CBSSports.com's Brian De Los Santos and Pete Pistone provide analysis on three weekly racing topics.
We welcome your question submissions. If you have a question or hot racing topic you'd like to see discussed, post it here .
| Pete Pistone | Brian De Los Santos |
| 1. From Wheaties: Is Jimmie Johnson's dominance good for NASCAR? We all know how badly NASCAR wants to have parity, but would also love to have a historical feat accomplished. If NASCAR wants to gain more viewers and fans, would J.J. not winning a fourth straight title help or hurt? | |
| There were a number of compelling stories in the Chase field when things kicked off five weeks ago and Johnson winning a record fourth straight championship was certainly one of them. However as historic as Johnson's feat will be if he indeed does pull it off, it probably wasn't the one that will generate as much interest as say Mark Martin winning his first title at age 50 or Juan Pablo Montoya adding a Sprint Cup title to a resume that includes an Indy 500 win and Formula One victories. That's not to say what Johnson and the 48 team have a chance to do isn't remarkable or worthy of being in the spotlight. But domination in any sport isn't usually a good thing, unless your name is Tiger Woods, and I'm afraid there will be a definite tune-out factor over the next several weeks as Johnson moves closer to title number four. | While winning a fourth consecutive title would be a great personal accomplishment for Johnson and a feat of historical significance for NASCAR, it's probably about the worst thing that could happen to the sport in light of the backlash generated by the Chase and the new car. Critics of the Chase will point out that Johnson would have only one title under the traditional, season-long cumulative points system and would still be trailing Tony Stewart in this year's standings. If the racing were better in the new car and Johnson were battling door to door with his challengers for victories it would be one thing. But when he wins, it's usually in a rout. Not having a dog in the fight so to speak, I'm personally in awe of the performance the 48 team has managed during the Chase year after year. But I think I'm in the minority. I imagine most fans (those of the non-Johnson variety that is) are about fed up. |
| COMMUNITY GUEST 'SpikesGator51': No, it is not good for NASCAR, especially when the rules of the new car are supposed to keep someone from dominating. Jimmie Johnson is winning everything and it's not the first time this has happened: Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon all have been booed without mercy by the fans that just wanted to see someone else or their favorite driver in Victory Lane. NASCAR can benefit from J.J.'s fourth straight title, but they would benefit more from a 50-year-old veteran like Mark Martin winning the title after more than 30 years of trying, or having driver/owner Tony Stewart win the Cup for the first time since Alan Kulwicki in 1992. | |
| 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he is at the end of his rope trying to get things turned around. Should Rick Hendrick retain Lance McGrew as Earnhardt's crew chief in 2010 or is another change in order? | |
| Starting over -- again -- in my mind is the absolute wrong thing for Hendrick to do but I think he has no other choice after Junior's comments last week in Charlotte. In airing his frustration over the continued failings of the 88 team, Earnhardt didn't quite endorse having crew chief McGrew back to call the shots in 2010 and it seems the whole team is now in complete disarray. Rather than using the final five races of the season to work on chemistry and prepare for 2010, Hendrick will most likely be searching for the right personnel to plug into a situation that has gone from bad to worse in the second year of Earnhardt's tenure with the powerhouse team. In my mind, Earnhardt needs a crew chief that will tell him what to do and how to make the car better and not the other way around. Unfortunately I'm not sure if that person exists right now. | Unless Hendrick is willing to really shake up his ranks by pairing Earnhardt with Chad Knaus or Steve Letarte, I think he should leave McGrew as crew chief. Give Earnhardt and McGrew a chance to work together over the offseason and see what transpires at the start of the 2010 season. Though the end result after the crew chief change from Tony Eury Jr. has continued to be mediocre, there have been little sparks here and there to make me think that with just a little luck McGrew and Earnhardt can succeed together. If they don't, it's getting to the point where you have to wonder if there is anything at all that can be done to turn around Earnhardt's fortunes. Clearly the new car is giving him fits and the lack of testing isn't helping his cause. |
| COMMUNITY GUEST 'SpikesGator51': Dale Jr. is burned out and if he was an employee in the real world of business, with all the success of his co-workers, he would have been called to the office and given his walking papers for lack of productivity a long time ago. Now, that's on the track, not at the souvenir trailers or sponsorship dollars. It's almost like he can't quit, but it seems he wants to. I say let him hire the crew chief, Mr. H can keep the money rolling in from hats and jackets, and leave the driving and winning to Jimmie, Jeff and Mark. | |
| 3. Should more than five individuals have been included in the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame? | |
| It's easy to criticize the process now that the Hall's first class has been nominated but in retrospect I think the inaugural group should have been larger and rather than five, perhaps 10 in the first year was the way to go. Picking only five individuals from a sport's history that is more than 60-years-old was nearly an impossible task and limiting the available nomination spots nearly guaranteed pioneers and founders of the sport would be passed over -- a problem that will be compounded as new names are eligible for future classes. The France family should have been in without taking up votes -- the family is responsible for NASCAR for crying out loud -- and with those two additional spots plus five more, the first HOF class would have had a better chance of including more of the deserving individuals who have meant so much to the sport. | Though the five who were chosen were the five I thought should have made the first class, I think it would have been wise to expand the first class to at least 10. It seems to me that for the first few years, the Hall is going to be rather bereft. With an expanded class, it would have been easier to include some of the early pioneers of the sport such as Red Byron (first points champion) and Lee Petty (first Daytona 500 winner), who definitely deserve to be recognized. Eventually, say when the Hall is about 30-40 deep, I'd like to see the voting follow the baseball model, with individuals needing to be named to 75 percent of ballots cast to be elected to the Hall. It needs to be a place for the truly special. |
| COMMUNITY GUEST 'SpikesGator51': Yes. I understand the Frances should be in the first class because they built the house. But so did Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Bobby Allison. Wouldn't it have been cool to see Richard Petty and David Pearson side by side going into the Hall together? After all, they finished first and second 63 times, and had one of the most exciting finishes in NASCAR history in the 1976 Daytona 500. NASCAR missed a golden opportunity here, that picture would have been priceless. | |
| Previous Feud of the Weeks: Sept. 1 | Sept. 8 | Sept. 15 | Sept. 22 | Sept. 29 | Oct. 6 | Oct. 13 | |
