This is the Stattmann Baby.  Time to Scatt a little bit!!

You saw the best and the worst of the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup format Saturday night at Richmond.

Early on there was that insanity between Casey Mears and Jimmy Spencer.  Spencer hammered on Mears until he nailed him to the wall.  NASCAR admitted to warning both drivers for reckless driving but was afraid to pull the trigger when the accident actually happened.  They called it a racing incident.

You wonder what decision they’ll make with the championship on the line in the last ten events.

And the bigger issue: what happens when a Spencer and Mears come together and take out a championship contender like they did Saturday night putting Jimmie Johnson to the sidelines and out of the overall points lead.

Even if NASCAR’s intentions are quick and without question, who puts points in a Jimmie Johnson’s pocket, points that could continue him on the road to the championship?

Still, if these NASCAR playoffs are like the NFL playoffs, there’s nothing to say that an unassisted twisted knee on an artificial field wouldn’t have the same impact during the Chase for the Super Bowl.

But, at the end at Richmond we saw passion and racing where every pass counted for something and the difference between the playoffs and the sidelines was 15 points after seven months of racing.  And while I'm at it, I've been super critical of the NBC broadcasts in the past.  On Saturday night, though, they showed flashes of brilliance covering the fight to get into the Chase for the Nextel Cup.  Keeping track of every key driver in every key battle on the track took a lot of planning and execution.  They did it well.

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! EVERYWHERE!!

My favorite, though, was the emotion at the end.  Drivers who fight as hard at they can to hide their emotions found them exposed under a television spotlight only this time they were unable to hide behind a PR skirt.

Enjoy the next ten weeks!!  I certainly will.

Peace!!!