CUP: Title Battle Good For Business

Sprint Cup

CUP: Title Battle Good For Business

The top three championship contenders are separated by just 46 points...

Tom Jensen | Posted November 15, 2010 Avondale, AZ

Watch Live! Streaming NASCAR Championship Contenders Press Conference Thursday, 1:00 pm ET. (Image: SPEED)

With Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick within 46 points of each other heading into the final race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, only one thing is certain: The close competition is just what NASCAR needs after a couple of challenging years economically.

At least that was the take from several of the sport’s top movers and shakers this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, where Carl Edwards won the Kobalt Tools 500 and Hamlin left with a lead of 15 points over Johnson and 46 over Harvick.

“From a corporate point of view — of course, we want it to only go one way — from a fan point of view and from an industry point of view, I couldn’t be more excited about where we all are right now,” said Lee White, who in his position as president of Toyota Racing Development, U.S.A. directs Toyota’s racing operations in the United States.

“It’s exciting,” agreed team owner Rick Hendrick, who is hoping that Johnson delivers a fifth consecutive championship for Hendrick Motorsports. “There’s a lot of good teams out here, and it’s exciting for our sport. I think the racing’s the best I’ve ever seen in my 27 years in the sport. All the guys are aggressive and not giving each other an inch.”

The close, three-way fight going into the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway is the first time since the Chase for the Sprint Cup format was adopted in 2004 that the battle has been this wide open.

“You can’t manufacture that,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, the team for which points leader Hamlin competes. “It just happens. I think the Chase has really helped, but you still can’t force it. I love the fact that it’s happened — it won’t be every year — you’ve got three guys who are great drivers and characters in their own right running for it.”

Gibbs said he likes what his team has accomplished so far.

“For us, that’s kind of where you want to be, year in and year out,” Gibbs said. “And it’s not just the Chase, it’s all year long having to get there and build a foundation, all the parts and pieces.”

Jimmie Johnson (Left), Kevin Harvick (Center) and Denny Hamlin (Right) are locked in a tight race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Jack Roush, the winning car owner in Sunday’s race at PIR, said he’s a fan of the Chase format and is looking forward to 2011, when NASCAR is expected to go to knockout rounds in the Chase.

“I think that the Chase, let's call it (NASCAR Chairman and CEO) Brian France's Chase, has been really good for the sport,” said Roush. “We've been in the final hunt. We haven't won (another championship) since the Chase started, but we've been up there, fought for it on numerous occasions. I think this year will be remembered as a very good year.”

Kurt Busch won the first Chase championship while driving for Roush in 2004.

“It's a disappointment we're not there, but we'll try to be there next year,” said Roush. “I think that the changes that they've made on the Chase are good, and I know they're looking at some other things that might even heighten the excitement more.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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