Mike Helton announced today that Nascar was waiving the rule that requires a driver to attempt to qualify in all26 races before the chase begins and be in the top 30 in points.. Mr. Helton said if Tony wins one of the two remaining non chase races he would be in the chase.
An attempted PR move - and a fair one I suppose. In the end, however, I think it won't matter. Tony isn't likely to win either of the next two races.
Chase, since 1999 Tony's ave finish at these tracks is 11th. He does however have 6 wins and 26 top 5's at these tracks in his career so anything is possible . Its hard to think of anyone winning in these 2 race whose names doesn't start with a J. As in Jr, Jimmie, Jeff or Joey.. It may all depend on whether Young mr. Busch has cooled off enough....
Any other year, I wouldn't discount Smoke. But he really wasn't running well enough to win races before the sprint car tragedy a few weeks ago. Now with that incident still front and center, I really don't see how he and his team will be able to pull off a perfect day in one of these next tow races.
But you're likely right. A J-man will likely hold the trophy for the Oral-B 500. I wonder if it'll be an oversized toothbrush...
