Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008 | 10:52 p.m.
Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 11th and 12th in the Chase, won’t be visiting the Big Apple for the 2008 awards banquet since NASCAR only invites the drivers who finish in the Top 10 in points. That’s like traveling all the way across the country for Thanksgiving and then being told that you can only eat the stuffing.
Kenseth only missed the 10th-place cutoff by three points, which makes the banishment even more ridiculous.
So what is the purpose of this “unlucky dog” rule? Is someone worried the show might drag on too long with 12 drivers speaking from the stage instead of 10? The banquet is already so long and boring that it makes the Academy Awards telecast look like a 100-meter dash. Shortening all the speeches is what’s needed.
What makes the 10th-place rule seem so random and silly is that, in theory, any driver that makes it into the Top 12 in points has a shot at the championship, so why aren’t they good enough to deserve a seat at the table in New York?
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Last week, in a blog post about the future of the American auto industry, I included a poll that asked readers if they thought Detroit should be allowed to fail. So far, 59 percent voted to let the automakers meet their demise while 40 percent said they should be saved.
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