Race for the cup still undecided

Shane Evans

Thousands of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing fans crowd the bleachers and root for their favorite drivers over the rumbles of the engines zooming past pit row. With the chase for the cup, still in progress with a few races to go, NASCAR drivers are running laps around the current standings. This week’s race will take place at Darlington Raceway for the Mountain Dew Southern 500, which to many NASCAR fans disappointment will be the last Southern 500 race. With NASCAR fans always looking towards tradition, many are disheartened and worried that Darlington will not continue to thrive and other traditions will begin to disappear.

This past week’s race at Phoenix International Raceway, fans cheered in excitement as Dale Earnhardt Jr. #8 car winning the Checker Auto Parts 500 racing 315 laps. Ryan Newman came in close second and Jeff Gordan came in third place, while Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne came in fourth and fifth place. The standings are coming to a closing end and the Nextel Cup Series is getting near to announcing the champion for this year.

NASCAR has seen its share of victories and losses but the one thing that has remained constant are the fans. With its 53-year-old history, the greatest drivers have sped their way into history, such as, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. The fast paced point crunching sport has intrigued fans and racers throughout its history.

With Kurt Busch ranking as the points leader it will be interesting to see who finishes off this year’s season on top. The points are figured out after each race where officials use a report sheet to track the points and membership. The points are double-checked for accuracy and then NASCAR releases the official standings that also include the total winnings for each driver. Drivers are awarded bonus points for leading races and also points based on how they finish.

Once race 26 is reached, the driver is eliminated when the maximum number of points they can accumulate reaches below that mark. Any driver though can clinch the point ranking, assuming that they lead the remainder of the races.

Great races have swept across various raceways this season, such as, the Pocono 500 and Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. Even though the chase for the cup is coming to a close fans can anticipate more excitement that’ll be coming out of this racing season.

Posted to the web by Shane Evans