race, Kyle Busch once again proved why he is NOT championship material and has no character at all.

After his Nationwide team got busted for cheating a few weeks ago, he’s suddenly been unable to do anything on the track. Apparently the only way the 18 team can win is by cheating. The past three races have seen the so-called darling of NASCAR drop like a rock to the bottom of the Chase Championship points. When he was winning, he loved the camera attention and loved to show how rude he was. But, now that he’s losing, he’s nothing more than a spoiled-rotten-cry-baby.

Maybe it’s time for Joe Gibbs to give Busch a time out and make him sit in the corner for a while.

When asked some simple questions at the end of the race, he was rude to the announcer, and did nothing but scowl through the entire interview. He didn’t encourage his team by saying at least they kept him out there. He simply ignored the questions and was rude. When he finished, he stomped off like the bratty little kid he really is.

Kyle Busch is showing his true colors. He does not know how to rebound when things go wrong, and he has no idea how to be a gentleman when the going gets tough.

3) Remembering An Actor/Racing Icon
Last, but certainly not least, we need to remember an incredible actor/racing icon.

Paul Newman died of cancer on Friday, September 26 at the age of 83. According to a spokesman, Newman died at his home in Westport, Connecticut. Aside from his acting career, he was also very active in auto racing. He started racing in the 1970’s as part of a three-driver team that came in second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. In 1983 he started his own race team which over the years has won 107 IndyCar Series championships. When asked why he got into racing, Paul Newman told People magazine that racing was the best way to get away from all the “rubbish of Hollywood.”

May Paul Newman rest in peace.

Before I sign off from this post, I need to say a special thanks to Brian Neudorff. Brian helped with the quote, and he also found me the great EA Sports picture of Carl Edwards and the computer car. Come race day you can follow both Brian and myself on Twitter as we chat through each race. At the end of the race yesterday we were on the phone both laughing about the Carl quote.

Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus