Playoffs should open on Chase's grandest stage

Without a cloud in sight, the view from the 36-degree top of Mount Washington stretches from Maine to Quebec. The waters of Lake Winnipesaukee are clear and cold. There's no better time to be in New Hampshire than in the chilly final weeks of summer, when the sunbathers have gone, the skiers have yet to arrive, and travelers in the state for a NASCAR race weekend have the place almost completely to themselves.

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If only the rest of New England had played along. The folks at New Hampshire International Speedway did their usual splendid job, dodging raindrops long enough to somehow squeeze five races -- U.S. Auto Club, NASCAR Modified, Busch East, Craftsman Truck and Nextel Cup -- into a three-day period. Fans once again showed that their corner of the Northeast is fertile racing country, with 101,000 souls packing a facility that's sold out every premier-level event it's ever hosted. Clint Bowyer provided the perfect hook, as the overshadowed title contender kicked off the sport's playoff by earning his first career victory.

But so much of it seemed to happen in a vacuum. Even on the heels of a one-day New York media blitz that landed the NASCAR name on every major talk show and in every major publication the city had to offer, there was only so much the sport could do when up against a devastating 1-2 punch: the Red Sox fading in a playoff race, and the Patriots in the midst of a spying scandal. Those two stories dominated every New England sportscast from Hartford to Bangor, in much the same way that Bowyer dominated last Sunday's race. Everything else, NASCAR included, was left fighting for the scraps.

It's a tough situation, one that serves as a reminder that NASCAR, even with thousands upon thousands in attendance each weekend, is essentially a sport with 36 road games every year. New Hampshire is one of the most important tracks on the Nextel Cup circuit, a facility that provides the series with a needed upper Northeast footprint and completely debunks the tired theory that NASCAR is some Southern phenomenon that doesn't translate north of the Mason-Dixon line. Racing roots in New England run as deep as those in any other part of the country. The track in Loudon is completely deserving of a prominent position in the Chase.

But by opening its playoff in what essentially is greater Boston, at a time of year when fervor over the Patriots is heating up and anxiety over the Red Sox is at its crescendo, NASCAR risks being overshadowed at a point when it can least afford it. That may be what happened Sunday, when everything went perfectly at the racetrack, and the overnight television number was a 2.8 -- the lowest for any regularly scheduled NASCAR race this season.

Obviously ratings are national, but what happened in New England last weekend offers an example of what NASCAR is up against this time of the year. The Nextel Cup tour came to New Hampshire as the Red Sox were playing a showdown series against the Yankees, and the Patriots faced a spying scandal on the eve of a playoff rematch with the San Diego Chargers. In that environment, the fact that the speedway still attracted a sellout crowd is admirable. The fact that the television rating was so low is disturbing, especially given that the primary reason the Chase was founded was to help NASCAR draw better TV numbers during football season. This past weekend, it lost to golf.

Loudon, a track that doesn't translate especially well on television, may have contributed to that. New Hampshire is a place where one dominant car can run away from the pack, and casual viewers hoping for Daytona-like action at the front can come away disappointed. Within the confines of New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR could not have asked for a better weekend. But beyond that, in a regional sports atmosphere cluttered with the likes of Curt Schilling and Bill Belichick, there was little buzz. If NASCAR had hoped to come away from Loudon with some sort of national momentum, it was left disappointed.

There is a way to rectify that. NASCAR likes opening the Chase in the Northeast, which allows it to hype its drivers in New York before the New Hampshire race weekend, and target the most media-frenzied region of the country in the playoff's first week. That's completely understandable, even though it runs the risk of being eclipsed by other events. But if NASCAR wants to truly open the Chase with a big bang, if it wants to heighten the suspense and drama, if it wants to create the kind of buzz that will keep people talking well after the event weekend has ended, then there's only one place to go -- that big, bad racetrack in Alabama.

Talladega Superspeedway is the one track in the Chase capable of producing everything the first event in NASCAR's playoff deserves, from a massive stage to a massive crowd to the kind of race that will have drivers, fans, and reporters talking weeks afterward. Talladega is one of those places on the Nextel Cup tour capable of producing an atmosphere as electric as an NFL playoff game, with a snarling presence that stands on its own even if Alabama played the day before. Everything about it is big, from the length of the main grandstand to the 2.66 circumference of the racetrack to the size of the wrecks that inevitably happen. Love it or hate it, Talladega is not just another race. Talladega is a huge event on the NASCAR calendar, a place where demolition derby meets the Super Bowl, a track that can give the Chase the swift opening kick it needs.

That's not to say the people at New Hampshire have done anything wrong; conversely, they've built NASCAR a superb niche in a part of the world where the sport demands such a presence. But last weekend, with so much else attracting so much attention, the race felt lost. Talladega would provide a grander stage, a more captive audience, and a perfect bookend to the season finale outside Homestead. And Mount Washington, Lake Winnipesaukee, and all of the other wonders of the Granite State will still be there to welcome NASCAR fans, just one week later than they do now.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.