Just before last weekend’s race at Atlanta, NASCAR President Mike Helton announced that, despite the fact that he missed three weeks of the regular season and despite what the rules say as to who can be eligible for the latest version of the Chase, Tony Stewart may participate in the Chase – should he qualify.
“I’ll remind everybody back earlier this year when we announced the format for the 2014 Chase, that announcement included some responsibility about the routine participation in the season in order to be eligible in the Chase,” Helton said. “Along with that importance of routine participation also came the asterisk, so to speak, about except in rare instances.”
Stu Padasso, BSNews’ chief BSologist, has obtained the full list of just what “the asterisk, so to speak” entails. Oddly enough, the list happens to read as such.
X. It has been raining all week and the only time available to mow the grass was during the weekend.
IX. You had previous plans for dinner at your mother-in-law’s and you know how she feels about all this racing nonsense.
VIII. You caught a severe cold from participating in a ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
VII. You find yourself broke because you chickened out of a ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
VI. You read/heard about something tragic in the news and were profoundly saddened by it.
V. You are possibly under indictment, no matter how unfounded the charges may be, for something.
IV. Dog chewed up your favorite pair of racing booties.
III. Took a week or two off to join protests in Ferguson, Mo.
II. Still trying to come to terms with the fact that ISIS is not the goddess of health, marriage and love as you were previously taught.
I. Whatever Brian France wants an asterisk to be this week, depending on who you are.
Now, for a ‘not so BSNews’ thought:
As I watched the race, I got to thinking about champions and the order I hold respect for them as they pertain to our sport.
First and foremost is a tie, with maybe a slight edge going to the King, between Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, Sr., both with seven hard won titles. Next would be Jeff Gordon, with four. Surprisingly, the more I thought about it, the more I hope Tony Stewart does indeed qualify and go on to win the championship this year.
Not because I feel sorry for him or anything, but simply because he could become the only man in the history of the sport to win four different Championships with three of them being in different formats – the third format of course being the new, bogus playoff format.
I have way more respect for that than six Chase championships. Hell, Stewart’s three Cups in two different formats is more respectable than that.
BSNews: Your first thought is our first name!
Stay off the wall,
Jeff Meyer