Three-wide racing on occasion (and nearly four-wide once). Intense restarts. And critical pit calls on if to take two tires or four tires.

 

A lot went into Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway that finished with Tony Stewart (two tires) beating Jeff Gordon (four tires) for the victory. Six drivers are within 100 points of series points leader Mark Martin, making this the most competitive Chase after three races.

 

With all that going on, it begs the question to those who have complained so long about the points system and the need for giving race winners more points _ Why?

 

It would seem to be hard to top what happened Sunday. Now, that doesn’t mean there might not be ways to improve the points and the racing but giving more points for a winner _ at least in the Chase doesn’t seem to be a factor.

 

True, NASCAR could do something for the points leader after 26 races – why not make that person tied for first in the standings with the driver with the most bonus points if they are different people? _ thus there would be value in being the leader after 26 races.

 

 

So, go back to Sunday’s race. A decision to go with four tires instead of two tires midway through the race played a key role in Jimmie Johnson not winning when he seemed to have the strongest car. Pit strategy proved key late when crew chiefs and drivers, in some cases, debated if to go with two or four tires. The decision might have cost a couple of drivers a chance to win. Nine Chase drivers finished in the top 10.

 

With Johnson cruising, crew chief Chad Knaus called for four tires shortly past the midway point in the 267-lap race. Eight cars went for two tires during pit stops under caution. Johnson, who had been leading, restarted ninth. He never could get to the front. That lost track position impacted him. Later, on the final pit stop, Johnson was among the three cars that took two tires with about 30 laps to go. His car couldn’t handle it and he fell back to ninth. The move to two tires was made to give him track position and make up for the call earlier in the race that didn’t prove to be the right one.

 

Point is a lot of key decisions were made to try to win the race and score the most points possible. What it has produced is a tight points race after three races.

 

 

Here’s a look at how close things have been after three races in previous Chases:

 

2009: Six drivers within 100 points of lead

2008: Three drivers within 100 points of lead

2007: Three drivers within 100 points of lead

2006: Five drivers within 100 points of lead

2005: Five drivers within 100 points of lead (a sixth was exactly 100 back)

2004: Four drivers within 100 points of lead

 

Here’s the points after Sunday’s race:

 

 

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            One issue that could create some concern in the garage is NASCAR reminding Brad Keselowski who he was racing when he was battling Juan Pablo Montoya, a Chase driver, for position during Sunday’s race. They made contact at one point but kept going.

 

            For more on this, check out this story.

 

            At issue is will NASCAR ever remind Chase drivers they’re racing non-Chase drivers in similar situations in the future? If not, then it’s easy to question NASCAR’s decision to remind Keselowski. One would guess part of the reason for the call is because Keselowski is not a fulltime Cup driver. Still, if there’s a concern of non-Chase drivers racing Chase drivers then just make it a Chase field and be done with the non-Chase drivers.

 

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Tony Stewart’s crew chief, Darian Grubb, on calling for two tires on the last pit stop, which put Stewart into the lead for good:

 

“It was pretty tough. We had to make a decision there being two or four tires towards the end, but we had a lot of laps on the tires. Two stops before that we had done two, and it actually worked pretty well for us. We gained a lot of track position and Tony was able to hang on a little better than some of the other cars that took two. We knew we had a shot at it, and we knew that track position was going to be key, so we had to do that to be able to get out there and race those guys that were so fast.’’

 

“We were hanging out with them all day, but we couldn't get in front of them to be able to outrun them, so we knew we had to do something there at the end to get that track position. 

 

 

            Mark Martin, who retains the points lead on his day:

 

“Well, we didn't quite have it nailed down. Our car was just a little bit off of some of the guys out there, and our race team fought really hard, and we fought for everything we got today. 

 

“It was a great effort, and it was actually a very good result based on, you know, missing it just a little bit. It's the first time we've missed it that much in a while, and you're going to have that. I'm just proud of this race team, and we just lacked a little bit being able to get up there and contend for the win. 

 

 

            Jeff Gordon on how his car was so bad at the start but crew chief Steve Letarte made it good as the race progressed.

 

            “I definitely give Steve a lot of credit for not panicking. He made adjustments, but they weren't just crazy adjustments. It does tell you how finicky this car is. We made some adjustments where the car came around a little bit, still wasn't great, and it never really was spectacular all day. Even there at the end, I was good in 1 and 2 but not in 3 and 4. We've got to go back and analyze what we did throughout the weekend, where we started the race, what adjustments we made. 

 

“I was so mad I didn't pay attention to adjustments to be honest with you. I just told them what it did and drove the heck out of it, and somehow we finished second.’’

 

 

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SHORT TAKES

 

 

# Juan Pablo Montoya’s 4^th-place finish Sunday makes him the only driver _ Chase or otherwise _ to score top-five finishes in each of the first three Chase races. He was third at New Hampshire, fourth at Dover and then 4^th at Kansas.

 

# David Reutimann placed 8^th and was the only non-Chase driver in the top 10. It was his 2^nd top 10 in the last six races.

 

# Although Greg Biffle led and was strong throughout the race, Roush Fenway Racing’s winless streak in Cup continued. The organization has not won a Cup race since Matt Kenseth won at California in late February.

 

# Tony Stewart’s win gave Chevrolet the manufacturer’s title, its 33^rd overall and seventh in a row.