Happy Hour: Channel surfing

How’s Brad Keselowski doing with Tony Eury Jr. on his pit box?

Just asking.

Let’s get to the mailbag.

After Jimmie Johnson’s win at Lowe’s, NASCAR can close their season. It will be a safe bet that viewer ratings will drop, more seats will be empty, and interest in the Chase finally will dwindle to only the hardcore few.

As fans, we have seen this before. Jimmie and Hendrick Motorsports are just plain boring. After the next two races at Martinsville and Talladega, it is cookie cutter tracks and no real drama. Time to switch to football season that is in full swing with both college and pro. Time to get excited about the BCS.

Dale K.
Burlington, Iowa

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Unless NASCAR goes for an elimination format in the Chase, it is all but over. The way this chase is going, Jimmie Johnson can just do a start and park at Phoenix and clinch the championship.

Jessy S.
Mandan, N.D.

Why are so many people jumping all over NASCAR and Jimmie Johnson? Why isn’t anyone calling out the competition?

Ricky Craven brought up this point the other day and I think it’s a good one.

Johnson is doing exactly what he’s supposed to be doing – win. If you follow the logic that he’s exploiting the Chase format, then what’s preventing anyone else from doing the same?

If there’s anyone to be frustrated with here – and I’m not saying there is – it’s the field, because no one outside of Carl Edwards last season is stepping up to challenge Johnson and the 48 team.

As Ricky Craven pointed out, part of Tiger Woods’ intrigue comes when someone challenges him. For the most part, Jimmie Johnson has remained unchallenged. That’s not his fault.

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Hi Jay, Love your work here at Yahoo (the columns, the live chats, the videos)! My observation (and this is something you mentioned in the video this week) is why only five hall of famers?

Okay, I understand you want to make it special, but for the first year (Where I imagine the hall will sell most of its tickets, since it has a novelty factor at first) everyone going to the hall will only see exhibits/whatever on five people? I mean it’s ridiculous to have a Hall of Fame without Cale, Pearson, etc.

You know in football when there’s an expansion team, they do what’s called an expansion draft where they’re allowed to draft players to fill up their roster, since they have no players. Why couldn’t NASCAR do that? That would allow them to keep their special class of five, but still let those who need to be in it from the get-go be in the Hall. At five a year, it could take five-to-six years to get no-brainer choices in the Hall. Am I that off base here?

Ben N.
Bloomington, Ind.

Limiting the number keeps people talking (which we are doing right here), which is sort of the point. The NFL is great at this. They roll out various “announcements” throughout the year to keep the league in the news. It’s all very strategic.

While I agree with you that there should have been more inductees in the first class, I think limiting the number for future classes not only increases the conversation, but preserves the respectability of future classes. You have to have good candidates for the Hall to remain relevant.

One more note – after thinking it over, I actually believe more people will now know who David Pearson is than if he had been a part of the inaugural class. Had he gotten in, his name would have been a footnote on a list that included of Petty, France and Earnhardt. But as soon as his name wasn’t called, the conversation became all about how Pearson, considered by some to be NASCAR’s greatest driver ever, could be left out.

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Jay, Love your columns and the opportunity you give us through the mailbag. I know I can’t really request for you to censor what you publish, but boy, do I wish you hadn’t posted Juan Felipe Restrepo’s message on Oct. 13.

I follow NASCAR because of JP, as I followed F1 while he was there. I want him to succeed because I believe he’s talented, plus I enjoy his “I’m better than everyone attitude” which sometimes gives him a bad rep.

That being said, I don’t follow NASCAR because I want to see advertising for Hispanics. I was just submitted to that on Monday Night Football and found it to be annoying to say the least. Sports should be about sports period. Let the most talented people compete wherever they come from and end it at that.

Redneck references, I wish that was the worst thing people could say about Colombians.

For the record, my parents are Colombian and I’m proud of my heritage.

Christian
Michigan

I got a number of emails upset with my decision to publish Mr. Restrepo’s letter, and believe me I gave it careful consideration before including it. I did because I think it’s important to include all viewpoints, even if I don’t agree with them.

The one thing I’ve learned in covering NASCAR is that the reputation of its fans doesn’t mesh with reality. Sure there are some knuckleheads out there, but not any more than you’d encounter at a football or baseball game. Without even asking, NASCAR fans will give you the beer from their cooler, the brats from their grill and a seat on top of their RV.

And by an overwhelming margin in a Yahoo! Sports poll (85 percent), they’re in favor of a foreigner winning the Sprint Cup title.

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Brian Pattie has really changed the landscape of the chase. There are two critical components in driving: car control and driver control (motivation, when to go or when to ride, whom to hit or not and when, etc.). Montoya was capable of car control but not self (driver) control. Pattie has added that crucial element.

Johnson and Knaus have it (we really do not yet know how much driver control comes from Jimmie and how much comes from Chad). Gordon had it with Evernham, but hasn’t had it since. Dale Jr. doesn’t have it.

There are few drivers that are capable of driver (self) control without the influence of a strong crew chief/team manager. Michael Schumacher is one of the few I can think of that had it.

Dave
Lubbock, Texas

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If the COT was to even the teams, then why is Hendrick Motorsports so dominant after less than 3 years after the COT debut?

Ashley Palmer
California

Great question, Ashley. One of the ways the COT was to bring costs down was to decrease the number of chassis teams “needed” to complete a 36-race schedule on a host of different track types. While that mission may have been accomplished, teams have just taken to searching for other ways to find speed. Now, instead of spending time and money building a special car for one race (which does still go on), teams are devoting resources towards, say, developing a better shock package that will shave off a tenth of a second.

NASCAR can keep making the box in which teams can explore smaller and smaller, but that won’t stop teams from searching for even the slightest advantage, and right now there’s no team better at finding that advantage than Hendrick Motorsports.

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I believe that Southern California NASCAR fans have been put in a tough spot. They are given a boring track and told that if they don’t fill the stands a race may be taken away from them.

Okay fine, but how do you get the message across that the product (aka the race) is boring?

If we don’t show up, they take away the race. If we show up, NASCAR thinks everything is fine with the track and continues to have boring races. What’s the solution to this problem?

Aaron
Brea, Calif.

Textbook Catch-22, isn’t it?

From being your sounding board here, I think what some fans want to hear from NASCAR is that they’re listening; that your gripes about “boring” racing aren’t being ignored.

Problem is, we keep hearing the NASCAR brass talking about how theirs is the tightest racing circuit on the planet. While this may be true, it’s little comfort for those who are sick of investing their time and money on tracks that, like Southern California’s Auto Club Speedway, continuously put on boring shows.

Just because you say something doesn’t make it true, but it seems in some cases this is the approach NASCAR has taken and they expect you to buy it.

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Jay, I told you one day you will have to rate Jimmie up there with Petty and Sr. Now I take that back because you may have to rate him ABOVE them.

Johnny Finley
Laurens, S.C.