Points still adding up for Kyle Busch in NASCAR

A lot of people in the Twitterverse, and some in North Carolina and other stock car racing states, have debated whether Kyle Busch deserves to be defending his Sprint Cup championship at Sunday’s season finale in Homestead, Florida.

The Las Vegan sort of plowed his way into the Championship 4, which is what NASCAR calls the four drivers who will run for the title.

On a restart with two laps to go at Phoenix last weekend, Busch made contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car, being driven by pinch hitter Alex Bowman. That started contretemps that knocked Busch’s teammate Matt Kenseth out of the lead, into the wall and out of the Chase for the championship.

It put Busch back in.

“I guess I wrecked a teammate,” a contrite Kyle said afterward.

On the other hand, Busch need not apologize for still being championship eligible, at least not when comparing the old points system to the new one.

Whereas last season he needed special dispensation from NASCAR to run in the Chase after breaking his leg in a grinding crash at Daytona, Busch was excellent over the long haul this year.

Were the old points system still being used, he would be starting the race at Homestead in fourth place. Instead of tied for the lead — points are now reset for the championship and subsequent Chase rounds — he would have been 51 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. Joey Logano would have been second, 25 points in arrears, followed by Brad Keselowski in third, 37 points back.

Harvick and Keselowski did not qualify for the title run under the current setup. Instead, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson will join Busch and Logano among the Championship 4 by virtue of winning races in the previous round. Johnson will be driving for his seventh Cup title, which would tie him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Under the old points system, Johnson would be slotted ninth, a distant 157 points out of the lead. Edwards would be seventh, 123 points back.

This current iteration of the Chase, patterned after playoffs in the stick-and-ball sports to provide a “Game 7 moment” — and to entice people into watching stock car racing on TV during football season — alienated traditional fans. But the wild finish at Phoenix and its ramifications created excitement, even if was manufactured.

Fans of Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski, and those who live in North Carolina and the other stock car racing states, may respectfully (or otherwise) disagree.

LVMS

• Noah Gragson, the 18-year-old phenom who only a couple of summers ago was racing in the Bandolero division at The Bullring, made his NASCAR Truck Series debut at Phoenix last weekend, starting 14th and finishing 16th and earning plaudits from the announcers after steering clear of a wreck. Gragson, who also is entered in this weekend’s season finale in Homestead, Florida, has signed with Kyle Busch Motorsports for 2017. He will replace fellow rising star William Byron, who is moving up to the Xfinity Series.

• Speedway Children’s Charities will hold its fourth PJ 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Glittering Lights display. Participants are invited to run, walk or push baby strollers through the Glittering Lights course in their pajamas.

SUPERKARTS! USA

Superkarts! USA is holding its USA Supernationals on a temporary circuit wending through the Las Vegas Convention Center and Westgate Las Vegas parking lots through Sunday. In addition to some of the world’s best young national and international kart racers, this year’s lineup will include guest pilots Alexander Rossi, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, and Sergio Perez, who drives for Force India in Formula One. Conor Daly, another Indy 500 veteran, also will compete.

INDYCAR

Henderson’s Sam Schmidt confirmed he is shutting down his championship-winning Indy Lights team to focus on adding a third entry in the IndyCar series for 2017. In a (somewhat) related note, Schmidt’s lead IndyCar driver, James Hinchcliffe, and professional partner Sharna Burgess have advanced to the finals on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” much to the chagrin of Bobby Unser, it can be assumed.