All Purpose NASCAR Thread

The idea of the top 25 only getting points is because you could have teams making only part of the races and yet finishing higher than someone who has been there every week - regardless of whether they ran great and had bad luck or ran like crap.

There's all sorts of hypetheticals that you can throw out here, but the whole answer is that Brian France wanted to dress up the end of the season to give the networks something to pay more money for. The Chase sucks. Guys that have busted their butts all year to put their guy at the front of the pack week-in and week out, with no DNFs, could finish ninth or 10th in the final rundown with a couple of bad finishes in the Chase after having a huge lead, aka Harvick, for most of the year.

As for the lucky dog, it's an avenue for the drivers to race back sort of like what they did before. What they need to do is make it the first lapped car behind the leader - period, whether one lap of 190 down. That takes guys from just riding around as the fastest of the 1-lap down cars and forces them to race with the leaders to try to be there and adds a level of randomness and anticipation to go with it.

 

I just can't believe how negative this board is on the Chase. Are you freaking serious?

Other sports are copying it. It's a runaway success with the sponsors. It's added an entire new element to the sport...has anyone ever been so interested in who was 10th place before? Before reading these posts, I was naive enough to think the Chase was viewed almost unanimously as the best thing to hit NASCAR in years, save for the traditionalists who don't like any changes.

All sports, not just NASCAR, are about making the TV networks happy. And making the sponsors happy. What makes them happier than the Chase?

 

Too bad NASCAR, like most other professional sports governing bodies, isn't particularly interested in making the fans happy.

 

The Chase has been successful in terms of marketing, sponsors, etc. No one will argue that.

The Chase sucks when it comes to racing. Consistency, which NASCAR's points system is all about, is not awarded.

That's why The Chase ripoff will work in golf. It's not like most guys play every tournament every week.

 

Prime time in LA, baby!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :

 

ISC West to media: Your deadlines are not our problem.

 

California media to the Southeast racing writers.... deal with it.

Two years ago, we had to endure the likes of David Poole, the guy in Gastonia and a variety of other Southeast racing writers not named Nate Ryan (since he used to work out here, has more class than that and knows better) spend a week here on an exquisite whinefest.

Out came every California cliche' about how we're a bunch of ignorant o) soft, unworthy, hedonistic heathens for "stealing" their cherished Southern 500 -- as if it was Fontana's master plan to take a race away from anywhere. As Mile High and several other Inland Empireites can attest, the city of Fontana has a hard enough time figuring out which end of the crayon is up, let alone going into Professor Moriarty mode.

About the only things missing from these mindless rants were "Damn Yankees" cracks, strains of "Dixie," homage to Stonewall Jackson and references to the "War of Northern Aggression."

Jim Alexander of the Riverside P-E came back with a classic column (I wish I could find the link to it) putting Poole and Co. in their rightful place.

 

What, an 85% capacity crowd in Steel Town Fontana for a race that won't end 'til 11 p.m. ET isn't enough "tradition" for you? :

 

Fair enough, I can understand the defense of Darlington and I don't particularly care where the race is, but the anti-California crap was uncalled for, especially from the likes of who it came from.

Turn it around. I'm sure Dixie, LBJ, Slappy and some of our other fine posters from south of the Mason-Dixon Line wouldn't find a cracker column that mondo jovial.

 

If you're right, Birdscribe - and from what I gather, your reputation is very solid - then good for Alexander.

I don't blame David Poole, Monty Dutton (the Gastonia guy) and some of the others for being pissed off that the Southern 500 is dead. They were right to be pissed. But don't aim the columns at California. Aim them squarely at the France family and Mike Helton. They were the fools who messed with a tradition that didn't need to change for change's sake.

Does anyone on the NASCAR trail have the fortitude to criticize NASCAR, or do the fools in charge threaten to pull passes and make you time-out in adjacent room for daring to speak against their infallible product?

 

Nah, I'd rather blame Poole!

 

Somehow, Bubbler, I'm not surprised.

You and Poole would make for great drama. I work with a colleague who had audio of him shouting "WOULD YOU SHUT THE F_CK UP!" in the middle of a press room. Guys like that aren't just born ...