| Racing Ruminations |
| Any hack columnist can predict the top five AMD at The Glen finishers. I predict the top five and the guy who will finish 17th! |
| LAST WEEK Top five: 1/5 17th: 0–1 |
| SEASON Top five: 36/105 17th: 0–21 |
| 1. Tony Stewart |
| 2. Jeff Gordon |
| 3. Kurt Busch |
| 4. Mark Martin |
| 5. Ryan Newman |
| 17. Scott Pruett |
Imagine if for two regular season games every year, the NFL decided to play with 10 players on each side. Those two games, under similar rules but vastly different circumstances, could determine who makes the playoffs, where the normal rules are always used.
Sounds insane, right? The NFL would never be stupid enough to pull that crap. NASCAR, however, does that twice a year with its two road courses. Road courses are nothing like the other 26 regular season races, yet they play a role in determining who makes the road course-free, 10-race playoff.
It's time for NASCAR to do something about its road courses. Either embrace them by adding a third race and placing it in the Chase or dump them completely. Asking drivers to make right turns, navigate hills and battle for tiny passing lanes twice during the regular season but never during the playoffs is idiotic. No other sport so drastically alters its criteria during the regular season.
Personally, I like road courses. I'd love to see a third road course in the Chase that would test drivers' abilities to navigate these exciting courses. If the Nextel Cup is supposed to go to the best driver, shouldn't he be the most well rounded driver? The Chase already includes short tracks, intermediate races and super speedways, why not a road course?