Yes, Smoke has finally shown some fire in the Chase after being rather dormant and smoldering these last few weeks. I, for one, was happy to see it.There is only one small fly in this ointment: Stewart/Haas has an umbilical link to Hendrick.
I still think that Jimmie Johnson is the man to beat. The biggest problem with this is that a very large percentage of the fan base hasn’t warmed up to him. To be sure, he is chasing more than the championship this year. He’s chasing history- the chance to take another step up and boldly go where no man has ever gone before. With the starship that Rick and Chad have given him he has a very good chance to do it.
The problem is, this just hasn’t resonated with the fans.
Some of it is the usual fan resentment when any single driver, or owner, wins too much. If the chase were at your local short track, perhaps the promoter would put a bounty on him. Many are turned off by Chad and his history of outright cheating.
Another often stated reason reason is his personality. Come on folks, what’s the guy have to do? Maybe he needs to hire a gymnastics coach to teach him to do cartwheels. When he wins, he could do cartwheels down the front stretch. On second thought, that probably wouldn’t help. After all, "snow angels" didn’t seem to go over so good for Kurt.
Anyway, he is what he is. One hell of a racecar driver with an understated, quiet, mature, gentlemanly personality. Apparently this is not enough. I once heard Mark Kinser ( Carl’s son, and Steve’s cousin) described as "a driver so boring that he doesn’t even have a nick name" Maybe this is the root of Jimmie Johnson’s problem. Whatever the reasons, lots of fans are turned off by Hendrick’s domination, and by J.J. and Chad in particular.
While Mark Martin’s season has been one of the big "feel good" stories so far- and I expect him to be there to the end- there’s still the Hendrick thing. "Cousin Carl" would have been the perfect foil for Johnson and Hendrick. Were he making the run everyone expected when the season started, the Chase would have an entirely different feel, and excitement level to it. Unfortunately, Carl has pretty much turned into a "Lame Duck".
That brings us to Juan Pablo Montoya. This guy is for real. He’s just a victory away from jumping right in the middle of this thing, and I hope he gets it.
Some fans may be turned off by the way he got into the Chase, but the current system lends itself to this. They did what they needed to do, and it worked. "The Nation" is probably still harboring dark feelings for "Step Mother Teresa", but my feeling is that she has about as big a part in the team as Felix Sabates at this point.
I think that the Chase is bordering on Ho Hum for a very large percentage of fans, and it looks to me like Juan has the best shot to pull them, make that us, back in. If Tony is solidly in the mix. So much the better.
I wouldn’t be upset if J.J. were to win it. In fact, I expect it. I just want him to get taken out of his comfort zone, and have to fight for it right down to the end.
After all isn’t that what the Chase was supposed to deliver?
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I’d have to agree. JPM takes some of the “vanilla” out of the chase. I also agree with your assessment of Jimmie Johnson. It’s rare in sports you find a winner who really doesn’t have much of a following. JJ has a following, but you’d think with what he’s done, it’d be more like “The Nation.” Ah, but that’s another story for another time. But for those who think this chase lacks a bad boy element, I point them squarely in the direction of Montoya and Stewart.
I think the reason why Johnson doesn’t have the fervor following of JR (and let’s face it, he wouldn’t have that following if his name wasn’t Earnhardt), is for a couple of reasons:
1. He’s never struggled. Never had bad equipment. People sort of wonder, how good is he really? is it all him or is it that Hendrick stuff?
and,
2. He’s not really (which is also why JPM doesn’t have a huge following–though in attitude, JPM is much more a southern-style racer then Johnson) one of “us.” Johnson has embraced Jeff Gordon’s approach to the sport, “This is what I do, I love it, but when it’s over, it’s over and I’ll do something else.” One gets the sense about Johnson that as much as he loves the competition, he would’ve been equally at home in another form of racing if that’s where the fame and fortune took him. I think nascar fans see that and don’t really fully embrace him because of it.
Now, about how JPM got into the Chase. H got into it the same way Biffle, Edwards, and Newman made it in: Virtually no mistakes and staying the top 15 (on average) for every race.
In some ways I’d like to see JPM win the Chase and not win a race. That might make Nascar reevaluate the whole system and cause them to create a hole new points system tilted toward winning and lessening the importance of top 20 points racing.
Geez, I need a new keyboard. Too many errors to count. Sorry.
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