At the end of the day, it is what it is.

Yes, I know, I did a Legendtorial on this same subject awhile back. But after this weekend at Talladega I just had to throw this one out there.

I wonder how Brian Z. was feeling after Talladega Sunday? First up, the knock out qualifying turned out to be the biggest Goat Rodeo of all time and he didn't even ask permission of the Tuesday night crew to herd the goats. I'm sure fans really loved watching cars parked on pit road and then dashing onto the track for a 2 minute draft fest. Dumb, Brian, really dumb!

Then the race. Out goes the most popular driver. No longer in the hunt for a championship. Of course, during the week leading up to 'Dega, there was so much talk of NASCAR giving Junior a "special plate" that it is probably a good thing he didn't win. Also out is the man trying for the seventh title. Not that this disturbs me, but he is also now one left on the outside looking into his Sprint I-phone to get a look at the trophy. And what about the old "Candy Man"? The hope and pride of Joe Gibbs racing had his bad of M&Ms burst open and spill all over the track. He is out.

We have winless Ryan and winless Matt contenting for the Championship as a part of the "Contender Round". How is that working for you Brian?

There will be more on this subject tonight on The Legendtorial part of "Racing Through History". I hope Brian has a severe migraine because he had better become accustomed to that pain if this "Final Four" falls apart as I expect it to.

Of course, this, as was The Legendtorial, written before NASCAR comes up with whatever penalty they decide to issue to Ryan Newman, if any, for infractions at Talladega.

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What a change! It's been awhile since I've checked in and I'm quite surprised. It may take me awhile to figure it our but first look it's really great.


updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM

It was a surprise to see Kyle Busch eliminated after being 2nd going into Talladega. But Busch didn't have a great season and was only 12th in points without the chase. So no big loss. It also wasn't Jimmie or Kahne's year. Even if Jimmie had won this race, he was having a hit-or-miss season, three wins but a lot of bad finishes. I don't think there are many fans eager for Jimmie's 7th anyway. A late career championship, like Gordon is going for, would go over much better.Junior was having a very good year. He would be 4th in points without the chase. I don't think he would win it, but even many who weren't "Junior Nation" were pulling for him. And you can bet that NASCAR wanted him in the mixc at Homestead. With his age and a new crew chief next year, I think this was his last chance.I thought Ryan Newman was robbed by that late race debris caution and I'm glad he didn't get eliminated in the crashes afterward. I think he had the race won and NASCAR wanted to add drama by giving Jimmie & Keselowski another chance. Seeing the outcome, I agree with what they did. Keselowski and Penske are having a terrific year, especially late in the season. Brad definitely deserved to be in the final eight. I believe he belongs in the final four but I wouldn't give him another mulligan to get there.There are five drivers in the final eight that I would be happy to see win the championship. I hope Je3ff Gordon gets it and retires after next year. In my opinion, he's done as much for the sport as Richard Petty, although I've never been a fan.I like the year-long championship race but this new format has done exactly what Brian France wanted it to do - bring more attention to the sport. I'm sure he his very happy with the results so far, even if Junior is out. I'll even admit to being more interested than before in the chase. For me, where it all falls down is the final four. Still too much room for nonsense there.It's my belief that Martinsville and Talladega should switch places. There's too much risk involved with Talladega to make it an elimination round. You can recover from a crash at Martinsville.

Andy - you saved me a good bit of typing. I can pretty well agree with all you said except for a couple of things.

• I have no sentimentality towards Gordon and the 24. Of the 8 remaining, he is the LAST one I hope would win the Cup at Homestead.
• I'm not sure how much MORE attention this format has brought. Ratings continue to be down, and I don't think that many more casual/fringe followers have climbed aboard suddenly. I personally have paid more attention week to week about who may be in/out, and I'm glad the frequent mentions of points "as they run now" has died down a good bit.
• Help me understand what flipping Marty and Dega would do. Either way, Dega is going to be an elimination race, right? As long as it's part of the final 10, the pressure will be there to win and advance - or at least to avoid problems. If it switches places with Marty, all you've done is shift the pressure on the final 8 looking to become part of the final 4. It's just that the race would be the 1st of a 3-race segment vs. the 3rd of a 3-race segment. I think.

