Only Yesterday: The 1st Chase Champion Won the 1st Chase Race

Considering the last edition of Only Yesterday that I authored was about Jeremy Mayfield winning his way into the first Chase, and how Ryan Preece did just the same a few days after publication, it might be a good idea to go back to 2004.

Well, at least, for Christopher Bell’s sake.

The very first NASCAR Chase race took place on Sept. 19, 2004, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Most races in The Chase those first few years, and even to an extent today, were there simply because they had been there on the schedule already.

North Wilkesboro Speedway was bought two ways after the 1996 season. One half was bought up by Bruton Smith, who took the spring date and put it at the brand-new Texas Motor Speedway. The other half was bought by then NHMS owner Bob Bahre, who took the mid-September date for his own track.

Bahre, of course, would later sell NHMS to Smith, and Smith would eventually take a date from NHMS for a second race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Live by late stage capitalism, die by late stage capitalism.

Qualifying at New Hampshire was a washout the day prior, which meant that the lead fluctuated quite a bit as The Chase drivers all started in the top 10 and fought hard to lead at least one lap to collect five bonus points.

Kurt Busch took the lead for the first time from Kasey Kahne on lap 135 and largely led the rest of the way. Busch only gave up the lead during pit stop cycles, aside from a brief moment when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead for two laps before losing it back to Busch on lap 186.

Busch won and defending series champion Matt Kenseth quietly finished second. Earnhardt finished third, which was a great recovery run for him.

In July, Earnhardt was involved in a serious crash at Sonoma Raceway while testing a sports car, one where the car burst into flames. Earnhardt didn’t miss time as a result, but he did have to be relieved by Martin Truex Jr. the next weekend at Loudon en route to a 31st-place finish. Coming back to the same track to finish third was a massive boost to his championship hopes.

Even more importantly, Earnhardt’s third was good enough to take the points lead, as he broke a tie with Busch due to the number of wins he had on the season at that point.

There were three Chasers who finished 33rd or worse. Two of them found trouble as a result of a feud between two non-Chase drivers.

Robby Gordon and Greg Biffle made contact with each other on lap 17, sending Gordon for a spin.

“I will get him,” Gordon said over his radio, and get him he did on lap 65, spinning Biffle out into Mayfield. Tony Stewart then t-boned Biffle on the passenger side door.

Mayfield was able to finish the race, albeit 49 laps down in 35th after major repairs. Stewart attempted to complete more laps but was eventually black flagged for driving too slowly and finished 39th.

“I don’t think any of us are getting mulligans,” Stewart said on the broadcast, apparently flipping a few pages ahead. “That probably just took us out of the championship. That’s racing, it’s part of it.”

Gordon was held for two laps on pit road due to reckless driving. He later spun out again on lap 114 and finished 32nd. He’d later apologize for his actions taking out Mayfield and Stewart.

Disaster befell Ryan Newman during the final green flag pit-stop cycle. He was running second before the cycle began, but then suddenly blew his engine midway through it.

“Man, we went out on top,” Newman told pit road reporter Bill Weber on the broadcast. “I’m disappointed in one respect, but that car was awesome. Something in the motor [failed], something in the bottom end, lost two I things I shouldn’t of.”

Like Stewart, Newman failed to win the championship that year. But he seemed to have found something speed-wise at Loudon, starting The Chase off the next year with a win.

Busch, meanwhile, became the first of three champions of the 2004-2013 Chase era to win the first race of The Chase on the way to the title. Stewart in 2011 and Brad Keselowski in 2012 later joined him.

It’s a stat that Bell will hope to add his name to in the first year of the current Chase revival. Busch had his only mulligan with a blown engine at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but he finished top 10 in the eight other Chase races.

One huge difference between today and 2004 is the current point system, which rewards winning races and heavily, heavily penalizes DNFs. Busch finished Atlanta with 37 points, which was more than a fifth of Jimmie Johnson’s 185 points for winning the race. Now, that would be anywhere between one-55th to one-76th of the points that a race winner takes home.

It turns out Stewart was wrong; it was possible to take a mulligan in The Chase back then. It’s hard to imagine the champion taking one with the current format, and it’s something Bell will have to keep in mind these next nine weeks.