It takes 43—not 10—to race

What a relief.

At Talladega, it wasn't all about the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup. For months, when NASCAR was mentioned, that s all that has been talked about. Who was in? Who was out? How many points separated first from 10th or 15th? Where was a driver's best chance of winning or losing?

At Talladega, it was all about the racing. Dale Earnhardt Jr., a favorite at any restrictor-plate track, won the race and took the points lead.

But to and behold there were other drivers on the racetrack. You remember those other 33 racers who did not qualify for the Chase. Kevin Harvick, Dale Jarrett and rookie Brendan Gaughan finished in the top five. It was a career-high finish for Gaughan. Joe Nemechek, who won the pole, his first in four years, for the race, finished seventh--his second top 10 in two weeks. Do any of these names ring a bell?

Sure, Chaser qualifiers Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart joined Earnhardt in the top 10, but so did Casey Mears, Robby Gordon and Ward Burton. Remember them?

Like the 10 racers who qualified for the Chase, the other 33 drivers have teams that work 12-hour days, seven days a week. Like the 10 racers who qualified for the Chase, the other 33 have sponsors that spend millions and expect some form of exposure for the investment. Like the 10 racers who qualified for the Chase, the other 33 teams have families that sacrifice a normal home life for the sake of racing.

And without the 33 other drivers, Talladega would not have been much of a race. Earnhardt would have checked out from the pack. Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon--unlike Matt Kenseth--didn't even finish in the top 15. Jeremy Mayfield was caught in a wreck, Jimmie Johnson's car overheated, and Elliott Sadler suffered battery problems.

Imagine watching only seven cars drive around a 2.66-mile superspeed-way. How long would it have taken for the race for channel flipping to begin? If I were on the couch, my focus would have been on Brett Favre's condition and what team won the N.L. wild card.

With 43 drivers, Talladega is a race all its own. And it was quite a race with 47 lead changes among 20 drivers and a new driver taking the points lead. But will the same excitement and attention be divided among an equal amount of drivers over the next seven races? Probably not.

Every driver knew the rules going into the Chase. Few on the outside are bitter over the final results; however, there is concern about how this new system will affect future sponsor and contract negotiations.

"I think that what they've done with the Chase has brought a lot of excitement to our sport and a lot of attention to our sport,' former Cup champion Dale Jarrett says. "You hear it and see it probably in areas that weren't there before, so it's working. I'm all for whatever is best for our sport, but what is also good for our sport is that we have plenty of sponsors and plenty of teams out here. If people that are having good runs other than those 10 aren't talked about and those sponsors aren't given some of their due, then they might find another place to spend their dollars. That's what concerns me."

And it should concern NASCAR. If the hype and the TV ratings start to smolder, what will NASCAR think of next? For as much positive attention as the new system has attracted, there's too much invested to leave so many behind.

TSN's POWER POLL

                             Nextel         TSN         TSN points:
     Driver                Cup points      points      last 10 races

 (1) Dale Earnhardt Jr.      5,543       2,420 (3)        868 (4)
 (2) Kurt Busch              5,530       2,329 (4)        910 (3)
 (3) Jeff Gordon             5,482       2,923 (1)        961 (1)
 (4) Mark Martin             5,432       2,021 (8)        955 (2)
 (5) Matt Kenseth            5,393       2,134 (7)        615 (12)
 (6) Tony Stewart            5,391       2,218 (5)        710 (8)
 (7) Ryan Newman             5,384       2,192 (6)        673 (10)
 (8) Elliott Sadler          5,377       1,998 (9)        757 (5)
 (9) Jimmie Johnson          5,371       2,603 (2)        539 (16)
(10) Jeremy Mayfield         5,263       1,992 (10)       725 (6)

Through race No. 29, at Talladega. Get a complete TSN
Power Poll rundown and a points system explanation at
msn.foxsports.com/name/public/NASCAR/Cup/PowerPoll.

sponsored by POWERADE

SPEED READS

* It was admirable of NASCAR to put the kibosh on J.J. Yeley's attempt to make the Talladega race for Joe Gibbs Racing. With so much on the line for so many competitors, it's reckless to throw a rookie into the mix, especially when a driver doesn't have much experience in stock cars, let alone on super-speedways or with drafting. Opting to run veteran Ricky Craven made a lot more sense.

* For the National Association of Minority Race Fans, it was much ado about nothing at Talladega, The announced protest for Sunday never happened. And the news conference scheduled for the International Motorsports Hall of Fame ended up behind the state troopers station on track property instead. Some in the garage concluded the entire fiasco was a hoax.