The tale of a fading veteran near the end of his career conjuring one more grand moment in the sun wasn’t a work of fiction materializing on some backlot of a Hollywood studio. It actually transpired in real life up the California coast Sunday.
NASCAR mailbag: Did Denny Hamlin let Tony Stewart win at Sonoma?
Dissecting the final lap of Sunday’s race, NASCAR granting Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart Chase waivers, and additional road courses on the Sprint Cup schedule are among the topics in this week’s mailbag.
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Snapping an 84-race winless streak, Tony Stewart went to victory lane in dramatic fashion by outdueling Denny Hamlin to win at Sonoma Raceway. With the win, Stewart is virtually locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and assures his final season will have at least one lasting memorable moment.
Submit mailbag questions via Twitter or by emailing jordanmbianchi@gmail.com.
Doesn’t NASCAR have a problem that it could have back-to-back champions who missed a bunch of races? A deserving champion should be someone who raced every race.
--Stan
Hard to say Kyle Busch didn’t deserve the championship considering he won a series-best four times during the regular season despite starting 11 fewer races. If winning is supposed to carry greater importance than at any other juncture in NASCAR history (brought about by the elimination Chase format), then Busch unquestionably warranted a playoff spot.
Look at it this way: Had Busch not been eligible, Aric Almirola, who had only two top-five finishes during the 26-race regular season, likely would have qualified. Under that scenario a driver with mediocre stats would have been rewarded, instead of driver who flat dominated -- even if he missed half the regular season.
In Stewart’s case, an argument could be made that he shouldn’t have received a waiver to maintain Chase eligibility because he was injured doing something non-NASCAR related. If you’re going to assume the risk of hurting yourself engaging in dangerous activities off the track, then sorry, you’re out of luck. It’s a reasonable line of thinking.
That precedent, however, has already been established. NASCAR granted Stewart a waiver in 2014 following his involvement in the Kevin Ward Jr. tragedy, and the subsequent season Kurt Busch received one after missing three races due to suspension.
Sure it takes some getting used to having a series champ who didn’t race every week, but this is a vastly different era. And frankly, it’s better than the alternative, when drivers regularly started races with significant injuries that never would have been medically cleared today. No driver should feel compelled to get back behind the wheel despite having a broken neck (Richard Petty, 1980), or a broken right wrist that required taping to the gear shifter for fear of losing coveted championship points (Davey Allison, 1992).
NASCAR is protecting drivers from themselves better than any time in its history. That’s a very good thing.
How come no one is saying Denny Hamlin gave the win to Tony Stewart? It looks like he intentionally missed the corner so Tony could get inside of him and go on to win.
--William
If Hamlin wanted Stewart to win like you say, then why would he have passed Stewart in Turn 7 only to give the spot back a few corners later?
Sorry, but this is no great conspiracy. Hamlin simply made a mistake, which allowed a super aggressive Stewart to shove his way by. Fox Sports analyst Jeff Gordon believed Hamlin wheel hopped entering Turn 11, which means Hamlin braked late and had too much speed to hug the bottom. And if you watch Stewart’s in-car video it’s pretty clear this is what transpired, not Hamlin wanting to hand the victory to his soon-to-be retiring buddy.
Everyone always talks about having a road course in the Chase, so is it ever actually going to happen or will NASCAR continue ignoring what fans want?
--Dan
As much as most drivers, fans and media clamor to see a Chase race held on a road course, it’s more complicated than just NASCAR issuing a decree and rearranging the schedule.
With the Sprint Cup calendar capped at 36 events, the sanctioning body would have to move either Sonoma or Watkins Glen off its current dates and swap it with a track currently hosting a playoff race. This isn’t something NASCAR is inclined to do, as it entails negotiating with International Speedway Corp., Dover Motorsports, Inc., and Speedway Motorsports Inc., the three publicly owned companies that respectively operate the 10 Chase venues.
But if you need a reason to be optimistic, ISC has submitted a bid to purchase Laguna Seca, the popular road course in Monterey, Calif. If that offer is accepted, the company then could shift a date from one of its other properties to Laguna Seca rather easily.
With Tony the 11th different winner this season and 10 races still to go before the Chase starts, do you think this could be the year when there are more drivers who’ve won races than can make the Chase? Wouldn’t that be a doomsday scenario with someone winning, but not getting in?
--Rick
To have the 17 different winners as you suggest, suggests there are six drivers capable of winning who haven’t already done so. Outside of Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson and maybe Kasey Kahne and rookie Ryan Blaney, who else inspires any confidence?
- Austin Dillon has had his moments, though he’s still only led three laps all year.
- AJ Allmendinger is capable of winning at Watkins Glen, but as Sonoma showed one slipup on the track or on pit road and his chances go kaput.
- Jamie McMurray could surprise, yet his last non-restrictor-plate victory occurred six years ago.
- After an encouraging start to the season that gave hope it had rebounded, Roush Fenway Racing’s three drivers have collectively stalled out.
On top of all of the above, you would also need Joe Gibbs Racing (including Martin Truex Jr.), Team Penske and the Hendrick Motorsports-backed trio of Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson all to curtail their dominance and not continue to gobble up wins. So while not impossible, it’s pretty doubtful 17 different winners would come to fruition.
See More:
