NASCAR Cup Series

Why Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway is so special

Published Oct. 10, 2014 2:04 p.m. ET

Darrell Waltrip

I always look forward to coming to Charlotte Motor Speedway in October. It's been really exciting to see how this new Chase for the Sprint Cup format has been unfolding. I think the Chase is fantastic but I also think we need to wait until it is completed and then see if anything needs to be tweaked.

Up until this year I have always said that the Richmond race in September was one of the most exciting races we have. I say that because it's the last race in our regular season and it determines who is in and who is out of the Chase. Now this year we have it happen three times in the final 10 races. This elimination process after three races has created a lot of excitement.

There are still a lot of unknowns with six races to go this season. Saturday night is unique because we are talking 500 miles under the lights. Anytime you have a 500-mile race it adds a different element to the event. There's still plenty of tough racing to go before we get down to those final four drivers at Homestead in mid-November.

I think this second round was the one that most of the drivers believed was going to be the hardest. After only one race in this round it is exactly that. We have four teams that have the potential to be champions in November on the outside looking in right now, today.

So I think we are going to see a lot of pressure on some of these teams Saturday night. I don't think anyone expected to see Brad Keselowski or Jimmie Johnson or Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the very bottom of the 12-driver Chase points right now.

Dale Jr. has never won here at Charlotte. As many times as he's dominated here, I never thought I would see the day when Jimmie Johnson would struggle at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The best he could muster the other night in qualifying was 21st. So the No. 48 is trying to crawl out of a hole by starting in an even deeper one.

Kevin Harvick was once again fast. He's starting seventh Saturday night. He needs to finally close the deal and give himself a big cushion from that eighth-place cutoff spot that is looming at the end of next weekend in Talladega. So there is a lot on line Saturday night.

What's really interesting when you are in the garage area is while everyone is focused on this race Saturday night, there is a lot of talk about Talladega next weekend. I always call that the Crapshoot 500. You just never know how it is going to play out until literally the checkered flag. If you don't believe me, remember back to a couple years ago when we had eight cars coming to the checkered flag and Jimmie Johnson won the race by only .002 seconds. Talladega is always like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

I've loved being over here at Charlotte Motor Speedway this week. On Monday, Michael McDowell and I did a fundraiser for Motor Racing Outreach with folks who had bid online to take Cup car rides with each of us. If you want to make an old guy like me feel like he is 20 again, just give him a car, driver's uniform and a helmet. I had an absolute blast in my No. 17 Waltrip Brothers Charity Championship Toyota.

Those cars are just fast enough for an old guy like me feel like I could still do it. Well, that was until Thursday night when Kyle Busch did the impossible. Kyle ran the fastest lap at a 1.5-mile track in the history of NASCAR at 198-plus miles an hour. I ran my first race at Charlotte in 1972 and I think we were qualifying at like 34 seconds a lap. If somebody would have told me then that someday they'd be going around this joint at 198-plus miles an hour, I probably would have replied, "In what? An IndyCar?"

Anyway, Monday was great. We did another fundraiser Tuesday evening at CMS with our annual NewSong concert. Those folks are always incredible and we raised a lot of money for the NASCAR ministry. I always look forward to that concert every year.

Wednesday saw some of us NASCAR on FOX boys up in Greensboro for Kevin Harvick's Charity Golf tournament. We had a lot of fun there plus it gave me a tune-up for the Waltrip Brothers Charity Championship on Oct. 22 and Oct 23. Kevin's bunch put on a great event and raised a lot of money for charity.

Thursday we had the Better Half Dash race back over at Charlotte Motor Speedway before qualifying. Those ladies put on an amazing race. This was the fourth year of it and I think it just keeps getting better and better. Kristen Yeley won the race so congratulations to her. It's fun to see those ladies get out there in those Bandolero cars and compete the way they do.

The rest of my family has now flown in. My wife Stevie, my daughter Jessica and her husband Fausto are here -- plus for the first time, Fausto's parents are here from Brazil for the race. So they are very excited and I am thrilled they could come to a race like they are going to see Saturday night.

We're all getting ready for a great race Saturday night. The Band Perry is here for the pre-race concert. Track president Marcus Smith and his crowd know how to take care of the fans and put on a great show. They leave no stone unturned to make sure the fans have an incredible race weekend. There's something for everyone over here.

And finally, I want to wish a special Happy Birthday to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who turned 40 on Friday. It is hard to believe that ol' June Bug is now 40 years old. Who would have thought it?

VIDEO: A look back at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s rookie season in Sprint Cup