LONG POND, Pa. — They couldn’t have scripted it any better. In a media environment that breeds conspiracy theories, nobody doubts this is real. It’s the Battle of the Brews — Budweiser and Miller — head to head (yes, that’s a pun), not in a TV commercial, but for the last position in The Chase for the Nextel Cup, thanks to Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
At Pocono, the beer-sponsored cars dominated every phase of the contest. They started together on the front row, finished first and second, and exchanged the vital 12th position in the standings. After the Richmond event five weeks down the road, at least one will be alive for the 10-race run to the championship, while the other is likely, although not certain, to be outside looking in. 
There are all sorts of subplots: Earnhardt is about to leave the Budweiser umbrella (another pun) due to his move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2007, while Busch is still struggling, or at least was struggling until Sunday’s blowout win at Pocono, to fill the shoes of retired Rusty Wallace. And the guy who carries Miller’s colors also carries, by pure coincidence, the surname of Budweiser’s corporate parent.
All three brewing companies with national mass-market distribution — Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors — have long had massive commitments to NASCAR sponsorship. The NASCAR fan demographic, both at the track and on television, is their demographic, and a measurable increase in national market share, say half a percentage point, pays for the team sponsorship and related promotional spending many times over.
Earnhardt and Busch didn’t shy away from the sponsor rivalry in their post-race comments, but they kept it in context. “We stole the pole this weekend. We stole it from the Miller car. That’s really cool and I know St. Louis (corporate headquarters) is really happy about that,” Earnhardt said. “It matters when you win and run good, but they’d rather you just outrun all the other beer cars.”
Appearing separately on the podium, Busch gave the same slant with a twist. “I enjoy the way the people in Milwaukee (Miller headquarters) get pumped up by their racing program. They always strive to be the best beer, but they always tell me to go get that red 8 car,” he declared.
Then he added, “This Busch made the best beer choice.”
There’s more than beer company sponsorship that connects the Busch and Earnhardt teams in their personal race to The Chase. Each has had a 100-point penalty inflicted by NASCAR earlier this season. Earnhardt was hit with the penalty for an improperly mounted rear wing on his Car of Tomorrow at Darlington, while Busch was nailed for his retaliatory driving toward Tony Stewart on pit lane at Dover.
Kurt Busch addressed that aspect of the “playoff race” in which they are currently embroiled. “I think it’s important to understand that Dale, Jr. lost 100 points earlier this year. That might be why we’re racing each other for this final spot,” Sunday’s winner declared. “I’ve definitely put on a different thinking cap since Dover. That situation reminded me of what I can do and what I better do.”
Busch, who turned 29 during the weekend and recently observed his first wedding anniversary, continued, “We’ve thrown away quite a bit of points this year through driver mistakes. Such as Charlotte, leading the most laps and wrecking. Daytona, leading the most laps and wrecking. Texas, Phoenix, we had fuel-mileage issues there and took a top-five car at both those tracks and finished in the teens. I’m not going to look back on that 100 points and think that it’s a deficit. It only turned us in to a stronger program.”
Self-serving, perhaps, but analytical to a degree not associated with Kurt or brother Kyle in the public mind. Maybe we’re seeing a grown-up Kurt Busch. Maybe we’re seeing a contender to repeat the first Chase-based Nextel Cup he won in 2004.