Busch And The Championship
If Kyle Busch wins the Cup Championship should there be an asterisk next to his name since he only competed in about 1/2 the season. This would make for an unprecedented set of circumstances and it would be very interesting how NASCAR will rationalize the fact that their champion of the top division of their sanction only competed in just part of the season.
Personally, I can't bring myself to believe this is defensible. All the commentators are playing this situation up as a huge story and a grand development in the process to determine a season's championship. A season's championship is just that, not a 1/2 seasons championship. To have a mechanism in place that would allow for this type of development further puts NASCAR in a tenuous position to be sure! They can't afford to lose anymore credibility, they are running on empty in that department as it is.
The gimmicks have cost NASCAR at least 50% of their TV ratings and more than 50% of their spectatorship over the last 10-12 years and it's not clear if they can afford another hit on their overall credibility.