No Quarter

With two races left in the season, it’s come down to mano y mano between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart for the title.

If this took place 850 miles to the east, I’d call it the Second Battle of the Alamo.

Just like Santa Anna decreed, there will be no quarter given. Look up the meaning of “El Deguello” and you’ll see what I mean.

That’s not to say that it will get down and dirty in the desert, but alliteration aside, it might just do that. Nothing intentional, nothing untoward…just two guys giving it their level best on a little 1.017-mile oval at the base of the Estrella Mountains for what might be all the marbles.

First one to blink loses. Or rather, first one to have a problem that can’t be overcome will be the loser. Stewart, despite a subpar run at Dover, has been spot-on for eight races. Edwards has had to overcome a really big deficit at Martinsville (he was lapped twice and finished a surprising ninth) and been consistent more than dominant lately.

Consistency, from the first moment Bob Latford drew up the NASCAR point system on a cocktail napkin in Daytona Beach one fine morning before most of us were born, has been the key to winning in NASCAR.

It was once proven that if a certain driver finished as the last car on the lead lap in all 36 races, he would be 10th in the point standings and eligible for the post-season awards bonanza. That’s still true today, but nobody cares any more.

They want the brass ring, the Big Enchilada…the NASCAR Sprint Cup. It’s worth a lot more, and the money between first and 10th is a bunchaton to begin with.

Stewart has won two (2002 and 2005) and is hungry for another, because it’s who he is and how he is. He also doesn’t have to split it with the car owner…or at least as much of it as he used to when he raced for Coach.

Edwards is still the guy that has the burning desire to be a star. When I worked for the late, great National Speed Sport News, I saw a classified ad Carl took out, stating that he was available to drive any car in the top levels of motorsport and that he could get the job done.

This is one case where there indeed was truth in advertising. He needs this title to complete the dream, and he’ll race like crazy to get it. 

Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth are still in it, but they are exceedingly long shots. Stewart won and led the most laps at Texas, but gained just five points on Edwards. It will take a crash, a blown engine or a Kyle Busch meltdown to get it done for the 29 and 17.

Speaking of Kyle Busch, does anyone want to bet that somebody in the field of 43 might just take it upon themselves to mess with Driver 18 at PIR or Homestead, hoping to trigger a response that will end up seeing Kyle flirt with indefinite suspension? I’ve got some mad money that I might just throw down on that…

We’ll see. I would think that the other drivers would be worrying about their own program and leave well enough alone.

Busch got back in the car $50,000 lighter and hopefully a whole lot humbler than when he took out Ron Hornaday while the latter was battling for the Truck title at Texas (there’s that alliteration again!).

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who said that Busch’s “punishment fit the crime,” opined that Busch would return from suspension a better driver and better off for the experience.

We’ll see on that as well.

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