Our experts weigh in on four of the biggest questions in NASCAR this week:

Turn 1: Who was right and who was wrong? Are you Team Brad or Team Jeff on the move Brad Keselowski put on Jeff Gordon that led to Sunday night's fight?

Ricky Craven, ESPN NASCAR analyst: Keselowski's move was bold, assertive and comes with the risk of retribution from his peers, but it was not wrong. It's becoming more and more evident that the new Chase formula is creating this type of urgency for drivers having to battle back from an earlier poor finish. Gordon had good reason to be frustrated and disappointed, but Brad's willingness to dismiss the risks could be the recipe for this year's Sprint Cup title.

Jeff Gordon goes on the offensive. AP Photo/Matthew Bishop

Ed Hinton, ESPN.com: I'm on Team "So What?" Good hard racing, Brad sees a hole, goes for it, Jeff closes it, gets the worst of the contact, gets mad, the crewmen scuffle. How many times have we seen such a thing? The only new wrinkle was Kevin Harvick intervening as a third party to shove Brad from behind toward the fray.

Brant James, ESPN.com: I'm Team Neither on this one. The Chase dictates that Keselowski had to make a move for victory or his chances of being left behind this round would increase exponentially. Gordon is understandably incensed after getting plowed, but modern NASCAR postseasons have snuffed out what is left of decorum. Both drivers reacted selfishly in a situation that called for it.

Ryan McGee, ESPN The Magazine: I'm Team Brad. I've watched that move of his at least 30 times and all I see is a guy trying to win a race. If that had been Gordon, Earnhardt, Johnson, etc., people would be praising the driver's guts and fearlessness in making such a move. But because it's Keselowski, the bad guy du jour, everyone is pouncing. I get Gordon's irritation. I get his passion. I get that this new format has ratcheted up the intensity and the pressure, but nothing that happened at Texas warranted what happened on pit road. In the end, I might not even be on Team Brad or Team Jeff. I'm on Team Anyone But Harvick. What he did to start the brawl was like something I'd see on my daughter's schoolyard playground.

John Oreovicz, ESPN.com: I'm with Team Brad on this one. After looking at replays, especially the overhead angle, it appears Keselowski just got a massive run on Gordon and the contact was caused when Gordon moved low to block, too little and way too late. I knew Gordon would be incensed after the race, but I also think he has nobody to blame but himself for making a so-so restart and leaving the door that far open for a ruthless competitor like BK. As Ricky Craven said on "SportsCenter," Keselowski races without a conscience. It's wreckers or checkers, and deal with the consequences later. The most amazing thing is the way image-conscious Roger Penske has again publicly defended his controversial champion. It wouldn't surprise me to see The Captain himself in there swinging in the next fight that Keselowski and his team inevitably get involved in.

Marty Smith, ESPN Insider: Based on fan venom and several conversations I've had with drivers the past couple of days, this won't be a popular opinion: If I'm a NASCAR fan, I want my driver to take that chance and shoot that gap every time. I want my driver to try to win the race. And I want my driver to own that decision in the aftermath. And if he can take a punch, it's all the better. That's what Keselowski did, on every count. Was it the smartest decision? No. Not based on driver code. One championship contender told me Monday that a driver, to attempt a three-wide-middle move, must have 10 feet of clearance between the cars he or she hopes to split. Keselowski didn't have that space. But that doesn't mean he didn't have space. I understand a million percent why Gordon was livid. I understand a million percent why his team was livid. I understand why the fight happened. When a championship opportunity that is within grasp slips due to extenuating circumstances, it's maddening. I'd have fought, too.

But to me, that fight doesn't happen if Tony Stewart makes that decision. That fight was a cumulative occurrence. The disdain for Keselowski among his peers is as high as any I've experienced in 17 years in the NASCAR garage. And because of that -- because of Brad's approach and his unwillingness to back down and his propensity to verbalize that publicly -- the fight happened.

This was a confluence of events: 1. Keselowski shot the gap. 2. Keselowski and Gordon made contact. 3. Keselowski has no concern for the politics that exist among the driving corps. 4. As a result, his peers don't offer him the same level of respect they'd show another peer. Drivers tend to race how they're raced -- and show the respect they're shown. They don't feel respected. 5. The championship format has installed an unprecedented level of pressure and tension. 6. Gordon went from a potential victory and a locked-up opportunity to run for an elusive fifth championship to a wrecked car and much higher hill to climb.

Turn 2: Is the behavior we've seen the last month (two fights and lots of harsh words) healthy for the sport long-term?

Craven: It's healthy short-term, because it's authentic and the sport depends heavily on pure, authentic rivalries between championship-worthy drivers. Long term, its survival depends on the ability to entertain, as well as intrigue.

A postbrawl Brad Keselowski Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Hinton: I've thought about this quite a bit, and here's my conclusion: Rarely, if ever, do people ask whether bench-clearing brawls are healthy or unhealthy for baseball. They're just part of the game, always have been, always will be. Videos of basebrawls are run just as often as the NASCAR scuffles. The question of image has come up in hockey, but those fights seem a bit more real and violent. I think we're just too sensitive about image in NASCAR brawls that are, by and large, harmless.

