Fan's Eye View ~ Fight Like Gentlemen
11/12/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
As yet another season heads toward its sunset, we find ourselves on the verge of the crowning of another Champion for the Sprint Cup Series, the 2013 Champion. The 65th Champion in NASCAR’s numerously named top division will be Jimmie Johnson, who is the current leader, Matt Kenseth who is 28 points behind, or Kevin Harvick, the long shot, who sits 34 points behind.
The clinching scenarios are out. Regardless of any other driver’s finish, Johnson will clinch his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with a finish of 23rd or better; or 24th or better and at least one lap led; or 25th or better and the most laps led in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead. Kenseth and Harvick have it easy. Throw the numbers out with the garbage for now. They just have to go out and win, and hope that Johnson, and in Harvick’s case, Kenseth, too, have a really rough go of it.
After the checkered flag falls at Homestead, one will fly and two will cry, as one inches closer to legendary status, or one wins a Championship ten years after his first, with a new team, or one completes the promise of a legacy created and wins a Championship as he leaves for another team.
The driver who stands the tallest after the final laps of the season have been completed, will be in rare company. Thousands of drivers have competed in NASCAR’s top division, and only a select few have been good enough to be called “Champion” when the season is over.
If you look back in history of the sport, you’ll see a lot of battles for a lot of Championships. Some of them have been fought differently than others. Perhaps even much differently. If you want to read how some of these championships were determined, suggested readings would be the stories in Matt McLaughlin’s series, “50 Years Of NASCAR Racing,” which can be found on these very pages. You’ll find evidence of some “Dirty Dancing” and perhaps some unscrupulous moves. This year, however, the fight has been, for the most part, by gentlemanly means.
Lost in the close competition of this season, mostly between Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, were the verbal barbs and head games, the physical and the psychological conflicts which have been used multiple times in the past to try to get an advantage over an opponent. It just isn’t there. The biggest jab thrown by any competitor of the three in contention was by Kevin Harvick, and that was directed toward his own team! Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth will often be seen in the garage, on the various stages, in the media center, and wherever their paths may cross, joking and smiling with each other. They have both been here before, and both know what takes to secure the big trophy and take it home. Kenseth accomplished the feat I 2003, and did so in such a manner that the sanctioning body decided to change the way a Champion was determined. Jimmie Johnson, partially due to that new format, found himself on the receiving end of five Championships, consecutive from 2006 – 2010. Not surprisingly, these are two of the guys who would be names should you ask the drivers in the garage who they most want to race against. Both drivers are well-respected, and that is because of their style. Never say never, but the probability of finding a driver coming out of the infield care center or garage after a wreck, and looking for either Jimmie Johnson or Matt Kenseth versus any other driver is probably quite low. Everyone has dumped someone at some point in time. It is a by-product of our sport. Sometimes they run into each other. However, it is how, and how often you get run into by the same driver which determines your desire to race against them.
Now, as quiet and as civil as this battle has been, do not, for even one second, think that it has not been fierce. Consider the points differential after each race of the Chase this season. After the reset, it was Kenseth by six points. Then it was Kenseth by eleven, then Kenseth by eighteen, and then, after Dover, it was Kenseth by eight. After Kansas it was Kenseth by three, then Kenseth by four, then after Talladega, it was Johnson by four. Martinsville, of all places, helped Kenseth close the lead on Johnson to a tie, but then after Texas, Johnson was up by seven, and then after Phoenix it was Johnson by twenty-eight.
These drivers are close on the track, off the track, and in point Championship standings. When all is said and done after the final laps at Homestead, we will have a Champion. After thirty-six races, one driver will have more points than all others, and earn the right to be called the 2013 Sprint Cup Champion, and, at least up to this point, has done so, as a gentleman.
Best of luck to all involved, and to the winner: Congratulations. You’ve earned it.
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