auto racing

NASCAR's Chase for the Cup was designed to give the sport a playoff feel.

So what did Talladega's "playoff" last Sunday feel like?

If Jimmie Johnson has a good run at Talladega -- far from a given considering his spotty luck there -- you can basically go ahead and crown him.

The inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame has been named, and there are more than a few folks surprised and upset that David Pearson is not among the original five.

I thought when the class was announced it would include Pearson, Big Bill France, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip. It was a just a hunch, (and I have no vote).

You hear the term "working the system" and it makes you think of something sinister and seedy.

Sometimes, though, there's absolutely nothing wrong with working the system -- especially if you're Jimmie Johnson and you're in NASCAR's Chase for the Cup.

It's a brand new season in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition, and the grand old man of the series, Mark Martin, enters the Chase for the Championship at the top of the heap.

For the sixth consecutive year, Richmond International Raceway will be the venue where the Chase for the Championship field is finally determined. And if you're a fan of NASCAR's playoff system, you gotta love the drama.

After 25 races this we know -- Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin are in, regardless of what happens Saturday night.

As the Indy Racing League season winds down, officials with the sanctioning body are placing a lot more focus on Danica Patrick.

Not because she's closing in on a championship.

She's not.

But she is the champion of their cause, and their cause is to maintain some level of interest and popularity in the United States.

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series taking the weekend off, the Nationwide Series has a rare opportunity to get all the attention on Sunday when the NAPA Auto Parts 200 is held at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The road course, situated on a man-made island, has become a regular stop in the support series, and will have a strong contingent of Cup regulars.

As TV ratings wane and Mother Nature continues to rain on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series parade, maybe it's time to spice things up.

I know -- cross promotion. NASCAR could do a tie-in with "Cops," or the "Jerry Springer Show" or any one of those ridiculous programs where the dregs of society share their sordid lives in front of a live but brain-dead studio audience.

There are plenty of things about NASCAR that irritate me -- cookie-cutter tracks, night races that start on one day and end on another, the Car of Tomorrow -- somewhere along the line the sport lost its focus and it gets harder and harder to stay interested in it.

One thing that does fascinate me, however, is the phenomenon known as "start-and-park."