[WVGrandma4Kasey]

"Earnhardt, Gordon and Stewart are three big stars on the bubble that need to be in the Chase. The reason that NASCAR is talking about tweaking the Chase for next year is because of what happened last year. If two of those three drivers happen to miss the Chase again this year, there's going to be some pandemonium."

I would comment on this but I can't aford a new keyboard, so I don't want to melt mine. OK so I will anyway, I am so sick of being told who is important. Don't 43 drivers make the field, maybe they should just stay home and let VIP do all the racing.
FOX Sports - NASCAR - NASCAR's biggest names on the Chase bubble

[LSC9901]

Good shot Grandma. My feeling is that if you get into the chase (which I dislike) then good for you. If you didn't make it then you and your team didn't do well enough .... or you got knocked out of the chase.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Good shot Grandma. My feeling is that if you get into the chase (which I dislike) then good for you. If you didn't make it then you and your team didn't do well enough .... or you got knocked out of the chase.

Precisely

[LoneStarGR]

NASCAR as a sport can't get caught up in changing the rules to cater to the most popular drivers. When the personalities involved become a bigger factor than the fair competition among all drivers you might as well have the WWF.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by LoneStarGR

NASCAR as a sport can't get caught up in changing the rules to cater to the most popular drivers. When the personalities involved become a bigger factor than the fair competition among all drivers you might as well have the WWF.

I have said that the France family is slowly turning it into the WWF anyway. They will bleed it dry and run away like a red headed stepchild !!!

[nailhead]

I'm sure I am in the minority here, but I wish we didn't have a Chase to begin with. I wish they would have just tweaked the old point system to reward winning more. The Chase is all about TV $$$. Also, lets face it, Your driver here is not going to sell as many hats, Tee shirts, etc as Junior, Tony, or Gordo if they are in the Chase (Question, does Nascar get some percentage of these sales? Probably.) I think they (France) are going after the "closet" Nascar fan that only watches if the big names are doing well. An analogy would be, how many of you watched World Cup soccer after the USA got bounced out of the tournament in the early rounds? (Not I for sure). Golf, tourneys with Tiger, Annika, or Michelle Wie draw much larger crowds and better TV ratings than ones without. So, marketing the "stars" is sound business strategy, even if we don't like the way France is trying to do it.

[LoneStarGR]

Originally Posted by nailhead

I'm sure I am in the minority here, but I wish we didn't have a Chase to begin with. I wish they would have just tweaked the old point system to reward winning more. The Chase is all about TV $$$. Also, lets face it, Your driver here is not going to sell as many hats, Tee shirts, etc as Junior, Tony, or Gordo if they are in the Chase (Question, does Nascar get some percentage of these sales? Probably.) I think they (France) are going after the "closet" Nascar fan that only watches if the big names are doing well. An analogy would be, how many of you watched World Cup soccer after the USA got bounced out of the tournament in the early rounds? (Not I for sure). Golf, tourneys with Tiger, Annika, or Michelle Wie draw much larger crowds and better TV ratings than ones without. So, marketing the "stars" is sound business strategy, even if we don't like the way France is trying to do it.

I do see your point. As a fan the race to the chase keeps me interested in the points, but it doesn't necessarily award the best driver with the championship. A driver could win a large number of races and build a large point lead only to have it erased when the playoffs start. If that driver does poorly in only the last ten does that mean he shouldn't be champion. NASCAR can have great seasons without a playoff, 1992 was pretty special.

[nailhead]

Also, (and I'm SURE this will bring out the haters) didn't I read somewhere that in the first year we had the Chase, if the old point system was still in place the Champion would have been......Jeff Gordon?

[Dupont4five]

I like the chase, I like the play-offs feel. The old point system was like if the World Series was rewarded to the team with the highest winning percentage, no fun, no drama, no care. Its important for Nascar for Stewart, Gordon and little e to make the chase, as important for MLB for BoSox, NyY and Cardinals to make the play-offs. Its all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ with NASCAR and thats unfortunate cause this sport would be so great without the greety people running it.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Dupont4five

I like the chase, I like the play-offs feel. The old point system was like if the World Series was rewarded to the team with the highest winning percentage, no fun, no drama, no care. Its important for Nascar for Stewart, Gordon and little e to make the chase, as important for MLB for BoSox, NyY and Cardinals to make the play-offs. Its all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ with NASCAR and thats unfortunate cause this sport would be so great without the greety people running it.

I disagree with this one on so many different levels that I'll just keep my mouth shut. I'll fall back on the old adage that people can always agree to disagree. No more comments from me in this particular thread.

[Quality88]

Question?..... Does it really suprise anyone that they are changing the format to get the "names" in. I knew it last year. As soon as Gordo and JR didn't make it, I knew they would make changes to ensure certain people make it.

[Dupont4five]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Question?..... Does it really suprise anyone that they are changing the format to get the "names" in. I knew it last year. As soon as Gordo and JR didn't make it, I knew they would make changes to ensure certain people make it.

See the problem is, is that if the "names" dont make it, like 80% of the fans will have no reason to finish watching the season and NASCAR will have 80% of the fans pissed with NASCAR and the ratings will plumit.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I disagree with this one on so many different levels that I'll just keep my mouth shut. I'll fall back on the old adage that people can always agree to disagree. No more comments from me in this particular thread.

Don't quit on me now Bob. I count on you to say the logical things that I miss in my rantings.

In other sports they play a regular season (162 baseball games) and T H E N have a playoff season. NA$(France)CAR wanted the big name$ in at the end so lets just cut the regular season and then make it impossible for anyone below 10th place to finish in the top 10. OH YEAH !!! That's real fair. As Tom Cruise once said "Show me the MONEY" ... or was that Brian France ?????

[3wide]

Originally Posted by Dupont4five

See the problem is, is that if the "names" dont make it, like 80% of the fans will have no reason to finish watching the season and NASCAR will have 80% of the fans pissed with NASCAR and the ratings will plumit.

I would think most fans would want to watch the races anyhow to see who wins them I'm neither a fan of Gordon or much of a Jr fan, so I can't say what the reaction was last year when they weren't in it. Did you guys still watch?

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Dupont4five

See the problem is, is that if the "names" dont make it, like 80% of the fans will have no reason to finish watching the season and NASCAR will have 80% of the fans pissed with NASCAR and the ratings will plumit.

Here's what I'm talking about. Nascar shouldn't be in this position. If the "NEW" breed of fan can't watch the last races just cause their driver is not in, then nascar is setting themselves up for failure (welcome to corporate sponsorship), cause let's face it sh__ happens, and a driver could be taken out at anytime. They should just go back to the old point system(with some tweeks). I still watched the races the last two years even though DJ was not in the hunt. I was rewarded with his victory at DEGA. There are alot of fans that are not like that( and I'm not always going to bethere when those fans bail out eventually move on to the next fad). Nascar is setting themselves up for failure. They should not be in this position.