James: No. It's a sideshow and it detracts from the real essence of the sport. And does NASCAR really want to be the sport that really amps up the violence in the postseason?

McGee: I'm not sure that matters or that NASCAR cares. For the first time in forever, racing is stealing headlines and TV time from football as we hit November. After a decade of decay, they will take whatever they can get, bloody noses and all.

Oreovicz: No. In the short term, NASCAR can make the most of the old axiom that "any publicity is good publicity," but this toxic atmosphere is harmful in the long haul. For starters, NASCAR-haters out there are being spoon-fed ammunition for those age-old WWE wrestling comparisons. Second, and far more serious, this pent-up animosity is going to eventually find its way onto the track during a race and somebody could get seriously hurt. Finally, it appears we are hurtling toward a championship finale at Homestead that will feature at least two drivers who haven't been anything close to front-runners over the course of the season. Along with all the fighting, the potential for a less-than-deserving champion by traditional standards is an unintended consequence of the new Chase format that might come back to bite NASCAR.

Smith: Yes. People are talking when they otherwise wouldn't be.

Turn 3: Will other drivers prevent Brad Keselowski from winning this championship? How long might it take for Keselowski to rebuild his image in the garage?

Craven: If Keselowski wins races, everything else finds some level of repair. Two ways you gain respect in the garage: You earn it over time based on your actions, or you win repeatedly. Had Brad won last week, we would have much less action afterword. Victory Lane provides confirmation of your ability and separation from those opposing you. It's important to note, Keselowski is the 2014 wins leader, and without that, he becomes victim of the "live by the sword, die by the sword" attitude from the other drivers.

Hinton: They're not going to give him any extra room right now, but I can't see anyone blatantly impeding him on the track. Many a time I heard drivers grouse and grumble about Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Ernie Irvan and others. But they seldom followed through. They're ruffled at Kes for now, but that doesn't translate, really, to his losing their respect. Just because Jeff Gordon got mad and fussed on TV doesn't mean Kes is not a respected driver. No rebuilding required. It's there, just scuffed up a bit.

James: I don't think Keselowski can count on any breaks, but he probably couldn't have anyway. And it sounds like he's fine with that. As far as rebuilding his image, what's to rebuild? He says he did nothing wrong and has no apologies to make. Everyone else will have to adjust ... or not.

McGee: If he makes the Homestead cut, then he needs to watch his back. But when I look at the drivers who have the biggest beefs with Brad right now -- Kenseth, Gordon, Harvick -- they're all fighting to make it to Homestead, too. They can't afford to do something stupid that could just as easily end their title hopes. Now, should one of those guys fall laps down or get wrecked big early ... Katy, bar the door. Just ask Clint Bowyer about that scenario at Phoenix with an angry Jeff Gordon riding around.

Oreovicz: There's only a slim chance that Keselowski emerges from the Phoenix race unscathed, and if he manages to do that and qualify for the championship round at Homestead, I'd put the chances of him not getting wrecked there at zero. And I don't think a single offseason will make the resentment toward Kes go away. He's put himself in a difficult position for sure. His no-holds-barred driving style creates natural comparisons to the late Dale Earnhardt, but the difference is that Earnhardt, while sometimes not liked, always had the respect of his competitors. That doesn't hold true right now for Keselowski.

Smith: One perennial contender told me Monday that driver code won't allow Keselowski to win a championship if he continues to operate as he currently is operating.

Turn 4: Six points separate fourth and eighth on the Chase grid. Who's in your final four?

Craven: Joey Logano has earned his way there, Denny Hamlin will average his way there, Gordon is destined to be there and the final spot comes down to the last five laps of Phoenix between ... Harvick and Keselowski.

Championship contender Kevin Harvick Chris Trotman/NASCAR/Getty Images

Hinton: Logano, Hamlin and Ryan Newman have cushions that should be good enough to get them through Phoenix. Somehow, some way, Gordon gets through what amounts to the toss-up between him and Matt Kenseth. But watch, out of the corner of your eye, for Harvick doing a "Closer," because he's so good at Phoenix.

James: Gordon -- ultra-consistent. Harvick -- will push back into contention at Phoenix (see what I did there?). Kenseth -- will find a way. Logano -- quietly moves on.

McGee: Logano and Gordon are still the guys. And based on their Phoenix careers, the numbers say Hamlin and Harvick get the next two spots. But I think Newman slides in there with yet another top-10. So, let's say Logano, Gordon, Harvick and Newman.

Oreovicz: At this point, because of the way NASCAR's new Chase format has rendered nine months of action up to now essentially meaningless, I hope it gets what it deserves: a championship round lacking in star power and with little or no relevance to the 2014 season as a whole. In a year when Keselowski, Gordon, Logano and Harvick won 18 of the 34 races and led 53 percent of all laps, they deserve to sit on the sidelines. They could all still make the cut for the final four, but I'd like to see the alternate quartet that has combined for three wins and 10 percent of the laps led -- Newman, Hamlin, Edwards and Kenseth. They could fight it out for, with all due respect, what might arguably be the least-representative championship in NASCAR history.

Smith: 24. 4. 31. 11.