Sports

WORDS BY DeMARCO WILLIAMS

Know your NASCAR

You’re at the water cooler. A couple of guys are talking smack about who the biggest celebrity on the circuit is, Dale Earnhardt Jr or Jeff Gordon. Things get heated when they start making predictions about who’ll get to the winner’s circle at the season-opening Daytona 500 on February 19. You’re no expert on exhaust, but hey, you at least know it’s odd that NASCAR’s biggest event begins the year, unlike nearly every other sport that ends with it. So, you blurt, “You dudes are both off. Rusty Wallace’s gonna get the checkered flag this year!” They stare, laugh, then they simultaneously break for their cubicles. Why? Wallace retired at the end of the 2005 season. Ouch. To avoid front-end collisions like that from happening again, read our cheat sheet to the 2006 Nextel Cup campaign carefully. Gentlemen, start your cramming…

Know your basics
The first 26 races determine which drivers will floor it for the Nextel Cup championship. The top 10 drivers in points, as well as anybody else within 400 points of the leader, qualify. Before the 27th race in New Hampshire, the points are adjusted for all Chase for the Cup drivers. First place gets 5,050; second starts with 5,045; third 5,040, etc. Designed to keep the sport’s 75 million fans’ attention during football season, the Chase has been spectacular in its two-year history.

Know your (recent) history
Tony Stewart in car 20, the 2005 Nextel Cup champ, will be the first to tell you that the NASCAR schedule—Chicago to California to Charlotte—is not for the feeble-footed. While Stewart was seemingly coasting along to a title after winning five of seven races over the summer, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards got hot on No. 20’s tail in September. Tell your water-cooler buddies that Stewart has the continuity in the pit and the courage in the pit of his stomach to be the first back-to-back champ since Gordon in ‘97-’98.

Talk up the future
Say something about Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards being the future of racing and your audience will offer a collective “Well, duh!” Next time the conversation comes up, sprinkle in names like Reed Sorenson and Martin Truex Jr. The 25-year-old Truex, one of the Busch Series’ premier drivers, is joining NASCAR full-time this season. A couple of top 10 finishes should prove the move worthwhile.

Share a feel-good story
You may want to share Todd Kluever’s background story— snowmobile racing!—but wait until he joins the Roush Racing team in ‘07. This year, it’s all about Kluever’s predecessor, Mark Martin. Arguably one of the most admired drivers in history, Martin, 47, thought he might retire last season. When the team couldn’t find a quality replacement, No. 6 was asked to pull his helmet out for one more circuit run.

Get silly
Like baseball’s off-season, NASCAR has its own rotisserie league called Silly Season. When the discussion about this all-important stretch between the first driver’s firing and the last racer’s hiring revs, make sure to point out how Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Inc’s failed partnership, and Clint Bowyer’s new one with Richard Corliss Racing, are going to have interesting impacts on the standings. You’ll look like a genius.