I was looking around at the unofficial driver standings on Nascar's website (I find it odd that they keep track of the "what if" points) and wondered how many fans would be rooting for Johnson if the chase wasn't in effect: Johnson is only 80 points behind Stewart after Martinsville and rallying. Stewart, having dominated early in the season is trying to hang on to his lead with only a few races to go (It reminds me a lot of the recently decided F1 championship. Fans were adamant in cheering for the 3rd place Vettel or the 2nd place Barrichello to overtake the increasingly lackluster Button).

Ironic, isn't it, that the very Chase which Jimmie Johnson does so well is robbing him of the excitement of his charge to the front and alienating him from the fans?

ADDR - 27 October 2009 01:42 PM

I was looking around at the unofficial driver standings on Nascar's website (I find it odd that they keep track of the "what if" points) and wondered how many fans would be rooting for Johnson if the chase wasn't in effect: Johnson is only 80 points behind Stewart after Martinsville and rallying. Stewart, having dominated early in the season is trying to hang on to his lead with only a few races to go (It reminds me a lot of the recently decided F1 championship. Fans were adamant in cheering for the 3rd place Vettel or the 2nd place Barrichello to overtake the increasingly lackluster Button).

Ironic, isn't it, that the very Chase which Jimmie Johnson does so well is robbing him of the excitement of his charge to the front and alienating him from the fans?

Either way, old format or Chase, I enjoy the events. I am a traditionalist but do see some merit in the Chase format.

One thing you fail to recognize that racing prior to Chase events is different than if they ran the old season-long format.

Sorta like the '07 Giants limping into the playoffs and then handing New England their first loss of the year. Or the '83 NC State team winning the NCAA tourney. The regular season just sets the table for the real test.

It's really heating up now. Jimmie Johnson pulls ahead of Tony Stewart by 7 points. Jeff Gordon is 79 points back in third. With three races left, anything can happen.

Doesn't matter to me how he wins his championships. I don't feel alienated at all.

JPM still top ten. Me likey.

Before people cried cried cried waa waa waa the cup leaders dont have many wins or whatever. Now we have the #1 guy with the most wins and the #2 guy second most wins an there is still all sorts of bawling going on LOL! I hate the chase but when you look at the old system versus the dumb chase the top 5 for the most part are usually the same if not very very close. The way nascar awards points doesnt help make racing exciting, even a chase. They need a system like F1 or something that only awards points for the top 10 and have it be a drastic difference from 1st to 10th not 5 or 10 points different for each spot 100 75 50 30 20 10 7 5 3 1 for the top 10 should get drivers and teams more motivated to race instead of pussyfoot around

fbx22 - 02 November 2009 10:46 PM

They need a system like F1 or something that only awards points for the top 10 and have it be a drastic difference from 1st to 10th not 5 or 10 points different for each spot 100 75 50 30 20 10 7 5 3 1 for the top 10 should get drivers and teams more motivated to race instead of pussyfoot around

What if Nascar used the F1 points system?

Those are pre-Talladega and even more exciting.

ADDR - 03 November 2009 12:02 AM

fbx22 - 02 November 2009 10:46 PM

They need a system like F1 or something that only awards points for the top 10 and have it be a drastic difference from 1st to 10th not 5 or 10 points different for each spot 100 75 50 30 20 10 7 5 3 1 for the top 10 should get drivers and teams more motivated to race instead of pussyfoot around

What if Nascar used the F1 points system?

Those are pre-Talladega and even more exciting.

Nice job putting that together. I agree totally, that would be way better than the current fake thing. There are still people in the top ten who haven't won races but they, and the rest of the field, have an opportunity over all races to compete for the championship or get into the top ten.

When you lock out 3/4's of the competitors after 2/3's of a season and you don't have to win to get into the finals, thats not a sport. Thats entertainment.

I'm just passing along links, but take a look at that 36races blog. It has a lot of unique statistics.

e92sam - 03 November 2009 01:05 AM

When you lock out 3/4's of the competitors after 2/3's of a season and you don't have to win to get into the finals, thats not a sport. Thats entertainment.

I agree. Though, isn't it interesting that the all of these non-chase points races would produce a more entertaining championship than the more "entertaining" chase?

SolidEther - 27 October 2009 03:11 PM

One thing you fail to recognize that racing prior to Chase events is different than if they ran the old season-long format.

Sorta like the '07 Giants limping into the playoffs and then handing New England their first loss of the year. Or the '83 NC State team winning the NCAA tourney. The regular season just sets the table for the real test.

Comparing racing to other sports = Wrong on so many levels.

ESPN broadcasters, I'm talking to you too.

Why in the world does Nascar do this to themselves? They're trying to promote the "more competitive" chase format and at the same time showing us that under the old format we'd theoretically have a close finish. What's even more bizarre is that keeping track of this "what if" scenario isn't even realistic, at least concerning Johnson/Knaus. It's no fluke they have better results in the chase. They would have won their championships under either format.

"They need a system like F1 or something that only awards points for the top 10 and have it be a drastic difference from 1st to 10th not 5 or 10 points different for each spot 100 75 50 30 20 10 7 5 3 1 for the top 10"

I'd be for a system like this, but maybe not so steep. There's not a lot of motivation when you're 11th racing for 10th. Maybe a multiplier of .75 between spots (100, 75, 56, 42, 32, 24, 18, 13, 10, 8)