Jimmie Johnson heads to Homestead eyeing his first Cup championship. Credit: Autostock

Cross words: H'stead

Chase for the Cup lives up to its billing, but it could be refined

Jamie McMurray won't say it, but that $1 million bonus for clinching 11th place in the Nextel Cup standings is small taters compared to what could have been. Had McMurray been 10th entering the inaugural Chase, he would now be in the thick of the battle -- only 61 points behind.

Under the previous points system, McMurray would be seventh, and in line for a much bigger payday at the year-end awards banquet on Dec. 3.

For his part, McMurray points to engine failures and problems on pit road that cost the team this season. What he doesn't use as a crutch is the 25-point penalty NASCAR enforced after the spring race at Bristol.

SOUTHERN 500 Busch banged up Kurt Busch, in need of a pit stop, is saved as the caution flies Waltrip wrecks Todd Bodine gets loose and Michael Waltrip slams into him Hard hit Dale Jarrett gets loose and hits the wall hard on Lap 195 Blown engine Ryan Newman's engine expires on Lap 331 Final laps Jimmie Johnson beats Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon to the checkers Victory Lane Jimmie Johnson celebrates his 2004 Darlington sweep

"I think that's what everybody looks at the most as to why we didn't make the Chase, but we shouldn't have been that close," McMurray said. "We should have been somewhere in the top seven in points and it shouldn't even have been an issue.

"Everyone wants to look at that. All we had to do was finish one spot better in three or four races and we would have made it. It's easy to look at that, but the engine failures obviously hurt us a lot and the point penalty at Bristol hurt, but it's hard to put it on just one thing."

Yet woulda, coulda, shoulda is not what NASCAR had in mind when it announced the new playoff system. Hence, there won't be a significant change to the format in 2005.

"The new points system has been wonderful, it's created interest and a scenario that was unthinkable under the old system," NASCAR chairman Brian France told The Associated Press. "Obviously, we were hoping to create drama all the way down to the last lap of the last race. That was our preference under the old system, and it just wasn't happening.

"So we like things the way they are. We always said we wanted to let the full year play out, but the balance we have now, we're real happy with. We may end up making some slight adjustments next season, but nothing very noticeable."

But since no one asked, here are a few suggestions for noticeable changes:

Qualifying bonus. A majority of the tracks now will impound the cars after qualifying, so coming off the truck race-ready will be paramount. Teams should be rewarded for doing their homework -- or at least an on-target guess.

Dump the lucky dog. For whatever reason a driver goes down a lap, that's his problem. The race leaders should not be penalized -- and that's basically what happens when you just give a driver a lap back.

Revamp the points. Finish first, get 185 points. Finish second and lead the most laps, here's your 180 points. Ridiculous. Winning a race should have a much higher premium than five points; second place is the first loser.

Has the Chase created more excitement? Yes, that much is undeniable. Is it the end-all to racing for points? No. Consider that Jimmie Johnson may win half of the playoff races and still not win the title. Doesn't that sound a lot like the previous points system's major flaw?

It'll be interesting to see what France deems as "slight adjustments." NASCAR can rest assured that fans eagerly await these decisions.

Red: Rusty Wallace -- Last Call? Indeed. Since entering the series as a fulltime driver in 1984, the '89 Cup champion has been out of the top 10 in points six times -- and each came in consecutive years: 1984-85, 1991-92, 2003-04.

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Yellow: Kasey Kahne -- He has all but wrapped up rookie of the year honors, and he has more top-10 finishes (14) than the other four rookies combined (11). If (or when) he snares a Cup win, he'll be only the ninth driver to take the checkers in all three major NASCAR series.

Green: Joe Nemechek -- While Jimmie Johnson's run up the Chase standings and Jamie McMurray's quest for 11th has garnered a majority of the headlines, Nemechek has been a model of consistency the past six weeks with four top-10 finishes.

"I guess the guys running the timing deal must have gone out for a hotdog or something while we were out there flying around the place with our qualifying setup in the car. It was kinda weird that they didn't have us at the top of the speed chart that they put out at the end of the day. But it was a crime -- a real slap in the face to me, my team and my sponsors -- that they didn't even have our effort listed in their top 10 or anywhere else for that matter when the day was done. It was yet another example of a 'non-Chase' driver and team getting the shaft."

