Jimmie doesn’t get the same kind of resentment that Jeff did when he was winning 13 races, but as Dale Earnhardt used to say, being booed was better than noone giving a damn. I think Jimmie has the same problem that many of today’s drivers have in the fact that they have little to no persona.

Nascar’s PR strategy with promoting these drivers has led to a bland, emotionless bunch (with the exception of Dale, Jr) who don’t have the same rabid fan support that their predecessors had.

This may make sponsors happy, but ultimately its the fan support that decides whether these sponsors achieve their business goals and remain in the sport. Frankly, as we’ve seen lately, many of the sponsors and fans are not happy.

I have never liked the chase. Motorsports as a rule don’t lend themselves to a playoff format. It’s not a stick and ball sport. I’d like to see the Chase go away in favor of a points system that awards the championship to the team that does the best from the green flag at the Daytona 500 to the checkers at Homestead. The previous system did that, but it did need a few adjustments to be sure the second place finisher did not walk away with more pints than the race winner.

The system under which championships are determined is a farce.

Carl won this years championship and Jeff Gordon won it in 2007 & 2004.

The arrogance of the whole 48 team is a big turn-off for me, and a lot of other fans. Jimmie may be a decent fellow, but he is about the most boring personality in the sport. I’m not suggesting he fake emotion to boost his populatity (which wouldn’t work in the long run, anyway), but he has failed to connect with a lot of us. Plus his team’s reputation (and history) for cheating hasn’t helped his cause.

This season sucked. I’m not hopeful about next year, either. I had primo tickets to Homestead. Previous years, wild horses wouldn’t have kept me away, but this year, I hawked them on eBay. It really isn’t worthwhile anymore.

Secondly, no, Carl would not have necessarily won under the old system. For one thing, if the points lead had been switched, both Jimmie and Carl would have employed different strategies at Homestead. It would have been Carl cautiously protecting his points lead and Jimmie going for broke and he had a fast enough car, he likely would have won under that scenario.

Third, Jimmie does admit his mistakes. I’ve heard him admit he screwed up in several cases. If you don’t acknowledge that, I think you are just blinded by your biases.

I care that Jimmie won. I think he’s a terrific driver with a terrific team. His accomplishment is at least equal to Cale’s. So many elements of racing are different, I’m not sure you can compare the two on any meaningful level but 3 championships is a rare achievement under any system.