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
More impressive feat: Cale Yarborough winning three straight titles in the traditional system or Jimmie Johnson winning three straight under the Chase format?
Johnson winning three straight in today's NASCAR is by far the more impressive of the two. When Yarborough ran there were only 10 or 11 drivers competing for the title; while fields had 36-40 cars, only a handful really were capable of winning. There were no big-budget, high-dollar sponsors back then and the teams with additional funding were far and away the best of the lot. Today we have multi-million dollar sponsors, multi-car teams and nearly 40 drivers trying to win the championship. To pull off the three-peat under these circumstances is quite the feat to say the least.
Make no bones about it, both are great accomplishments, but give me the guy who did it over the long haul, not simply a small portion of a season (less than one-third). That's all it takes in today's NASCAR, a great finishing kick, and the 48 team has it figured out. But to dominate an entire season is, in my estimation, a greater feat. Sure the fields weren't as deep in the late '70s, but what it lacked in quantity it more than made up in quality. We're talking some of NASCAR's all-time greats who Yarborough left in his wake: Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Benny Parsons.
Who is the driver of the year?
All three on my finalist list have their merits: Johnson for another championship and making history; Carl Edwards for winning a series-high nine times and staying at least within sight of Johnson in the title race; and Kyle Busch, who was as hot as any driver in recent memory during the regular season. I'd have to hand it to Johnson for the historic title and really coming back after a slow start to the season. Remember how lost the 48 team was with the new car in the early part of the year and how they corrected things, learned more every week and finally returned to the championship caliber team of 2006 and 2007?
So many worthy candidates. There's Jimmie Johnson, who captured his third straight Cup title. There's Carl Edwards, who statistically had a superior season to Johnson's while finishing second in both the Cup and Nationwide standings. And there's Kyle Busch, who racked up a record 21 wins between the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series. But you couldn't have had a much better season than the one IndyCar's Scott Dixon enjoyed in 2008. In 17 starts he won six races -- including the Indianapolis 500 -- and finished outside the top five on just three occasions while claiming his second championship.
From Bengalbuck: The "Race for the Chase" has clearly NOT accomplished what it set out to do, and that is to keep interest in the sport and boost the ratings down the stretch. It has actually, repeatedly penalized the drivers who have run well all year. Is it time for a major overhaul in the Chase format?
No, no and no. Again, whatever system NASCAR used to determine the championship the last few years would not have stopped Jimmie Johnson from winning the title, especially this season. Not every Super Bowl ends with an overtime field goal or World Series on a walk-off homer. This year's NASCAR season was in the control of a dominating force, one that we haven't seen the likes of in oh, 30 years -- the last time a three-peat was turned in. Other sports don't change their playoff formats on a yearly basis and NASCAR needs to leave the Chase alone and see if the other teams and drivers can rise to the challenge of beating Johnson next season.
When NASCAR announced the new format five years ago, I was all for it. But after seeing it in action the past five years, I'd call it an abject failure. There has been no real bump in attendance or TV ratings because of the Chase. In fact, it has probably done more to turn away longtime fans. If NASCAR said tomorrow that it was scrapping the Chase, I dare say most fans would say good riddance. Odds are that's not going to happen. So barring its demise I'd like to see two things: 1. More points for winning; 2. Two mulligans, meaning only the best eight results during the final 10 races count toward a driver's championship total. Let's be honest here, the intent of the Chase is not to crown the season's best driver, but to keep things interesting up to the final lap of the final race. I think two mulligans should do the trick.
Johnson winning three straight in today's NASCAR is by far the more impressive of the two. When Yarborough ran there were only 10 or 11 drivers competing for the title; while fields had 36-40 cars, only a handful really were capable of winning. There were no big-budget, high-dollar sponsors back then and the teams with additional funding were far and away the best of the lot. Today we have multi-million dollar sponsors, multi-car teams and nearly 40 drivers trying to win the championship. To pull off the three-peat under these circumstances is quite the feat to say the least. 
Make no bones about it, both are great accomplishments, but give me the guy who did it over the long haul, not simply a small portion of a season (less than one-third). That's all it takes in today's NASCAR, a great finishing kick, and the 48 team has it figured out. But to dominate an entire season is, in my estimation, a greater feat. Sure the fields weren't as deep in the late '70s, but what it lacked in quantity it more than made up in quality. We're talking some of NASCAR's all-time greats who Yarborough left in his wake: Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Benny Parsons. 
All three on my finalist list have their merits: Johnson for another championship and making history; Carl Edwards for winning a series-high nine times and staying at least within sight of Johnson in the title race; and Kyle Busch, who was as hot as any driver in recent memory during the regular season. I'd have to hand it to Johnson for the historic title and really coming back after a slow start to the season. Remember how lost the 48 team was with the new car in the early part of the year and how they corrected things, learned more every week and finally returned to the championship caliber team of 2006 and 2007? 
So many worthy candidates. There's Jimmie Johnson, who captured his third straight Cup title. There's Carl Edwards, who statistically had a superior season to Johnson's while finishing second in both the Cup and Nationwide standings. And there's Kyle Busch, who racked up a record 21 wins between the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series. But you couldn't have had a much better season than the one IndyCar's Scott Dixon enjoyed in 2008. In 17 starts he won six races -- including the Indianapolis 500 -- and finished outside the top five on just three occasions while claiming his second championship. 
No, no and no. Again, whatever system NASCAR used to determine the championship the last few years would not have stopped Jimmie Johnson from winning the title, especially this season. Not every Super Bowl ends with an overtime field goal or World Series on a walk-off homer. This year's NASCAR season was in the control of a dominating force, one that we haven't seen the likes of in oh, 30 years -- the last time a three-peat was turned in. Other sports don't change their playoff formats on a yearly basis and NASCAR needs to leave the Chase alone and see if the other teams and drivers can rise to the challenge of beating Johnson next season. 
