NASCAR's midlife catharsis

For veteran racers, there's at least one proven way to stave off the young drivers: Just win. Mark Martin, the 46-year-old fan favorite, did just that at the Banquet 400 at the Kansas Speedway on Oct. 9. Mr. Martin took the early lead and held off all challengers, cruising to a victory one week after a disastrous finish in the UAW Ford-500 at Talladega. There, the four-time series runner-up crashed early and finished 41st-almost too far back in the standings to make a push for the Nextel Cup (see below). "That's too far back," Mr. Martin said when scores updated after his Banquet 400 victory only pushed him up to seventh place. "We can go and win us some more and you never know."

By some accounts, Mr. Martin, at 46, shouldn't still be in the running for the Nextel Cup. Heading into the 2005 season, drivers like Carl Edwards (26), Kurt Busch (27), Kyle Busch (20), Brian Vickers (22), and Kasey Kahne (25) not only were supposed to steal away the top sponsors with energetic personas, but also many of the 10 or so playoff spots. But only three 20-somethings-Kurt Busch, Mr. Edwards, and the 27-year-old Ryan Newman-cracked the top 10 while racing fogies like Mr. Martin and 49-year-old Rusty Wallace held off younger foes. In fact, the average age of the 10 Chase contenders in 2005 is 34.3.

But compare Mr. Wallace and Mr. Martin to Kyle Busch, who at 20 equaled both racing legends' eight top 5 finishes in 2005. And while Mr. Busch took home a victory-one more than Mr. Wallace who won no races-he also failed to finish six races. Mr. Martin only bowed out of two. Mr. Wallace posted the only perfect record of finishing races among full-time drivers. Could be there's something still to be said for age before beauty.

Championship Chase

The NASCAR Chase for the Championship confuses just as many casual fans as does college football's Bowl Championship Series. In just its second year, the 10-race playoff for 2005 began Sept. 18 with the Sylvania 300 after seven months of racing across the United States. By the time a Nextel Cup champion is crowned following the Ford 400 on Nov. 20, the best racers from 2005 will have logged up to 4,500 miles on the oval.

Here's how the playoff works: After the first 26 Nextel Cup races, the top 10 points leaders and any others within 400 points of the leader will earn a spot in the Chase for the Championship. With the advent of the postseason comes a reordering of the scores. The points leader heading into the playoffs will start with 5,050 points. The second-place driver will begin with 5,045. Each consecutive driver begins playoff competition with five fewer points than the previous contender. The winner brings home more than $5 million in prize money while each top 10 finisher is guaranteed at least $1 million.

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