We have just two races to go before the chase for the Sprint Cup begins and at this point there is still a lot of room for change.
Off the top I know I lot of people aren’t fans of the Chase format. The format could potentially reward someone with a championship, not because they were the best all season, but because they were the best in the last few races. I get that. And honestly I didn’t mind the old format.
I can’t say I was always the biggest Chase fan, but over the last couple of seasons I have become an advocate. It injects some excitement into the season that didn’t exist in the past and leaves open the opportunity for more drivers to make a run at the championship even though they may have had some bad luck early on.
Look at this season for instance. Mark Martin has had by all accounts a good year, but there have been some trouble spots. As a result he is sitting tenth in points. In previous years he would have been out of it, but he has four wins and when the Chase resets he’ll be on top with a real shot at winning the championship.
On top of that we have guys like Juan Pablo Montoya who is sitting ninth with a chance of winning the championship. Or how about Tony Stewart? Or Kurt Busch?
The story behind some of these chasers are good ones too. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing finally has something positive in front of them after a rough couple of seasons for both organizations. Tony Stewart, a new team owner, has both of his cars in the chase. Kurt Busch, who has not been great since his championship win in 2004 is looking reinvigorated. And Jimmie Johnson going for his fourth straight championship win?
The point is the Chase is making the points race exciting this season. We have just two races until the Chase begins and the final lineup for the Chase is far from decided. Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann are all outside but have a shot at making it and seventh place on back are far from secure in their positions.
We still have a lot of season to go but I for one am excited to see how the Chase pans out.
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on Aug 24th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Well said, Journo. After similar early doubts, I’ve also become a convert to the excitement of the Chase in the last couple of years and this year is shaping up as one of the best to date.
But there are going to be some really good teams who will be on the outside looking in this year, and given the still-difficult economic times, I’m curious whether the non-Chase teams will approach the remaining races differently. Will we see start & park from previously competitive teams? Will marginal teams skip some races or shut down altogether for the rest of the year? Guess we’ll see.
on Aug 24th, 2009 at 9:32 am
All good fireworks shows have “fake finales”.
Concerts have “encores” (meaning there was a fake finale). The best sex always several moments of …uh…well I wont go there, but the point is; A build up of excitement, leading to a spectaular, spine tingling crescendo is always better than knowing something is going to conclude soon with an inevitable conclusion.
Before the chase, the season was over usually with 4 races to go. The chase grabs the attention of people who may not have been watching. It may even attract some people who may have been boycotting.
The coming cutoff is exciting. Two more races to go before the fake finale. Who is on the bubble?, who is in?, who is out?, what little thing blew it?, what littlething made it?
I dont agree with a lot of wierd things which NASCAR does, but I have to admit…..yeah, I agree with Journo, the chase cutoff/reset makes it more exciting.
on Aug 24th, 2009 at 9:52 am
The format is totally disappointing, and it has awarded Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson (twice) with championships they didn’t deserve. If the idea is to keep things closer for competition sake throughout the season until its end, all NASCAR had to do was give far less points per race (really, 185 is ridiculous), accent winning more, and make races at the end worth more than those at the beginning. The whole point of the traditional championship was to recognize the best average finisher through the season. Now, NASCAR rewards the best finisher in 10 races out of 36. How do we even compare Kurt Busch’s “championship” with Alan Kulwicki’s?
on Aug 24th, 2009 at 9:55 am
I agree. This season is interesting with a number of first-time winners, and a number of different strategies to get in to the Chase.
The only thing I don’t really like is the lack of identity of the Chase. The regular season gives a good indication of who will contend, and who won’t. But then again, it’s never been a good indicator…unless you count 2006.
I’d love to see a dramatic re-thinking of the point structure in the Chase. For the record, I don’t go for all these “win or nothing” arguments…most of the time a driver doesn’t have a car capable of winning, so there is no point in making such a rare occurrence a priority. Podium finishes are fine. Let the playoff teams play a different game…anything interesting, like if you get a top 10 finish you get points, and if you don’t, then you get no points. Let them change their strategies…give them sudden death after two races…eliminate the bottom two teams after each two races, and therefore two guys are gonna battle things out over the last two races…there is so much opportunity…
on Aug 24th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Sure some things need to be tweaked, but I don’t understand how anyone hates the Chase as compared to the old way of merely having a points winner.
Maybe some of you old timers can tell me what I’m missing (I admit, I’m a very new fan). Back before the Chase it seems that by the time August rolled around, all but maybe 3-5 drivers were out of it. And a lot of the drivers that were out of it were good drivers who were deserving of a championship.
