Feud of the Week: D. Waltrip's Chase assessment and who makes a move in Atlanta
CBSSports.com's Brian De Los Santos and Pete Pistone provide analysis on three weekly racing topics.
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| Pete Pistone | Brian De Los Santos |
| Do you agree with Darrell Waltrip's assessment that the Chase is too long and needs its own point system? | |
 I think the amount of races at 10 is right but the two things I'd change are the number of drivers in the field and the point system. NASCAR should have kept the Chase field at ten to make the regular season a bit more meaningful and to also ramp up the drama of getting into the playoffs around the Richmond race. Going to 12 watered things down. I do think the Chase drivers should have their own point system and race against themselves rather than the whole 43 car field. That would pit the playoff competitors against each other in more of a head-to-head competition and generate more excitement. Although if Jimmie Johnson keeps stinking up the show every year, it won't matter what NASCAR does to the Chase -- the 48 team is the best no matter what the format. | I actually think the number of Chase races is perfect. Too few races doesn't give a driver enough time to rebound from a possible setback. But I don't really see the number of Chase races as a major problem. If anything, I'd advocate keeping the number of Chase races at 10, but throwing out a driver's two worst results. As for the points, I think the whole system needs an overhaul, not just the Chase. A race winner should get at least 50 more points than a driver who finishes second. As it stands now, as few as 10 points could separate a winner from second-place if the second-place driver led the most laps. That's just plain silly. But that said, I wouldn't score Chase drivers differently from the non-Chase drivers. What if the second-best Chase driver finishes 30th in a race? He gets second-place points? That doesn't make any sense. |
| Of all the organizations that missed the Chase, which do think has the best upside and which is in the worst shape? | |
 I think Team Red Bull is the best of the non-Chase teams right now. That organization has made great strides in a very short period of time and Brian Vickers is in the thick of the top ten week after week. I think they made a mistake getting rid of A.J. Allmendinger as he was also coming around, but Scott Speed has been impressive on every stop of the stock car ladder and should do well next season. There are a lot of candidates for the down side category but Ganassi Racing is really on the ropes. The whole Dodge situation isn't helping matters for that organization which right now doesn't know what manufacturer support it will have if any and could be down to two cars with only one of them completely sponsored for 2009. That's a big drop in a short period of time for a team that looked on the rise. |  If I'd have been asked this at the beginning of the season, I'd have put Toyota's Red Bull and Michael Waltrip Racing in the worst shape category. Now I look at both and see great potential, though more so with Red Bull, which I firmly believe has a future star in Scott Speed. On the other end of the spectrum, pretty much every team sporting a Dodge badge is in dire straits. There's rampant speculation that GM may buy out or merge with Chrysler; what effect that would have on NASCAR's Dodge teams remains to be seen. But even if that doesn't happen, it doesn't look like Dodge is long for NASCAR with all its organizations rumored to be in merger talks with one team or another. Right now I'd say Petty Enterprises and Ganassi Racing are in the worst shape, but depending on who merges with whom, that could change in the next couple of weeks. |
| Does Jimmie Johnson extend his points lead at Atlanta or will Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards or Jeff Burton step up and make some noise this weekend? | |
 I think the only noise we'll hear this weekend is Johnson vacuuming out a space in his trophy room for another Sprint Cup. Atlanta has been a very good track for the No. 48 team over the years (which one hasn't?) and he swept both races there only a year ago. Johnson was a bit off when the series was at AMS in the spring but I expect them to bounce back and have Biffle, Burton and Edwards frustrated yet again. I do believe we may see the return of Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend which had a 1-2 finish in the spring with Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart. But Johnson will certainly take another step closer to the three-peat this weekend. |  Biffle, Edwards and Burton can make all the noise they want, I doubt they'll gain very much on Johnson, who has three victories and an average finish of 10th in 14 starts at the track. Of Johnson's three closest challengers, I'd give Edwards the best chance to trim a few points off J.J.'s championship lead. Edwards has two wins and six top 10s in eight starts at the track for an average finish of ninth. He led 33 laps back in March, but was knocked out with 50 laps to go due to engine failure. Biffle and Burton have never won at the track in 39 combined appearances. |
| Previous Feud of the Weeks: Oct. 14 | Oct. 7 | Sept. 30 | Sept. 23 | Sept. 16 | Sept. 9 | |
