Is there more to the crash last weekend than Junior lets on?

Have you ever been involved in a merger or buyout? Generally they are pretty awful things, and rarely if ever do they go smoothly. To add insult to injury, have you ever been asked to train people from the assuming company? Suddenly you’ve been charged with giving all of your information and your knowledge to this person who really hasn’t done anything to you but will soon be sitting in your seat, doing your job and making your money.

It isn’t an easy pill to swallow. I work at an insurance company that made and then lost its money on buying up other companies like business was going out of style. My former co-worker recounted the experience of being shipped to Colorado (from Indiana) for two months to learn all the procedures and processes being performed in the Colorado facility. Many of the people in Colorado weren’t transferring to Indiana, and they were apparently openly hostile and unhelpful when told to train people from the assuming company.

You are probably wondering what this has to do with NASCAR. Don’t worry, it connects. But I’m not referring to the obvious mergers, buyouts and partnerships that have of late dotted the NASCAR business skyline. I’m actually talking about the unfortunate collision between Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch.

In effect, Junior is the assuming company, but in this case, he doesn’t need any training. Kyle Busch is obviously on his way out, and Busch was inadvertently given an extra kick in the pants when the two cars crashed in Kansas on Sunday.

I did not see the accident live, nor did I see Kyle Busch’s post-wreck interview. I saw the accident on replay, heard a paraphrasing of Busch’s interview but did hear Junior apologize twice, both on my car radio and on television.

Busch has the right to be mad that a chance for a good finish was ruined when the No. 8 made contact with the No. 5. And even though I am one of Busch’s champions, I don’t agree with the way he handled himself and spoke against Junior. Both drivers could have given a little more. In all reality, it seems that this incident really was “one of them racin’ deals.”

Busch said that Junior should be careful, because Junior wrecked the car he would be going to next year and that Junior was on his way to ruining the No. 5’s chance for a championship.

Should Junior have been more careful? Probably. Should Busch have given a little? Probably. But even Kyle Busch in his foulest of moods should know that Junior wasn’t intending to wreck him. As far as I know, there hasn’t really been any bad blood between the two drivers. Junior is trying to go all out and get a win for his beloved team. He’s not in the business of wrecking because it undermines his own chances for a victory.

Of course, Busch was the unluckiest of the pair. He has the most to lose and has to pay the highest price when a racing incident like this happens. It strengthens my argument (and really, it mirrors Tony Stewart’s opinion from last year) that the Chasers should have their own points format so that a crash with a non-Chaser doesn’t automatically ruin someone’s chance to win a championship.

I think Tony mentioned something as simplistic as seeding the drivers with ten (now it would be from twelve) to one points. The highest placing chaser gets twelve points, the second gets eleven, and so on. The points spread is so small that it isn’t insurmountable. Separate these men from the others so that both sides can feel comfortable really racing one another. The Chase has been good for a few things, but for promoting outright racing it has been, pardon the pun, the pits.

NASCAR is painfully aware of past championships where the eventual winner has been the winner for a few races. One flip of the ignition and the driver has been considered to “start” and that was all that was needed to clinch a championship. That’s hardly sporting. A smaller margin and a personalized points system would go a long way to eliminating the caution we generally see take place. The non-Chasers are trying to win races and simultaneously go for broke, and those Chasers are nursing conservative setups and trying to avoid those cars which are going for broke.

No one is ever going to be completely happy with whatever championship format NASCAR chooses. Someone will be thrilled and someone else will be crushed. Even now, with the current configuration (the Chase) in place since 2004, some sports sites give the “classic” points and will use those “classic” points during the entire off-season to support their point that so-and-so would have really won or to prove that someone shouldn’t have placed as high as he did.

With the off-season approaching and Silly Season still going in full swing, expect to see armchair crew-chiefing increase exponentially. Everyone becomes an expert. Even…me!

This week we come to the infamous Talladega, where restrictor plates bunch up the field and make cars run inches from one another at speeds nearing 200 mph. Rubbin’ is wreckin’ at Dega! If you’re making the trip to Bama to tailgate in the infield, have fun, have a drink for me, but be responsible and take care.

Questions and comments may be sent to samanthamaynard@sportsgrumblings.com