Nascar released their new points system last night. Sounds like something we've heard before. It is supposed to be easier for the fans to understand and put more of an emphasis on winning. Don't we hear that every year?? First of all I don't think the fans will ever understand how the NASCAR points system works. But the way I understand it, the winner of a race will receive 43 points plus a 3 point bonus for winning the race. Second place will receive 42 points decreasing by one point per spot finished. So, to be clear the difference between finishing first and second is 4 points?? So if you win 4 races per year, and in most years, that's a LOT, that's 16 points. Yeah, that's really rewarding you for a win. That will not change anything. Drivers will be just as conservative as they always have been. The second or third place driver will still take that finish with the opinion that those 4 or 5 points is not worth the risk of going for it. Several things can happen. They could still not gain a spot. They could try to pass, get hung up and drop several spots, and a worst case scenario, crash and finish at the bottom. Those few points are not worth that risk. This will not change how teams and drivers aproach those last few laps. The biggest change they made was to the "Chase". The first 10 drivers will still qualify by points as before, but the last 2 spots will be "Wild Card" qualifiers. The drivers between the 11th and 20th spot with the most wins will qualify. This sounds ok, but realisticly, how is that going to work. the most wins these drivers will have is 2. IF a driver has very many more wins than that, they will be in the top 10. What happens if you have 3 or 4 drivers with the same number of wins? What's the tiebreaking procedure?
If they really want to change the system, change the playoff system. Going into the season, we already know who's going to win the championship. Same as the last four years. If you want to change things, change this. I don't imagine I'm the only fan tired of Jimmy Johnson. How about rewarding drivers for their points in the first 26 races. In 2009 Tony Stewart went into the chase with a 237 point lead over Jeff Gordon. The following year Kevin Harvick went into the chase with a 219 point lead over Jeff Gordon. He started the chase in 3rd place. He finished the chase 3rd behind Hamlin and Johnson, who were placed in front of him. He got nothing for the #1 ranking after 26 races. Let's make a comparison. On one hand the New England Patriots went into the playoffs with a #1 seed, tops in the AFC and lost their first game. But, on the other hand, they had the best record in the AFC and got the #1 seed, and home field advantage. How fair would it be if the Patriots were given the #3 seed? The reward for finishing with the best record in the conference is having to play on the first weekend, etc. Then let's give the Chiefs the #1 seed because they were 4-0 against the NFC West. Then since we're in a giving mood, let's give the 8-8 Raiders a playoff spot over the Jets because they finished 6-0 in their division. How fair is this?? Well, that's how the NASCAR points system works. Denny Hamlin jumped 9 spots to the top spot. Jimmy Johnson jumped 5 spots to #2, while Harvick dropped to third and Jeff Gordon dropped from the second spot, all the way to #8. The previous year Stewarts lead was wiped out, and Mark Martin moved up 9 spots to the top spot, while second place Jeff Gordon dropped to 6th. That sounds pretty fair, doesn't it?? Johnson eventually won his 3rd and 4th championship. Harvick's reward was a 3rd place finish, Stewarts reward was a 6th place finish. NASCAR does need to put more emphasis on winning. I agree with that. But, NASCAR is more about winning. The only time they are rewarding wins is in seeding the top 12. If the other spots aren't as important, why do they keep track of top 5 and top 10 finishes?? Because they are important as well. Harvick had 16 top 5 finishes and 26 top 10 finishes. That is more than any other drivers. That means he finished in the top 10 in 2/3 of the races. That is why he was leading points, not his 3 wins. This needs to be rewarded to. Racing is different than football. In racing, it's about consistency. That's why they keep track of top 5 and 10 finishes.
The "wild card" system is a joke. Last season after the "Regular Season", meaning the 26th race, the drivers in 11 to 20 place had 5 wins, one driver with 2 and three drivers with one win. In 2009 there were 4 wins, one with 2, and two with 1. In '07 there were three drivers with 1 win each. Getting the idea. The "wild card" idea sounds like a good plan, but realistically it's not going to change things any more than their rewards for a win. Making another comparison NASCAR is like the BCS. They took an imperfect system and made a joke out of it. They started with good intentions to try and improve an imperfect system and just made things worse. They try to improve the system they came up with because they think they can make it better and fair, mainly because they are too proud to admit that they were wrong. NASCAR was better off under their old points system than they are now with this "Playoff" just as college football was better off in the Pre-BCS days.
Race #36 is just as important to me as race #2. Their biggest race is the Daytona 500, the first race of the season. And that's never going to change. How about doing away with the "playoff" system and changing the schedule around. NASCAR wants to make the end of the season more meaningful, draw more viewers, give people the races they want to see at the end of the season. Put a Bristol race, a Daytona race, a Darlington race, an Indianapolis race, a Charlotte race in the final 10 races instead of a Loudon, Dover, or Phoenix race. Kansas or Chicago is going to have the same draw in March or April than October. This would draw a lot more attention than the current system. Why not start the season in Daytona and finish in Charlotte? These two tracks have the most history in NASCAR. Why not have a 2 week race like Daytona, having a shootout one weekend, qualifying during the week and a big race to close out the season? Sounds pretty good to me. Sounds a lot better then watching Jimmy Johnson win his 5th title in a row.
I used to be a pretty big NASCAR fan. NASCAR is the biggest spectator sport in America. Their fans are very loyal. I am only one fan. But my interest in NASCAR has diminished considerably since they started this chase for the cup. The last two season's my favorite two driver's have been robbed of the championship they earned and deserved. NASCAR fans are very loyal and in the grand scheme of things probably won't change much in the eyes of most fans. But they've lost this one, and these changes aren't bringing me back any time soon. Good luck to everyone else. Better start practicing your congratulations Jimmy speeches. Another season or two and you will have it memorized.
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