Racing is full of injustice, real and imagined.
Money buys opportunities that talent can't.
Parts break.
Back-of-the-pack drivers encounter problems that take out contenders.
And, in all likelihood, Tony Stewart will be mostly invisible Sunday, his NASCAR career will end with a mid-pack finish and a man who may be the best racer of his generation will stroll purposefully from the garage with no fanfare.
That suits him, I guess, but it's really not fair.
Jeff Gordon ended his full-time driving days a year ago with a chance to win a championship _ his fifth _ surrounded by racing greats and feted like royalty.
He deserved that.
Gordon served as the yin to Dale Earnhardt's yang, led a revolution in the NASCAR business, opened doors for open-wheel drivers in big-time stock-car racing and spread the message beyond the world of sports. If Gordon had a flaw, it was his perfection.
Stewart never bought into the polish and politics.
He has said what he wanted, shaved when he liked, charmed plenty of people and angered as many. Stewart's perfection is that he is flawed.
He will exit with three championships bearing different names (a Winston Cup, a Nextel Cup and a Sprint Cup) and earned under different formats (full-season points in 2002, and distinct Chases systems in '05 and '11).
That's strangely appropriate; few drivers are as versatile.
What doesn't feel appropriate is that the driver who won three times in his rookie season hasn't managed that in total over the past four years. Injuries and his involvement in a fatal sprint-car crash have limited his participation and probably his effectiveness.
These aren't the years and certainly not the results that should define Stewart's career.
He is one of the all-time great talents _ a champion in NASCAR and IndyCar _ and his contributions to the sport will continue as a team owner on multiple levels, as a track owner and a grass-roots racer.
Ultimately, the NASCAR world in which Jeff Gordon thrived might not have been the best fit for Tony Stewart.
But their accomplishments, while different, have been comparable. It would have only seemed right, then, for Stewart to have the chance to go out on top.
