Newman winning NASCAR title would be poetic justice

Ryan Newman

It would be unfortunate to see Ryan Newman win the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship by virtue of a victory in this Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Newman, of course, qualified for the Championship round of the Elimination Chase, despite only two top-3 finishes in 35 races. Granted, the Richard Childress Racing driver made Sunday's Championship round fair and square in accordance with the regulations, objectionable as I may believe them to be. Still, in the opinion of me and it appears many others it wouldn't be just for Newman to win Sunday.

But I'll tell you what would constitute justice, at least of the poetic variety: a plodding, professional nondescript top-15ish effort from Newman that resulted in him winning the championship.

Yes, you read that right. Sunday, Ryan Newman does exactly what Ryan Newman has been doing all of 2014. He turns in a boring, uneventful, heady Ryan Newmanesque top-15 result, which although unspectacular, is enough for Newman to earn his first series title. It would be in the immortal words of one Brian Z. France, quite the "Wow moment."

Although, I doubt Mr. France shares that view.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Yes, the prospect of Newman lifting the championship trophy Sunday by virtue of say a twelfth-place finish, might just be Brian France's worst nightmare. Keep in mind, France not only implemented the postseason-style Chase back in 2004, but has consistently tweaked the format, in an attempt to find the right formula. Thus, France's legacy is largely tied to the success or failure of The Chase, whatever the regulations so happen to be. With this latest 'elimination' version of The Chase, France assured everyone a premium would be placed on winning.

Brian C. says Sunday's Championship race at Homestead is as much about Brian France's legacy as it is crowing NASCAR's 2014 champion.

And this is why Sunday's race at Homestead is not about Newman, nor the other championship contenders Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, all of whom are seeking their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Likewise, the story of Sunday's race is not Brad Keselowski or Jeff Gordon, drivers with impressive resumes, eliminated from contention by virtue of France's arbitrary, convoluted, bizarre concoction, in lieu of drivers like Newman and Hamlin with lesser season-long resumes.

No, the story Sunday is all about NASCAR's third generation leader; a leader who many don't view as such; a leader looking to carve out his own legacy amidst the very long shadows left by both his revered grandfather and similarly revered father.

Now, more than a decade into his reign of America's most popular form of racing, France has presided over an era of decline for the sport. And while one can reasonably offer that the declines in NASCAR are part of an overall decline for motorsport in general rather than NASCAR specifically, questions still abound concerning France's leadership. If anything France is viewed as a tactical thinker with a tendency to fix things not broken rather than a strategic leader with the vision to lead the sport in the mold of his father and grandfather.

Remember, it is France who in 2003 concocted the playoff-style Chase, in what seemed to be a reactionary decision after a one-win Matt Kenseth won the title, ironically defeating a 10-win Newman. It is France who has tweaked the format on numerous occasions in recent years. It is France who has drawn up this latest, most controversial 'Elimination' version, in light of Jimmie Johnson emerging as the master of his Chase, winning six championships in an 8-year stretch. It is France who has enacted other measures such as The Car of Tomorrow that can in hindsight be viewed as failures.

Granted, the failure label can't be applied to France's latest playoff format, yet. While I may personally abhor it (feel free to remove the may), I'm also smart enough to know it was not my approval France was seeking. Rather, he was looking to draw in the more casual viewer; the viewer who wanted to see watershed moments, which to be fair, have been delivered. Such examples would be Keselowski scoring a 'must-win' at Talladega, or Newman dive-bombing Kyle Larson last Sunday at Phoenix to secure a berth in the final.

While I may personally find it disgraceful that NASCAR actively markets incidents such as the melee in Texas, it was exactly the kind of high-tension, drama-filled moment France clearly had in mind. And there are key metrics such as television ratings which validate France's measure.

From this perspective, the perspective of giving a jolt to the proceedings leading up to Homestead even France's most vehement critics (and count me amongst them), must acknowledge: mission accomplished.

That said it would likewise be foolish to claim the new format has validated France's leadership. See, any legitimate sustainable championship format cannot rest on watershed moments alone. It must produce if not the most deserving champion, at least a deserving champion. France's 'Elimination' Chase has yet to do that.

Now, Harvick, who has four wins and 8 poles would fit that bill. Ditto for Logano, the once can't miss kid, who has enjoyed a breakout season with five victories. In the case of either Logano or Harvick winning, France's gamble so to speak would have paid dividends. While some motorsports purists such as myself may continue to decry the format as arbitrary, France would have a deserving face to validate his system.

But Newman and to a lesser degree the one-win Hamlin, would result in an anti-climactic finish that would render whatever previous drama, well, just drama. If anything, the perception might be that France outsmarted himself, with the bizarre, multi-tiered elimination Chase.

In short, France has achieved objective 1: energize the races immediately leading up to Homestead. But objective 2 (crown a deserving champion), still hangs very much in the balance.

Of course, a championship hanging in the balance, or a Game-7 moment as France himself said, is exactly what France wanted. Well, it's what he got, and in more ways than even he could have possibly imagined.

Real Quick

***The merits of Jenson Button are not something you need to convince me of. While I wouldn't rate the 2009 World Champion in the Lewis Hamilton-Sebastian Vettel-Fernando Alonso stratosphere, he can and has beaten all of them on his day. And I've long regarded the classy Brit as a vastly underappreciated talent.

That said, the outcry over the 34-year-old Button potentially being passed over up for 22-year-old Kevin Magnussen at McLaren to make room for Fernando Alonso, is

1) Not rooted in anything resembling reality and
2) Probably being led, at least in part, by the notoriously biased British F1 media (although I can't prove that)

To me this is really simple: If McLaren believes that Magnussen is a driver they can build a team around, they should sign Magnussen to partner with Alonso next year, and thank Button, who is getting a little long-in-the-tooth by F1 standards for five years of solid service. The only holdup I have is I'm not sure I rate Magnussen as highly as McLaren seems to.

***I made mention earlier in the offseason that INDYCAR was doing a better job staying in the news. Which, it seemed, they were.

However, other than a few spread out driver announcements and the schedule coming out (finally), whatever momentum the series had early in the offseason is so six weeks ago. Of course, this isn't exactly a surprise. After all, what is the first question someone taking an interest in the sport is likely to ask? I'd imagine "when is the next race?" might be high on the list. And the response "in 114 days" probably isn't ideal for capitalizing on whatever momentum has been established.

Brian Carroccio is a columnist for AutoRacing1. He can be contacted at BrianC@AutoRacing1.com.