For once, it’s time to focus on the little picture

(By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service)

Posted: Tuesday,July 27th, 2010

Thanks to Jamie McMurray for reminding all of us where our focus should be. 

Fundamentally, racing is about winning, about being first to the finish line, about taking home a gaudy trophy, about grabbing bragging rights from 42 other drivers.

If that seems pretty basic, contrast it with the cautionary phrase from crew chief to driver that’s often heard during a heated battle on the racetrack: “Big picture, big picture.”

What that means, of course, is, “Keep your eyes on the bigger prize.” In other words, weigh the potential risk of trying to win a race against the impact a wreck might have on a run at the series championship.

Since the introduction of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the 2004 season, our perception of the sport has undergone a paradigm shift. We have learned to view almost everything that happens on the racetrack through the filter of its effect on the standings.

INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 25: Jamie McMurray, driver of the #1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, celebrates winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

In the afterglow of his Brickyard 400 victory, McMurray reminded us that the little picture can be just as satisfying as the big one—if not more so. McMurray has won NASCAR’s two most prestigious races in the same season—the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. Despite three other second-place finishes, he’s 16th in points and a long shot to make the Chase.

So what?

“I don’t even really care where we’re at in points,” McMurray said. “I think you show up every week, do your job. If you make the Chase, that’s wonderful. Everyone wants to make the Chase. Getting to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 means more to me this year than making the Chase.

“This year or in 10 years, the guy that won that race one time everybody will talk about. The guy that finished third in the points—nobody cares. I would really like to be in the Chase, but I have no focus on that at all.”

Even if McMurray fails to make the Chase, no one will say he hasn’t had an exceptional season. If reports are accurate, his performance this year will earn a significant contract extension and strengthen his bonds with sponsors Bass Pro Shops and McDonalds. For McMurray, it’s more about winning the day than winning the season.

NASCAR could benefit from that perspective, too, when it comes to possible changes to the playoff format in the Cup series. In a series of meetings with drivers and owners, NASCAR has floated enough trial balloons to lift the pagoda out of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield. In recent weeks, we’ve been teased more often than a beehive hairdo.

In a news conference before Sunday’s race at Indy, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France repeated that the sanctioning body is considering significant changes to the Chase. Moments later France added, “Not changing the Chase is definitely a viable option.”

The bottom line is that changes to the Chase—whether in the form of eliminations or resetting points once or more during the final 10 races—may be a short-term fix for TV ratings but may not promote the long-term growth of the sport.

Toward that end, we all need to look at the little picture and start with the essential element in the sport—a single race. A baseball season is 162 games long, and every win or loss affects the standings, yet each game has an integrity and intricacy of its own.

Each game contains enough subtlety of strategy and intrigue to captivate its audience. Each game is an event that thrives on its own merit. The same is true of a stock car race—if only we think that way.

McMurray reminded us Sunday that—as basic as it seems–the core element of the sport is the burning desire to win a race, and it would behoove us to pay attention.

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