Wow, all these rumors surrounding Montreal in 2006! Busch, trucks and the IRL replacing the Champ Cars because of a ‘breach of contract’ by Champ Car. Pathetic. This is the ugly side of racing, and not surprisingly its rumored to involve Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone possibly throwing a bone to George after the fiasco at Indy this year (though I maintain it was still a great race, it was great to see Shumacher get his first win of 05 and to see Tiago on the podium). This is all politics, a game that F1 and Legault are very good at, a game that George is terrible at (but here he has good allies) and a game where Kalkoven…well I guess we’ll find out about Kevin’s ability in this arena. But truth be told, that’s like stepping to the line against a 500-pound lineman in front of you. You may know nothing about him and his game, but right off the bat you suspect you may have a tough time getting by him.

If you read this column you know I am not a huge fan of the Montreal event, but I don’t want to lose it like this. Does the IRL really think that Legault and the city of Montreal want an IRL event instead of a Champ Car event? Do they really think that? This isn’t even an insult towards that league, but I am wondering if this supposed deal would even be on the table if it didn’t involve a NASCAR formula joining them. I doubt it would. I doubt Legault would trade Champ Cars for the IRL without NASCAR being part of the deal, even if its just the trucks. Bottom line is that the whole thing reaks of politics and demonstrates the ugly side of our sport, which is one reason that I don’t know if I want Champ Car to fight it all the way to the courts. I’d like to think that ChampCar could take the high road and offer an alternate race next year instead of returning to a host ensemble that really doesn’t want them there. There are too many places that do and there are too many fans elsewhere. There’s no secret that the writing was on the wall this year in Montreal, so this ‘news’ should come as little surprise. It’s just too bad, because it really is ugly. Like, stepsister ugly.

The chase is set and I must admit, it’s a pretty good group. It’s a fun group (Edwards, Mayfield), a talented group (Busch, Johnson) and a veteran field (Wallace, Martin). I thought that NASCAR would suffer without its two biggest drivers (Dale and Jeff) in the chase, but I think that with this group, they can pull it off. Stewart has to be the early favorite, but Busch has been very strong as of late and I think that Kenseth could surprise. I’m very happy to see Kenseth in the chase, because, let’s face it, they created the Chase after he won the title in 2003. It must be bizarre to win the championship and then have the organization you participate in tell you and the world that they are overhauling the system that’s been in place for X number of years and dramatically changing the entire classification. It seems like a small slap in the face. Nobody doubts Kenseth’s talent. He’s a model of consistency (at least in 03) and won the championship that way. But that’s not NASCAR drama, and for better or worse, they created the Chase. It does bring drama. I stayed home on Saturday night to catch the Chevy Rock ‘n’ Roll 400 instead of going to numerous parties. Okay, maybe not numerous, but…well whatever, I stayed in Saturday night to watch it because of the intrigue it presented. Now, someone tell me why it was on TNT and not on NBC?? Its Saturday night, what the heck else is NBC running these days that night? Oh right, nothing. The final ten races should be very entertaining.

Trying to decide which team I prefer, the Fox NASCAR team or the NBC NASCAR team. For presentation purposes, FOX takes it hands down. But the broadcast team on NBC has grown on me and I think, maybe, I am leaning their way. Its still up in the air and there are certain things with the Fox team that spell NASCAR, but Wally’s world?? Come on! That’s just plain fun. Except for the Wayne’s World theme ripped off. That’s a little cheese.

I like this A1 GP series thing. I’m intrigued by it and I like the concept of countries battling it out. I think they have chosen cool tracks and I think that the formula looks good. Of course, the reason I think the formula looks good is because I have seen it before….its what Champ Car does, day in, day out. Same chassis, tire and engine. And a ‘push to pass’ button that gives them an extra 30 horses for overtaking purposes. Seem familiar? Nevertheless, I like the ideas of this, an Olympic-type racing series. I like that you can switch drivers, as long as they are countrymen and I like the relative compact schedule (on a weekend that is, not the entire schedule which will be between September and April). It would be fun to see a couple of our boys (and possibly girls) over there. It’ll be impossible for the first few races of the season, but down the road.
Justin Wilson said he has been signed for 2006 for a while now, which is great news for him and Rusport. He’s still in the chase (sorry, it’s the word of the day) and, like he said after Montreal, it was nice to see his machine overtake the Newman/Haas machines during the race, even if it didn’t end that way entirely.