As the NASCAR season rolls to a close this weekend, it’s easy to find some very good stories. One can look no further than Jimmie Johnson’s quest for number four or the amazing season Mark Martin has had.
When the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup started, all 12 drivers had a pretty good “story” that a championship could make even better.
Looking further in NASCAR land, one story that is amazing is that of Mike Bliss.
At the starts of the year, if you would have picked Bliss for a top-10 point finish on the Nationwide Series, you would not have raised any eyebrows. He’s a former truck series champion with a solid ride with James Finch’s Phoenix Racing.
But, what Bliss has done this year has to be considered one of the best stories of the season.
Driving for Finch and his Miccosukee Resorts Chevy, Bliss was sixth in points on the first of August when the tour rolled out of Iowa. He had a win at Charlotte (in Finch’s 500th NASCAR start), 10 finishes inside the top-10 all in the first 21 races.
What happened next was hard to figure.
On August 2nd, Bliss got the call that he was released from the ride.
Finch is an independent owner, with an even more independent spirit and this one was pretty much chalked up to “James being James”.
Bliss was left to scramble trying to maintain a spot inside the top ten in points.
At Watkins Glen it was a 43rd-place finish with the “start-and-park” MSRP Motorsports Chevy. Bliss and Joe Nemechek pooled resources on his fledgling team for the next four weeks with finishes of 27th, 15th, and 34th twice.
Curtis Key hired Bliss for a couple of races; Randy MacDonald grabbed him for one as the patchwork 2009 season unfolded.
CJM Racing hired Bliss to wheel their number 11 Toyota’s for five races, three in which Bliss garnered top-five finishes and top-10s in all five.
And, with one race remaining Bliss finds himself fifth in points – one spot ahead of where he was at when fired in August.
“Crazy,” is what Bliss told NASCAR.com a few weeks back when asked about his season.
“When I was released by Phoenix, I was out to get into any car to get into the top 10 in points because there is some pretty good money available from the postseason fund. To be sitting here with the possibility of finishing in the top five is more than I would have expected.”
And in something that is even harder to figure; Bliss has been hired by Finch to finish the season this Saturday in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It’s just “James being James.”