NASCAR season ends this Sunday

“I thought 11th was a decent effort”, said Truex. Heck, NASCAR should have written him a check for putting them on the national sports radar all week.

With only three career wins in 368 races, Truex seems like the oddity in NASCAR’s finale in Florida on Sunday.

I write this post as a tribute to not only a legend, but to one of the all time greats of the racing world. He and his team have just been the guys for the past two years. But that will never happen.

Bob Pockrass, ESPN.com: Gordon. A one-race suspension would have been adequate.

There needs to be a symbiotic interaction, unfiltered, without egos getting in the way.

Denny Hamlin will start on the pole for Sunday’s season ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway after he took the top spot in the final round of qualifying on Friday night. “I’m definitely just trying to enjoy the moment, stay focused and make the most of it”.

McGee: Yes. He’ll do it by doing what he’s done throughout the Chase.

Racing hard into the first corner on the first lap, Earnhardt and Mast made contact, upsetting the handling of Earnhardt’s iconic black No. 3 Chevrolet. “I think everybody is nervous and everybody knows what’s at stake”. I myself had the chance to get an autograph from you in 2013 while you were in a rush, and you still signed for me. “We haven’t qualified well on these tracks, so it’s not far out of the box from where we normally qualify on these tracks”. As a fan of yours for over 15 years, I know I am of a younger generation of fans that loves you and your racing ability. That leaves Logano out. The Joey Logano-Matt Kenseth feud that cleared the way for him to win at Martinsville, the weird Talladega finish and postrace, the rain-shortened race at Phoenix… all of that has been so freaky.

How would you describe Truex as a driver? Even the folks in Las Vegas are riding with the defending champion. Third, she did way more damage to her own auto than anyone else’s. Isn’t that punishment enough?

“I was influenced by other big names and competitive drivers, and that goes all the way back to early days of racing, not just in NASCAR”, Gordon said. Call it “quintessential Danica”. There are more than two dozen other drivers with a better average finish. Throw in a little body work and maybe it was $20,000 total. Yes, there is a safety issue in both instances. There’s a lot of things in this sport you can’t control.

“We dealt with that in Martinsville, as a matter of fact”. When kids grow up and decide to be racecar drivers, they strive to be like you.

“Is there pressure? I mean, I feel like there’s always pressure”.

Not only do we need an underdog, but we need someone to remind us that there are more important things than crossing the finish line in first place come Sunday. It’s not going to be, Oh, gee, man, you’re faster, you go take the lead. “I didn’t have a driver”.

McGee: This driver code we’ve heard so much about over the past couple of weeks can be controlled only by the drivers. “To come from where he’s come from this year, pretty remarkable to have the streak that he put together with the pressure under him to get in this thing”. “That just showed you the impact and significance of that inaugural event”. This year it’s intentional wrecks. It’s a hobby. By no stretch of the imagination is it something I could ever do for a living.

France said no drivers have asked for a clarification on NASCAR’s stance. “You look at Martin and everything that those guys have done with what they’ve got in Colorado and here they are, and you look at Kyle breaking his leg and fighting back, and Jeff who’s going to retire and run the last race, there’s really no reason to create a story”.