September 1, 2007
By Andrew Brookman

Andrew Brookman

With most of the field looking pretty well locked into the Chase, it’s the guy currently in twelfth place, just before California, that my eyes are on. In a year where big money turned “silly season” into something not so silly at all and Nextel Cup feels like a stranger, there almost seems to be a feeling in the air that everything will be predictable from here on out. A lot of talk seems to point in the direction of Jeff Gordon as the favorite of course, but talk isn’t good enough for me, and I’m not a Jeff Gordon Fan.

Ok, well maybe that was dramatic and maybe I’m givin’ Jeff Gordon a hard time but it’s true. I mean, I do like Jeff since he became a Father, that’s good for something right? I’m just not ready to put all my stock in Gordon being the sure fire runaway this year when there’s so much that needs to be worked on before NASCAR’s premier series becomes entirely and literally different.

There’s changes happening all around in NASCAR every day and every week something else about the races themselves are different. So how can anyone be sure of who will win anything this year? I’ll tell ya what; it’s time for an underdog!

I think when we heard of the Car of Tomorrow, we thought the series was just going to continue on being good ol’ NASCAR, growing at a comfortable rate with new cars and maybe some team changes and whatnot. But the truth is, this is a time when nothing is predictable and the new car was only the beginning.

As Gordon and his Hendrick teammates began this season with a run-a-way win streak that gave them the lead they have, the series itself flat out began a run-a-way change streak. It’s almost so simple it’s complex, Nextel Cup isn’t just changing its name, it’s become a different type of thing all together. So while I can appreciate what Gordon did in the beginning of this season, the stakes have become entirely different.

It’s as hard to submit to all these changes as it is to believe Gordon will win this season’s Nextel Cup Championship.

Where’s this thought process coming from?

It’s quite simple actually; die hard fans. Of course most fans know Gordon is a favorite this year because all his fans are jumping around with a new gleam and glimmer like it’s the year of the rabbit and it’s in their destiny -- and the stars are aligned. But I’m here to tell you one thing that’s certain, most die hard fans aren’t accepting this anymore than they are the night race at Bristol. It’s time for a first time winner, it’s time somebody steps up and wins this season’s Cup before the integrity of NASCAR holds most of it’s weight only with those in it’s leading demographic. A demographic made up of mostly of those that don’t even remember Rockingham, let alone know it existed. A demographic made up of those that don’t know the importance of Hickory Speedway or North Wilkesboro.

So chalk this up as a rant on behalf of more than just the one guy writing it, and it’s time something unpredictable happened. Like a true NASCAR fan I will not give in, wrap it up and call it a season until the smoke’s cleared and the rubber on the track is hard. Gordon may indeed win, but only after one hell of a battle with forty-two other drivers on the same track, and eleven of them each dreaming of the same trophy every night from here on out.

Ok, I think that’s pretty much gotten out as much as it can given the situation. I’m not gonna give up this last Nextel Cup as easy as I did Winston Cup, and before I open my arms to welcome in the new series in ’08, I say let’s finish this one out before anybody gets too excited about callin’ anybody this season's champion.

It’s almost here!

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.