For "The Rest", There’s Plenty To Race For

As we get this discussion underway, I want you to think about something. When my Denver Broncos slog through what will no doubt be a difficult season, they will go home and watch the playoffs on TV when the regular season ends. At least in NASCAR, when the chase begins, your driver still gets to drive whether or not he made it.

Let me also address one other common complaint I hear over at The Daly Planet: the guys who didn’t make the Chase won’t be ignored by this media (for what its worth)…..and with good reason….

Not since Tony Stewart in 2006 have we had a driver like Kyle Busch, who made so much noise, but missed out. To his credit, he takes responsibility for the inconsistency that put him in this position.

Shrub has never really shined in the Chase, even when he’s been in it. It seems like this would be a great time not only to race for wins, but also compile good notes to hopefully set the stage for a successful run next year. It will also provide a good time to continue to work on that attitude adjustment, because no matter how good you are, your car’s going to be a headache sometimes. And as some wise person once said, "Life is 10 percent what happens, the other 90 percent how we react to it." I’m also quite sure Matt Kenseth want to address what’s wrong with his team to make a chase run in 2010.

Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer of Richard Childress Racing get a chance to prove that their recently re-discovered success is a trend and not a mirage. If we take his interviews at face value, Harvick is "happy" again. As for Bowyer, missing the Chase may provide him an opportunity to assess whether or not his fortunes this year were the result of the upheaval of his team, or whether there’s some flaws in his game to iron out.

David Reutimann took a big step forward in 2009. His boss, Michael Waltrip, said his team "overachieved." Even with his rain-shortened win at the Coca- Cola 600 aside, the "Double Knot" team grew. In Friday trackside interviews, "Beak" says he’s gearing up for next year. There are places where Reutimann has grown to race quite well, and yet, there are other tracks where he hasn’t found that higher gear yet. It will be especially interesting to see how things play out when Martin Truex Jr. joins the MWR stable next year. Other drivers looking for growth to perhaps make a run on their own in 2010 are Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose and Sam Hornish Jr., who made big strides this season.

A bevy of drivers are on audition. David Gilliland, who has languished in "second division" equipment most of his career gets to make cameo appearances in the "02" ride of Joe Gibbs Racing. It’ll be put up or shut up time, but fans will no doubt take encouragement that when Gilliland subbed in for Bill Elliott, he ran well. Dare I say it, Gilly drove Robby Gordon’s car better than Robby Gordon did.

I remains to be seen, but it sounds like Bobby Labonte may finally be united with Richard Childress Racing in the "07". If that be the case, Casey Mears is racing for his ride. If not, then the 2000 Cup champion is racing for his. Before you think Labonte’s washed up, remember they said the same thing about Mark Martin ;).

David Stremme is on the move, outsted at Penske with the signing of Brad Keselowski. Jamie Mc Murray is looking for a new home with the contraction of Roush Fenway Racing. Reed Sorenson got caught in the numbers game at Richard Petty with the streamline of RPM with Yates Racing. Given the perpetual "silly season" mode we’ve been in since the economy tanked, I wouldn’t be buying green bananas no matter who I was.

Given the situation laid out here, the drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup tour have plenty of reason to "haul the mail", rather than "mail it in." If anything, the presence of six drivers in this year’s chase that weren’t there last year demonstrates that just a slight turn of the wrench turns a pretender into a contender.