"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Saturday Night's All Right, All Right"
Saturday night spells the end of the 2006 dream for some teams. Saturday night resets the points for the Championship chase. And Saturday Night is perfect for a short track race - a guarantee for some beatin' & bangin'.
Kasey Kahne is only 30 points out of 10th spot, which is currently held by Jeff Burton. Burton is only 2 points behind Mark Martin, who is in 9th position. Kevin Harvick, who is in 3rd place overall, is 147 points ahead of Kahne. Jimmie Johnson is only 9 points behind Matt Kenseth. They lead the other drivers by 342 points and have locked themselves into the Chase. The most points a driver can gain is 156 per race. In theory, the whole Chase line-up could be shuffled after Saturday.
But, what happens if there are penalties to be levied?
What happens if someone's fuel cell is found to be larger than it is supposed to be? If Jeff Gordon's car has an unapproved part? Is that another 25 points he could lose?
What if that team is a repeat offender? Could Harvick's team or Kyle Busch's teams lose more than 25 points for an equipment violation? What if Chad Knaus "tweaks" the car - should the whole team be sat for a race?
Penalties are not meted out in Nascar land until Tuesdays. Does that mean that the Chase will be in limbo until then?
On the other hand, what if Tony Stewart has a bad race and slaps/snaps at a photographer or reporter? Would he be sat for a race? Would he lose more than the standard 25 points?
Junior is so gleeful at making the Chase, he slips and swears again on network TV. Does that mean another 25 point penalty or should he be more heavily penalized as a repeat offender?
And the twists and turns don't stop there. Suppose that Carl Edwards wants to make sure his teammate Mark Martin makes the Chase, so he "takes out" another competitor. Should Edwards, who is on probation, be penalized, or should both Edwards and Martin be penalized? Does it matter if Jack Roush is caught somehow orchestrating it? What if Robby Gordon, who buys engines from DEI, "helps" Junior by crashing into another potential Chaser?
Although Kasey Kahne could race into the Chase, what if a wreck captures both Johnson and Kenseth - thereby getting Kahne in the chase with the 400 point mark? Will Nascar look carefully at the crash to determine if it was accidental or deliberate?
Nascar has told the drivers that it will be watching on-track contact carefully in the race before the Chase. But will they really do anything if someone's actions are questionable?
Saturday night could be a shoot-out. Or we may all be waiting for the other shoe to drop on Tuesday.
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