We welcome your question submissions. If you have a question or hot racing topic you'd like to see discussed, post it here.
Pete Pistone
Brian De Los Santos
Section_725 asks: Was Regan Smith forced below the yellow line? Was NASCAR's decision correct?
NASCAR made the right call on Regan Smith on principle because he was clearly below the yellow line when he made the pass on Stewart. But the two questions that still linger are was he forced to drive there because Stewart blocked him and is the rule different on the last lap. It shouldn't be and despite the rumors in the garage area that NASCAR had said that all bets are off when the checkered flag is in the air, a rule should be a rule. It's a ball-and-strike call on NASCAR officials' part and they decided Smith was out of bounds and gave him an 18th-place finish rather than his first Cup win. I'm fine with that but the fact that there is some doubt still puts NASCAR's inconsistency on enforcing its rules in question, a practice that has to end.
The problem is that the yellow line rule is strictly enforced, while it's NASCAR's "discretion" to penalize a driver for forcing another below the yellow line. And I don't recall ever seeing NASCAR ever use that discretion. Clearly Stewart was blocking. Smith went up high, Stewart went up to block, and when he did, Smith ducked underneath. It's at this point where NASCAR's definition of "forced" is murky. Smith was in deep enough that as Stewart drifted back down to block low, Smith had three options: 1. Wreck Stewart and maybe many other behind him; 2. Back off and give up challenging for the win; or 3. Go below the yellow, avoid the wreck and challenge for the win. I guess NASCAR's thinking is that since Smith did have the option of simply backing off, he wasn't forced. I disagree. But this is NASCAR, where the rules change from race to race.
Should Talladega be part of the Chase? Is there anything that can be done to put some control back in the drivers' hands at the plate tracks?
One plate race should be part of the Chase but I think it should be Daytona to end the season and not Talladega. Despite both being restrictor-plate tracks, the two are completely different. We get "Big Ones" at Daytona but nothing like the kind of carnage we see at Talladega simply because the Alabama track is longer, wider and faster. The drivers can control the cars more at Daytona unlike Talladega where they are truly along for the ride. I'm not sure what the answer is outside of tearing down the banking and slowing speeds down that way, but Talladega is starting to become a bit too dangerous and more of a demolition derby than either of the two half-mile short tracks.
I got on my soapbox in yesterday's Power Rankings about what I think of Talladega. It has become a joke. No way should it be a Chase race. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's great entertainment. The action is fast and furious and everybody has a chance to win, but winning is more luck than skill or strategy. It wasn't always this way. At least back in the day, before bump-drafting became the overwhelming norm, there actually used to be some amount of skill involved to win a restrictor-plate race. Now it's a pure crapshoot. It doesn't matter whether you're Jeff Gordon, with 81 career wins, or Paul Menard, who has a total of three top 10s in 69 races. Anyone can win. I don't know what the answer is to give the drivers control again, but I'm not sure NASCAR even cares about finding out. Weren't they supposed to start policing bump-drafting? The bottom line is, despite the lack of any true racing to separate the haves from the have-nots, it seems most fans eat up the restrictor-plate races.
With Jimmie Johnson escaping Talladega with a 72-point lead, do you see anybody being able to catch him for the championship?
Jimmie Johnson is in command and carries five career Cup wins at Lowe's Motor Speedway into Saturday night's race in Charlotte. But I still think he's catchable for the same reason I thought when he was only 10 points ahead going into last weekend. He'll have to be bullet proof the rest of the way and trouble could easily strike him just as it did Kyle Busch in the first four races of the Chase and Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle last week at Talladega. If Johnson comes out of Charlotte with a 100-point or more lead, I'd say he's more than the favorite to win the title but heading into the weekend I'd say the title race is far from over.
All things being equal, it's over. Obviously, there's no accounting for wrecks or parts failures, but based on pure performance, there is no way the 48 team should blow a 72-point lead. The last six races are right in Johnson's wheel house. Last season, he won four of the final six races. In 2006, he finished first or second in five of the last six races. In 2004, when he finished second in points, he again won four of the final six races, while also finishing second at Homestead. And in 2003, another second-place points finish, Johnson finished second or third in all six events. I don't see any reason to think it won't be more of the same this season. NASCAR can start engraving Johnson's name on the Sprint Cup trophy now.
NASCAR made the right call on Regan Smith on principle because he was clearly below the yellow line when he made the pass on Stewart. But the two questions that still linger are was he forced to drive there because Stewart blocked him and is the rule different on the last lap. It shouldn't be and despite the rumors in the garage area that NASCAR had said that all bets are off when the checkered flag is in the air, a rule should be a rule. It's a ball-and-strike call on NASCAR officials' part and they decided Smith was out of bounds and gave him an 18th-place finish rather than his first Cup win. I'm fine with that but the fact that there is some doubt still puts NASCAR's inconsistency on enforcing its rules in question, a practice that has to end. 
One plate race should be part of the Chase but I think it should be Daytona to end the season and not Talladega. Despite both being restrictor-plate tracks, the two are completely different. We get "Big Ones" at Daytona but nothing like the kind of carnage we see at Talladega simply because the Alabama track is longer, wider and faster. The drivers can control the cars more at Daytona unlike Talladega where they are truly along for the ride. I'm not sure what the answer is outside of tearing down the banking and slowing speeds down that way, but Talladega is starting to become a bit too dangerous and more of a demolition derby than either of the two half-mile short tracks. 
Jimmie Johnson is in command and carries five career Cup wins at Lowe's Motor Speedway into Saturday night's race in Charlotte. But I still think he's catchable for the same reason I thought when he was only 10 points ahead going into last weekend. He'll have to be bullet proof the rest of the way and trouble could easily strike him just as it did Kyle Busch in the first four races of the Chase and Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle last week at Talladega. If Johnson comes out of Charlotte with a 100-point or more lead, I'd say he's more than the favorite to win the title but heading into the weekend I'd say the title race is far from over. 