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

Forget the Chase a moment.

In the Talladega race's closing stage (before the predictable late cautions) I found myself in the unlikely for me position of pulling for Danica Patrick as she bullied her way to the front straight up the middle, cars to the left of her and cars to the right of her. It was an impressive drive.

I was thinking of several things as Danica got to 2nd place late in the event.

1) If she wins, the Chase will be totally overshadowed and Brian will get no mentions of various Nations in print or electronically.

2) If she wins who is gonna throw a microphone in Ricky Stenhouse's face and ask how it felt to miss the race and watch his girlfriend win?

The other thing I was thinking throughout the race was how it stunk to watch teams intentionally race for last place at the back of the pack hoping to make it to the next round. Can you picture Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner, Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, Charlie Glotzbach, the Flock brothers and hundreds of other former drivers fighting to go to the rear? I think not. What a sad thing it is to buy a ticket to watch drivers intentionally go to the rear. Just awful. What has the Cup series become?

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

Some writers asked NASCAR if Logano's late-race blocking action on the 48 to help his teammate was against the "100% effort" rule. Joey clearly wasn't trying to win the race - just prevent Jimmie Johnson and others from doing so. NASCAR said "no violation".

Yet I didn't read anywhere about the press asking the same question about Kyle Busch. He was obviously trying to just ride the day out in hopes of coasting into the next round. As it turns out, that strategy didn't work out because of his wreck. But was the 18 giving it all up until then? Hardly.

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

Dave - I was shaking my head at the thoughts of a Danica win. Many would LOVE it. I would have given her props if she'd pulled it off (knowing she wouldn't). But I also shuddered at the thought of her crying in victory lane as she exclaimed "I just wanted to win this one so bad for Ricky" - only to have ESPN cameras catch slinking him away in embarrassment.

Spotted on Twitter Sunday. I'm still laughing.

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

That's hilarious!

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

Danica did a good job there at the end but it's good for her brand that she didn't win. Then she would have a restrictor plate win to go with her Indycar fuel mileage win. Both written off as lucky wins instead of earned ones. She was impressive holding off JJ but she'll need to win on a 1.5 mile track to convince me she's got the right stuff.Chase - Talladega is a crapshoot and finishing well is dependent on luck in avoiding wrecks rather than driving to the front. You could run upfront all day and finish 12th just because you got in the wrong line with three to go. There's nearly always a GWC, so it's really a 5 lap race instead of 500. Using Martinsville as the elimination race would put things more in the hands of the drivers. If you did wreck, there's a better chance you could fix it and get back in the races instead of falling from 2nd to 9th in points like Busch. If you had a horrible run at Talladega, ther would be two opportunities to make up for it.Besides, Martinsville is further North and the weather could could benefit from running even one week earlier in the Fall.I hate restrictor plate races and usually watch only the Daytona 500. I would have skipped last week's race if it wasn't an elimination round. So NASCAR's plan brought at least one more viewer.

Fair re: 2 more chances to recover in a 3-race round. Though still an uphill battle whether you finish 35th on the hook at Talladega - or 35th at Kansas with a blown right front & into the wall.

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

Dave, I feel it's no different than how calculating drivers like Pearson would race. He admitted laying back and doing just enough to stay near the front until the end when he would go for it. While guys like Cale wanted to lead every lap from start to finish.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised by how hard guys with everything to lose, like Jr and Jimmie were racing from the drop of the green.

Oh, I watched the Silver Fox lay back in big speedway races.... but never at the tail end of the field behind everybody. I also watched him blister the pants off folks on the short dirt tracks where he was a master.

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

Tim, I agree, at the end of the day, it is, what it is. NASCAR/Brian Z et.al. are representative of our culture at large:nothing makes any sense, and what if it did? Ratings continually decline, fans and sponsors and ESPN (declining to even submit a bid for the new contract) all leave, yet, it doesn't seem to matter. And, finally, a non-winner could "win" the chase. Looks just like the rest of the world to me.