How is it a driver can be in the Chase and not have a win before it starts? There are drivers below 12th in points with wins and will not have a chance to get in the Chase. If winning is so important, why not kick out those in the top 12 without a win, and let those with a win in? That would add drama and excitement.

A better idea would be to get rid of the Chase altogether.

Phil: agree about the chase. The only possible advantage to it is that perhaps the guy in 13th might be able to move up a slot if the chasers “fell back into the regular points” once eliminated. Would that ever have happened? Maybe not, but it’s the only advantage I can see to any form of elimination.

It also depends on how many they eliminate. One rumor is expanding the chase to 15. NO. NO WAY. Another rumor is have only two chasers at Homestead. NO. That’s so artificial as to be laughable.

Heck, I don’t like the chase in any way, shape, or form. Trying to fix it is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Until they implimented the Chase, NASCAR was the only major American sport that could stand up and say “we crown an indisputable champion”. Debatable, maybe, as in the case of Kenseth’s 1 win season, but completely and utterly indisputable – the beauty of the simplicity of the old system was: he who scores the most points win.

The way I see it, some years will be close, others will be a blow-out, but manufactured excitement will never last, and no matter what massive overhaul they make this time, within 2 years, they will be looking for someting bigger and better t prop up sagging ratings, as sports fans have been run off, race fans have been completely turned off, and TV viewers have found something new to watch for their weekly excitement. It’s a shame, because they took a sport that was entertaining, and turned it into an entertainment show, revolving around some track action.

Instead of proudly proclaiming the differences between themselves and other sports, they’ve made themselves into a stick and ball wannabe, and not very successfully. In a REAL sport, you have natural ebbs and flows – it’s part of it, and sports fans understand that.

I know it’s going to be some sort of goofy change that cheapens the championship even further, and it’s a shame. Because if you look at the “what-if” points that NOL itself keeps on its site, it’s likely that you would have the real and true drama of Jeff Gordon seeking championship #7 last year, and now this year, instead of bad feelings, anti-JJ/anti-Chad stuff, and sagging ratings. And, yes, I’m fully aware that just because someone scored the most points over 36 races but didn’t win the Chase, doesn’t necessarily mean they would have won the championship under the old system, but it is a good barometer, and all we have to go on. It’s really a shame, that it never did play out that way, becasue that really would have generated interest among race FANS.

I also have some stats to back up part of my argument. The following figures come from the seasons between 1990 and 2003. Yes, there were some very wide point margins (195, 444, 364, 201, 265, and 349). However, more frequently, the margins were much closer: 26, 10, 80, 34, 37, 14, 38, and 90. (You can read my full blog post on the topic here: http://www.racing-reference.info/showblog?id=383 )

The chase also makes late-summer races virtually irrelevant for many drivers. Only those around 7th-18th in the points are really racing for anything of significance right now.

What we really need is a traditional championship format but a brand new point system. I think I’ve said this on here before, but with all the changes NASCAR has made in recent years, why have we essentially stuck with a point system that was supposedly created on a napkin in a bar some 40 years ago? If getting wins and top-5s paid significantly more points than it does now and if points evened out and everyone from about 15th or 20th on back got about the same number of points, I believe that in itself would create a better championship battle.

Perhaps something like this…for 1st-15th: 30, 25, 21, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. Then 16th-20th, 5; 21st-25th, 4, 26th-30th, 3; 31st-35th, 2; 36th-43rd, 1. Winning would be worth nearly three times as much as a 10th-place finish. Under the current system, it’s not even worth 1 1/2 times as much.

Just for fun, can anyone w/o looking remember who won the final race of ’09 in Homestead? I couldn’t, and had to look to realize it was (?). But did find that Biffle won the final race three years straight (’04, 5 & 6). That’s impressive, but who knew? Point is that Chase overshadows a lot of good on-track stories. If NASCAR chooses to institute a true “elimination” format for 2011, there should be but only 2 cars on track come Homestead. Imagine if they were Keselowski and Edwards?

If I’m Brian France, I scrap the Chase. Go back to season long points, but by gosh I make a win worth so many points (like 2X over 2nd) that a team in the 10 spot w/ three tracks to go can make a power surge. Oh and pay the team w/ the most wins as much as the points Champ.

One thing what is important to a fan in the stand, is that at Indy you can not see much of the track other than what is in front you. I know of no other track that has that much view blocking stands on the inside of the track.

Decades ago you could see a fair amount of the track. Over time they added bleachers on the inside of the track. These added bleachers totally blocked any view you had of anything going on anywhere, unless it was in front of you.

I use to come home to watch the race on TV to find out what happened. This is one of the reasons I no longer attend the race.