Twelve Things I Can’t Believe About Richmond And NASCAR’s Chase Field

After a crazy Saturday night Sunday morning at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup field was finally set.

But before we all move on to Chicago and the final 10 races, let’s look back at 12 hard-to-believe things about Richmond and the 2012 Chase field:

1. I can’t believe all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers made the Chase after that accomplishment seemed highly unlikely for most of the season.

2. I can’t believe Carl Edwards actually missed the Chase.

3. I can’t believe the wild card drivers have finished 11th and 12th in points during both seasons since the rule was implemented, meaning there haven’t actually been any true wild cards.

4. I can’t believe how much fun it is to speculate on the wild card drivers during the final few races before the Chase, even though it hasn’t had an actual impact on the playoff field.

5. I can’t believe Michael Waltrip Racing – which had never made the Chase – put more cars into the Chase (two) than Joe Gibbs Racing (one). Did anyone see that one coming?

6. I can’t believe NASCAR got the whole Richmond race completed with all the rain in the area on Saturday night.

7. I can’t believe NASCAR got half of the Richmond race completed with all the rain in the area on Saturday night.

8. I can’t believe I picked No. 1 seed Denny Hamlin to miss the Chase before the season. That was pretty dumb.

9. I can’t believe Greg Biffle led the point standings for almost the entire regular season and hardly anyone is talking about him as a top contender.

10. I can’t believe Kyle Busch got a 16th-place finish at a track where he had 12 top-five finishes in 15 career races and would have made the Chase if he finished 13th.

11. I can’t believe how Jeff Gordon went from also-ran to Chase driver in about 30 minutes at Richmond.

12. I can’t believe anyone is going to beat Jimmie Johnson and stop him from winning his sixth NASCAR title.