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NOAH COSLOV: The first of
three in the round of eight.

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I'm Noah Coslov.

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He's Reid Spencer.

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"NASCAR Wire Service," Sunday
afternoon at Martinsville.

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And going from Talladega
to Martinsville, just

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opposite tracks, is
that more challenging

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for some than others
of the eight remaining?

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REID SPENCER: Well,
absolutely, it is.

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You're going from
the largest track

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on the NASCAR Sprint Cup
circuit to the very smallest

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at 0.526 miles.

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Martinsville, of course, is a
strange shape for a racetrack.

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Look like a paperclip.

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Has concrete in the corners,
asphalt on the straightaways.

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And there are certain people
who simply have a knack

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for running at Martinsville.

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It's a rhythm racetrack.

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You have to get into a groove.

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And guys like Denny Hamlin,
Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon,

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who will be running his
final race of the season

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there and substituting for
Dale Earnhardt Jr., those guys

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know how to run that racetrack.

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Guys in the Chase, like Carl
Edwards and Matt Kenseth,

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who never had the
hang of the track

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when they were racing at Roush
Fenway Racing, since they've

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come to Joe Gibbs and have had
a chance to work with Hamlin,

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they've improved quite a bit.

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So it's going to be an
opportunity for Hamlin

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or Johnson or maybe even
Kevin Harvick to advance

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to the next round to the finals
at Homestead-Miami Speedway

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by winning.

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The other guys are just hoping
for strong top five finishes.

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And Kenseth and Edwards
certainly are capable of that

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as well.

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NOAH COSLOV: So let's get
into those Joe Gibbs drivers.

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And last week, the way they
handled the race at Talladega,

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staying back and just
playing for the points,

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did that exposed something
wrong with the Chase format

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or is this just one
of those consequences

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that we're going to have?

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REID SPENCER: Well,
it's a consequence

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of moving to the
elimination format

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and dividing the Chase
into rounds of three races,

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because they came into that race
not needing stellar finishes

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in order to advance.

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And I didn't fault them at
all for the way they played

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the strategy, because they
did what was necessary to get

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to the next round.

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However, it is a
consequence of the format.

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And I think NASCAR could
solve the problem simply

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by in the first two rounds
of the Chase awarding,

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say, 3 or 5 points to
the winner of each race,

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allowing them to carry it
forward into the next round,

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to at least give the drivers
an incentive to try to win

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every race of the
round rather than

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laying back and going out for a
Sunday drive on the final race.

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NOAH COSLOV: Right.

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Yeah, I'm right there with you.

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So who do you like this week?

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REID SPENCER: Well, I'm going
to pick-- my pick for the Chase

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this year to win
the overall title,

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I'm going with Denny
Hamlin this week.

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I think he gets
the job done and is

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the first guy to
punch his ticket

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into the Championship Four.

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NOAH COSLOV: All right.

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He's Reid Spencer,
"NASCAR Wire Service,"

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Sunday at Martinsville.

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Good talking to you, Reid.

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Have a safe trip.

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REID SPENCER: Likewise, Noah.

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