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What exactly were you expecting in the next-to-last race of the season? Were you expecting the final four to be decided handily and simply see some disappointment on those that didn’t make it in?
This is what the current playoff system has encouraged and ultimately has led to the desperate moves that either work, or fail.
It’s happened in the races entering the playoffs, and the deciding race to decide the championship. And yet, people want to argue on what is the right call or the wrong call in deciding who should fight for a title. But, let’s be honest, NASCAR has made really tough calls, and controversial calls, in the playoffs long before the 16-car setup.
Look at the decision entering Chicagoland in 2013. Martin Truex Jr. was in, but the way he got in was under so much scrutiny, that it took an entire week before NASCAR said he was out, and Ryan Newman was in. Then, in what almost feels like a double-down on controversial moves, they said because of the manipulation that caused Jeff Gordon to miss the field by a single point, he would be added in to make a baker’s dozen in the championship.
The 2014 season was the first with the 16-car field, and the biggest controversy that was talked about had nothing to do with the racing, but car manipulation.
Who doesn’t recall teams flaring out the corners in front of the rear tires on the first pit stop, and NASCAR deemed it legal but would be looked at after the season.
By the time Homestead came and Kevin Harvick won his championship, teams were pulling on the body so much that one wrong move was going to cut a tire. It since was made illegal, but still after that the teams tried to find ways to get more aero without it being so blatant.
Let’s be honest, Martinsville has been a track where desperate times and angry drivers come out, especially if it’s a playoff event.
The 2015 fall race is enough to prove that. Matt Kenseth vs. Joey Logano, that’s all that’s needed to prove that.
And then, there’s the “Hail Melon” that has become part of the lore and legacy of Martinsville, something we will never see again, at least in deliberate attempts. It’s a move that will go down in NASCAR’s records as a moment that was a rule maker, but it was enough in that moment to get the Melon Man into the championship.
Sunday, one driver was the center of controversy, but yet the reason he was is because having this track as the last event to decide the Championship 4 is going to cause drivers to do everything they can to push it in. The problem is, although NASCAR in theory got the call right by the rule book, they didn’t get it right in reality.
Christopher Bell did not enter that last corner on the last lap the same way Ross Chastain did a couple years ago. Bell took a chance and got loose, sliding up the track. What’s the instinct of any driver in trying to save the car when it’s loose…throttle up and recover. Bell slid up and hit the throttle, and happened to be along the wall when it happened.
In theory, Bell was recovering from overdriving into the corner, getting loose and sliding up. In theory, Bell knew what he was doing when he entered the corner, not what happened after.
In THEORY…Bell was racing at his best with 100 percent effort to get the best finish he could.
Yet, in NASCAR’s theory, he was causing an issue with unsafe driving because he ran the wall at speed to gain positions, similar to Chastain’s move when he ran the entire corner at full speed. Bell was trying to recover after losing positions, whereas Chastain’s full intent was to gain as much as he could to stay in the title picture.
Then NASCAR deems the move unsafe and downgrades Bell’s finish to take him out of a possible championship opportunity.
It is not Bell’s fault for what he did; this is what the playoffs have done for the sport, and NASCAR seems to allow it and then afterwards decide what isn’t allowed.
Reality is on Sunday, there was a lot of controversial, and questionable, moves with regards to helping teammates or common brand loyalties. But, the end game was Bell’s final move on the final lap, in the final corner, to get the final spot for a championship.
And this is what NASCAR has done with the playoff format. Desperate times, desperate moves, damning decisions.
