In sport's Chase era, old standards no longer apply

He lasted until the next-to-last week of the season. Although he still had a slight mathematical chance of winning what would be his fifth championship in NASCAR's premier division, Jeff Gordon didn't build his illustrious career by clinging to false hope. So he climbed out of his vehicle at Phoenix International Raceway last November and uttered the two words that effectively ended the 2007 edition of the Chase: "It's over."

Kyle Busch made it only to Dover, eight long weeks before the finish line, but the scenario was still strikingly similar: a driver who dominated the regular season, racking up victory after victory after victory, only to see it all unravel once this vehicular version of the playoffs began. "We're done," Busch said Sunday, echoing words spoken by his former teammate a year ago. While the comparison isn't perfect -- Gordon's season was statistically more impressive, Busch's fall considerably more precipitous -- it's beginning to look like another case of another driver doing everything right over the first 26 races, and having nothing to show for it in the end.

More than anything else, this is what bothers people about the Chase. Sure, it gives a second chance to underdogs who might have been too far behind to mount any kind of charge under the traditional system, and it certainly does provide for more compelling storylines over the final third of the season. But like a late caution that leaves the leader waffling over whether or not to pit, it turns the guy out front into a sitting duck. Nothing against Jimmie Johnson, who used the system to his advantage last year, and took the Chase by the throat. But it essentially forces the best driver over the regular season to win the championship a second time, and it renders insignificant even a campaign like the one Gordon enjoyed last year, those 30 top-10s now all but forgotten.

And now we have a situation where Busch, clearly the top driver this season, a man who a month ago appeared to have a shot (and still might) at the modern-era record of 13 wins shared by Gordon and Richard Petty, has been relegated to the status of also-ran because of a broken suspension piece and a blown engine in successive weeks. Granted, even under the old system, he'd still be behind -- 33 points back of Carl Edwards, according to calculations. But he wouldn't be buried, 210 off the pace and out of it. Funny how that post-Richmond points reset seems to help everyone but the driver who's proven himself most worthy of the championship.

There are still people who grumble that the system cheated Gordon out of what should have been another championship. Barring one of the most stupendous comebacks in NASCAR history, fans of Kyle Busch will certainly feel the same way. Right now, all the No. 18 team can do is go for race wins, see how things shake out over the final eight races, and then get ready for next year. But of course, there's no guarantee that Busch will be able to unleash a similar campaign in 2009. Just look at Gordon, who has followed one of his best seasons with one of his most trying. (Continued)