A close points race can't replace the personalities that make the Sprint Cup circus spin in a delightfully bizarre and enthralling way
The champion reclaimed the throne Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and it briefly seemed as if equilibrium was restored after this most erratic and eccentric of Sprint Cup seasons.
He cracked jokes with team owners about delivering beatdowns. He strutted like an overstuffed peacock (with a cane) and sported a familiar paunch paired with an alluring and charming smile. He proudly showed off scars on his right leg.
Wait, Jimmie Johnson?
Nope, not that champion.
Yes, Johnson rightfully ascended the throne with a sixth title whose worthiness was beyond reproach.
JOHNSON: Relishes moment, wows peers with title No. 6
But it was the presence of Tony Stewart at the championship celebration that reminded why much of 2013 lacked a certain panache and pizzazz.
'It gets pretty stale without me,' Stewart joked after the Ford EcoBoost 400 in an interview on SiriusXM Satellite Radio's NASCAR channel.
PHOTOS: Top shots from the Sprint Cup finale at Homestead
The absence of 'Smoke' was only partly why this year never seemed to catch fire.
The slow leak in NASCAR's storylines started when Denny Hamlin missed four races after a broken back in late March, and the air really hissed out of the balloon when Stewart was sidelined for the last 15 races with a broken leg in August.
KESELOWSKI: Title reign ends on quieter note
When Brad Keselowksi lost an opportunity to defend his championship by missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup a few weeks later, it completed a trifecta of absent stars that sucked the drama from a sport fueled as much by fiery emotions and unpredictable behavior as it is by 98 octane.
And it was magnified on NASCAR's greatest stage.
LOOK BACK: What NASCAR taught us in 2013
Until Matt Kenseth's team suffered an inexplicable collapse in the penultimate race at Phoenix International Raceway, this year's Chase was the first tied with two races remaining and among the tightest ever.
It also seemed among the least compelling.
As Johnson and Kenseth matched each other with methodical excellence, there was a lack of the gripping moments often supplied by Stewart, Keselowski and Hamlin, who were major factors in each of the 2010-12 championship battles that rank among NASCAR's best.
The lesson is that a close points race can't replace the personalities that make the Sprint Cup circus spin in a delightfully bizarre and enthralling way.
This isn't intended as a knock on Johnson and Kenseth, who are among the two classiest and professional champions in stock-car history. They have waged battles for victory (see: Texas Motor Speedway, 2007) that rank among the greatest of the past decade, and their adherence to sportsmanship and emphasis on family life make them among Cup's most qualified ambassadors and role models.
But they can't carry the show on their own.
The essence of their greatness is the antithesis of the uncontrollable episodes that make NASCAR fun.
HAMLIN: Finally finds victory lane after tough year
Denny Hamlin earned his lone victory of 2013 Sunday at the Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.(Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports)
Johnson and Kenseth are the most even-keeled drivers in Cup, and they skirt controversy at every turn with their calm and cool demeanors because they believe (correctly) that it often detracts from performance.
But from the moment Hamlin entered the Homestead media center with a wide-eyed and free-wheeling exuberance of a freshly minted winner, it stirred reminders of why Johnson and Kenseth are well served by competing against swashbuckling foils who are wired differently.
It's telling that the best trash talk of the '13 Chase - and crew chief Chad Knaus still denies it was an intentional insult when he backhandedly dismissed Keselowski as being less controlled and matured - revolved around something that happened in last year's 10-race championship run.
The most intriguing Chase involving Johnson happened last year, when the iconoclast Keselowski and his upstart team became the first to force the No. 48 into mistakes that cost it the title.
Follow Ryan on Twitter @nateryan PHOTOS: Final 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup points
The two Chases prior to that also brought indelible memories. In 2010, it was Hamlin's collapse after a career season in which he confidently predicted a rebound from midseason ACL surgery and backed it up. In 2011, it was Stewart's brash and breathtaking march to the championship while winning half the Chase.
It's easy to spot the common denominator.
NASCAR needs its pit disturbers.
Here's to all of them causing a ruckus again in 2014.
Post a Comment