USA TODAY International Edition
Wild start to Chase
Unpredictability fun for fans but difficult for drivers
Jimmie Johnson’s mistake and Kevin Harvick’s finish are among the first race’s surprises,
The winner of Sunday’s Chase for the Sprint Cup opener and the last- place playoff driver at Chicagoland Speedway were not surprises.
Martin Truex Jr. had been one of the favorites heading into the 10- week playoff. He won despite having to rally from a tire problem early in the race.
Chris Buescher had been the biggest underdog. He finished 28th.
But there were plenty of other surprises in between, including Kevin Harvick’s poor finish after he got trapped one lap down early in the race and Jimmie Johnson’s speeding penalty that took him from a likely top- three result to 12th.
In that sense, this Chase is off to a similar start to its predecessors entering the third year of the current format. Once again, the only predictable thing about NASCAR’s playoff is unpredictability.
As much as everyone tries to forecast what will happen, it seems like the flukiest, strangest events always pop up when it matters most. Teams can go all year without something bizarre happening, and then suddenly the full moon of the Chase creates odd moments.
It’s Kyle Larson having an easy top- 10 spoiled by a tire coming apart late in the race. It’s Kyle Busch uncharacteristically speed- ing on pit road to spoil a top- five ( although he still finished eighth).
And it’s Harvick getting trapped a lap down by less than a foot, thanks to a caution triggered by a tire randomly rolling across pit road.
Johnson showing speed in the Chase? Not unusual, despite a lackluster season. Johnson messing up on his own? Yikes.
“I’ve just got to stop screwing up,” Johnson said after getting caught speeding in the final segment of pit road. “I didn’t even think I screwed up. I was completely shocked I was ( too) fast. I’m way under, just being cautious, and still got dinged. I mean, I couldn’t believe it. It was mind- boggling.”
In the old Chase format — the one where the driver with the most points became champion after 10 weeks — Johnson losing an opportunity to win wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.
But when a win means an automatic trip to the next round and drivers only have three races to accumulate as many points as possible before four are eliminated, Johnson’s error could be huge.
It could be even more significant after a points penalty is imposed on his team this week for failing postrace inspection. Truex’s team also failed the inspection.
All that might challenge a driver’s sanity, but that’s what makes the Chase so fun to follow. The intensity for each race is practically tripled when compared to the old format, and mistakes are like first- round upsets that bust brackets in the NCAA tournament.
Of course, it’s not much fun for the drivers. So much is out of their control, and when a team prepares all season for the playoff run only to see it go sour — well, they’re not happy.
Just look at Sunday. A steamed Harvick walked quickly off pit road without comment after the race, ignoring reporters’ questions while sipping water all the way to the motor home lot. And Tony Stewart told reporters he just didn’t feel like talking about a frustrating 16th- place finish.
“Right now I’m just ready to go home for the night,” Stewart said.
Johnson talked, but he looked like he’d just taken a huge swig of spoiled milk. When every race carries so much weight, falling victim to mistakes or misfortune is hard to digest.
It’s quite the contrast from the regular season, which has taken so much pressure off the drivers.
These days, even the cranky drivers become quite pleasant once they win a race because they’re locked into a playoff spot. There’s no stress in the first 26 races for most of them, and it’s easy to brush off a bad day because it doesn’t really matter.
But once the Chase starts? Look out.
The bad news for them is the pressure will only increase from now until November. The good news for fans: so will the excitement.