Truex Jr. on standby for DEI

[Elwood]

Eyeing the sidelines

 

by Jonathan Baum, Yahoo! Sports

July 19, 2004

Dale Earnhardt Jr. apparently is more or less in the clear health-wise after being released from a Sacramento hospital on Monday, a day after suffering second-degree burns in a crash during a practice session at an American Le Mans Series event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. But the incident inevitably will bring concerns over drivers competing in non-NASCAR events – or even non-Nextel Cup events – during the Cup season.

 

And those concerns are valid. After all, Budweiser is shelling out millions of dollars to help Earnhardt and DEI win the Nextel Cup championship, not a sports car race in Northern California. Sponsors and teams clearly want their drivers to be healthy and able to race in Cup events.

 

While Earnhardt is expected to race at New Hampshire International Speedway on Sunday, No. 8 team crew chief Tony Eury Sr. told ESPN that Martin Truex Jr., driver of Earnhardt's Busch Series team, will stand by in case Junior is unable to go or needs to be replaced before the race ends.

 

And considering the extreme heat drivers feel inside their racecars during races and the effects of high temperatures on burns, Junior not holding up for the full 300 laps isn't out of the question.

 

Any other year, it would be a no-brainer that Earnhardt would start Sunday's race at the very least, assuming he's medically cleared, even if another driver qualified the car and ran it during Saturday's practice sessions. By taking the green flag on Sunday, Earnhardt would ensure himself of crucial championship points, even if another driver finished the race for him.

 

But this year, those championship points aren't quite as crucial. Instead of having to worry about erasing the 105-point gap that separates second-place Earnhardt from points leader Jimmie Johnson by the end of the season, the real concern for Junior is remaining in the top 10 over the next eight races in order to qualify for the season-ending championship chase.

 

Earnhardt leads 11th-place Jeremy Mayfield by 507 points. The most points a driver can earn in any one race is 190, meaning Earnhardt conceivably could sit out Sunday's 317-miler at Loudon and still sit very comfortably in the top 10.

 

A primary impetus of the title chase's inception was Matt Kenseth's runaway championship last season. NASCAR wanted to create excitement down the stretch and all but ensure a close points battle going down to the final weekend at Miami.

 

But a potentially unintended side effect of the new championship system is the flexibility top teams suddenly have should a driver have to miss a race.

 

In 2003, now-retired open wheel driver Gil de Ferran had a shot at winning the IndyCar title heading into the final race of the season despite having missed a race earlier in the year due to injury. De Ferran ultimately won the season finale but finished second in the title race to Scott Dixon by 18 points, illustrating the importance of making every start.

 

In the past, missing a Cup race wouldn't necessarily prevent a driver from competing for a championship, but gaining minimal points during an event could play a role.

 

A recent example is 2002, when Tony Stewart won the Cup title. Stewart did make every start, but he finished last in the season-opening Daytona 500, gaining just 34 points for his effort. Stewart ultimately beat Mark Martin by 38 points for the championship. Had Stewart missed Daytona rather than finishing last, that gap over Martin would have been just four points.

 

The new title chase allows for some wiggle room. While drivers competing for the final spots in the chase may end up taking more risks on track in an effort to secure a berth in the chase, the effect on the drivers leading in points is somewhat the opposite. As it stands now, there's little chance – barring a major injury or unbelievable streak of bad luck – of a driver in the top three-or-so spots in the standings falling out of the top 10 by the time the title chase kicks off Sept. 19, the day the Cup series makes its second visit to New Hampshire.

 

Even if one of those drivers sat out a race.

 

It's safe to say Junior, who once raced for weeks while suffering from post-concussion related symptoms, will make every effort to at least start Sunday's race at Loudon. But because of the chase format, deciding to sit one out wouldn't be the end of the world. It's a potential decision that is made easier by the fact that the championship isn't actually on the line each and every week.

 

At least not until the 10-race chase actually begins.