-- An obviously perturbed Rusty Wallace, after turning a fast lap of 30.25 seconds (178.512 mph) during testing at Homestead on Nov. 10 and not getting the recognition he thought it deserved.

• Kurt Busch has scored bonus points in eight of the nine Chase races and leads all drivers with 50 bonus points. Busch's 9.3 average finish in the Chase is best of all drivers.

• Jeff Burton leads all drivers with a 7.00 average finish in five races at Homestead. His best finish has been third, which he has done twice and he has not finished worse than 14th there.

• Six drivers recorded their first series victories at Homestead:
Kevin Lepage (Busch) 1996 Jiffy Lube Miami 300
Dave Rezendes (Truck) 1997 Florida Dodge Dealers 400
Rick Crawford (Truck) 1998 Florida Dodge Dealers 400
Mike Wallace (Truck) 1999 Florida Dodge Dealers 400
Ted Musgrave (Truck) 2001 Florida Dodge Dealers 400
Kasey Kahne (Busch) 2003 Ford 300

• Twelve of 19 drivers that competed in all five Cup races at Homestead have been running at the finish in all five races. There have been only 29 DNFs posted in the five races there -- 11 in 2003.

Robby Gordon

• Robby Gordon is in Baja California, Mexico, preparing for the 37th annual Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000. The race will start at 10 a.m. PST Thursday. Gordon, who will start eighth in the race, plans to run the first 750 miles, but will have to hand over the wheel to Steve Barlow in order to get to Homestead, Fla., to compete in the final Cup and Busch series races of the season. Gordon plans to be on a plane no later than 10 p.m. PST Thursday, so he can be in Homestead on Friday morning in time for practice and qualifying.

• In a joint effort to increase fan interest and visibility for stock car racing in Canada, NASCAR and the Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR) have entered into a multi-year operational and marketing agreement.

... And if you're wondering, yes -- there have been two NASCAR races held in Canada: July 1, 1952, at Stamford Park in Niagra Falls, Ontario, won by Buddy Shuman; and July 18, 1958, at Canadian Exposition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, won by Lee Petty.

Homestead-Miami Speedway

• Kurt Busch has competed in four races at Homestead scoring just one top-10 finish, a victory in 2002. He finished 19th or worse in the other three races. His 19.75 average finish there is seventh among the top-10 drivers.

• Jimmy Johnson has scored two top-10 finishes in three races at Homestead.

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• Jeff Gordon has scored four top-10 finishes in five races at Homestead, but he has never won at Homestead, one of four tracks that have eluded him.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished 13th or worse in all four of his races at Homestead.

• Mark Martin has scored three top-five finishes in five races at Homestead, the most top-five finishes scored by a Chase driver at the track. Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte have also scored three top-fives at Homestead.

Homestead has been good to Tony Stewart. And bad -- which should not be overlooked.

Stewart won the first two races, leading 210 of 534 laps (39 percent), including a race-high 166 in 2000. The past three years, however, have been a struggle for the No. 20 team: average finish of 15th with only 86 laps led.

Don't overlook defending race champ Bobby Labonte. Stewart's teammate with Joe Gibbs Racing, Labonte is averaging an 8.8 finish compared to Stewart's 9.2 -- and that includes 1999, when Labonte led a race-high 174 laps before finishing second to Stewart.

One thing in JGR's favor is the manufacturer; Chevrolet drivers average a 20.7 finish at Homestead with one win and 18 top-10s.

Ford has a victory and 14 top-10s with an average finish of 23.9.

Salisbury, N.C., residents Bill Gopsill and Yvonne Simko will enter married life in the fast lane.

Gopsill and Simko will exchange wedding vows on Nov. 24, then celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends before heading to Lowe's Motor Speedway for the 12th annual Souvenir Blow-Out on Nov. 26.

The next day the couple will return to the superspeedway to participate in the Richard Petty Driving Experience's ride-along program.

The Souvenir Blow-Out, which runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., offers those spending a minimum of $50, or making a $25 donation to Speedway Children's Charities, the opportunity to drive their personal vehicle two laps around the track.

"We're really looking forward to the Souvenir Blow-Out on Friday," Gopsill said. "Yvonne's got a '97 Dodge Avenger and she wants to drive it around the track."

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for NASCAR.COM. The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.