I do think the 10 points for wins doesn’t separate drivers enough once the Chase starts. Martin’s 4 would give him only 40 points advantage over those who have zero wins. I also think wins alone shouldn’t be the bonus scenario. Maybe 20-30 points for wins, 10 points for top 5’s?
That would help the regular season be more exciting. Of course racing for wins is important, but racing for a top 5 puts a lot of drivers more “into it”
on Aug 24th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Journo – I agree with you, but I would like to see them take the Chase even further towards a real playoff. Maybe even allow more cars in. I think the excitement/drama of not knowing who is going to advance each day is what makes other championships attractive to fans/viewers – whether they are die hard fans or casual ones.
Forget the “season-long” championship. What other sport rewards people for being consistently good for the year with a championship? Even in college football you have to win the title game to be a champion.
I have heard people say, “but what about getting caught up in a wreck, blown engine, had a bad day, etc…” Tell that to an Olympic athlete that has trained for years and stumbles over a hurdle, slipped on the dismount, etc… They are done. Maybe they will have a shot at gold in four more years. Or maybe they will have aged out of their sport by then. But they are not given a gold because of what they had done in the past.
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament has a huge draw every year. A huge part of that draw is that there are upsets and Cinderella stories…or at least the chance for one. A team could be the #1 seed and they still have to play the game. Their season (and maybe basketball career) could end that day. Not, “Oh well, we still have a good lead and try to stay out of trouble next week.”
I get tired of….He only has to finish 14/15th in these last 3 races to clinch. Or, he just has to start the race next week.
Look at 2007-2008 NCAA season…before the season began a lot of pundants had them & Hansborough winning the championship and then Tyler would leave to go pro. Guess what, they had a really good season. If they were to award the championship based on the regular season alone, they would likely have gotten it. But they actually had to play in the semi-final and they were horrible. They lost & went home.
Let’s see an underdog win – or at least give them a shot.
on Aug 24th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Christopher,
” Back before the Chase it seems that by the time August rolled around, all but maybe 3-5 drivers were out of it. And a lot of the drivers that were out of it were good drivers who were deserving of a championship”
If they deserved it, they would have shown it by August.
on Aug 25th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure NASCAR has a plan in the works to award the first driver outside of the Chase points a Lucky Dog free pass to get in. Why not? They race each week like that. Insert sarcasm.
on Aug 25th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I like the chase format for the most part. I think it rewards consistency not just wins. I have only one change I would make. I think that whoever the points leader is at the time the chase ends should get 10 bonus points as if he had an extra win.
on Aug 25th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Neon – I heard they were putting in a past champions provisional for the Chase.
on Aug 25th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Why have points at all? Each race simply pays money based on finishing position w/ a premium for a single winner. He/she that wins the most races gets a special bonus at years end.
In the end, the driver/team w/ the most wins, or combination of wins and finishing positions garners the most coin anyway. Seems simple enough, Ay?
on Aug 25th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
switters – “The format is totally disappointing, and it has awarded Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson (twice) with championships they didn’t deserve.”
If I had a buck for every time I’ve read this argument I’d buy out Hendrick Motorsports.
Both drivers and their respective teams were aware of the rules prior to season start correct?
Both drivers and their respective teams operated within those rules and did in fact deserve the accolades received.
It’s not like they hit 70 home runs while bloated by steroid use correct?
on Aug 25th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I am not certain that the present is best, I am not completely convinced the Chase is the best possible format to play out the season on. But I don’t have a clue what possible framework would lead to a better result and in years of surfing and reading nearly everything written concerning the chase, I don’t think anyone has verbalized a clear-cut alternative to either the old-style season or the new chase. So let’s hear some workable clever ideas, and we’ll get on the bandwagon.
on Aug 25th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Holmes – my general thinking is to use something like the current points system to get into the playoffs, but add some “wildcard” spots for drivers with wins, most podiums, whatever. Maybe you end up with a minimum of 15-20 drivers in the playoffs.
Shorten the length of the playoffs so it is not so long. I hate the Stanley Cup playoffs. They start in mid-April and go until mid-June. It is impossible to maintain the fans’ attention or excitement that long. So, maybe it is 5 races.
As someone mentioned above, let’s do sudden death. Forget previous points, wins, etc. Of the 15 guys in the playoff, the lowest finishing 3 are out. You end up with 3 guys in the final race that have a shot at the championship.