[Bob Tanner]

Today in Athlon Racing, Mike McLaughlin writes:

• Can you feel the buzz coast to coast? Can you feel the mounting excitement that is gripping race fans across the country with a fever that keeps them awake at night? Race fans are gripped with anticipation leading up to the Richmond race that will decide the Chase field, right? Can you feel it?
  
  No? Me either.
  
  I hang out in all the wrong places, the sort of places where stock car racing discussion was once a staple of debate. But in the taprooms, the garages and the back streets enlivened by the sound of street racers warming their big block engines, NASCAR racing has long since become an asterisk to the big picture. The Car of Tomorrow, McRaces at cookie cutter McTracks waged between vanilla ice cream drivers with all the soul of Barney the Dinosaur and the dying hype have long since relegated NASCAR coverage to the local dump outside of the town of Relevance in the common culture.

Mike, an alternate suggestion is to simply make the championship a whole lot less relevant.

One way might be to do completely away with points. Make the championship depend on purse money (not the subsidiary money from various companies involved in the race and is awarded depending on what decals your car carries) won in the races. Or simply cut the amount of money awarded to the champion to... Let's say $1.5 million and put the rest of the end-of-season money back into purses at select races.

Another would be to give, say 50 more points for winning, 25 points for 2nd and 15 for third.

For the whole story, go to: http://www.athlonsports.com/racing/1...izzle-no-steak

[boplenty]

Bob, regarding making the championship based on purse money: Matt Kenseth is currently 12th in the chase but is the leading money winner.

[OregonSHRFan]

Originally Posted by boplenty

Bob, regarding making the championship based on purse money: Matt Kenseth is currently 12th in the chase but is the leading money winner.

Making the Championship based on purse money would entail making all the races pay the same; otherwise any winner at the higher paying tracks would have an advantage. (gee, isn't that why Kenseth is leading in earnings?)

Making it about wins or making it about consistent results, that has always been the debate. Remember when Kenseth won the Championship without winning a race? That was a factor in changing into this POS we call The Chase. The decision makers thinking that if someone doesn't win, they don't deserve to be a champion. Or they thought it wasn't exciting enough for us fans. Well, this fan says the old points Championship was way more exciting then this media contrived extraveganza.

Lets get back to racing. And racing isn't always about being the winner; its about getting the best finish your ride allows for.

[kkfan91]

Originally Posted by OregonSHRFan

Making the Championship based on purse money would entail making all the races pay the same; otherwise any winner at the higher paying tracks would have an advantage. (gee, isn't that why Kenseth is leading in earnings?)

Making it about wins or making it about consistent results, that has always been the debate. Remember when Kenseth won the Championship without winning a race? That was a factor in changing into this POS we call The Chase. The decision makers thinking that if someone doesn't win, they don't deserve to be a champion. Or they thought it wasn't exciting enough for us fans. Well, this fan says the old points Championship was way more exciting then this media contrived extraveganza.

Lets get back to racing. And racing isn't always about being the winner; its about getting the best finish your ride allows for.

So you'd rather have stewert running away with a 230+ point lead?

[OregonSHRFan]

I want who ever has been performing the best to be on top. If its by a 95,460,987 point advantage or a 1 point advantage, the best performer should win the championship. Sure Mark Martin has won 4 races this year but he has had some terrible finishes as well; in short, he has not been as consistent as Stewart. Its not all been the fault of Mark, he has been a part of other peoples misfortunes.
Take the car you are given, work as a team to get it to the most optimal finish you can. Luck plays into it, strategy (pit stops, fuel) play into it, how good the team can get the car together and how good can the driver do with the car also.
If a driver/car running in say the 5th position and the driver pushes things beyond what he and the car are capable of doing to get more spots/points, wrecks the car and finished 37th, what good is that? He has thrown away 5th by over driving what he has. These guys know how good they are, they know if they are in 5th if they have a realistic chance to get to the front purely on driving, not pit or fuel strategy.
The manipulation for entertainment purposes is what I do not agree with. That is what NASCAR/Brian France have turned the Championship into.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by OregonSHRFan

Making the Championship based on purse money would entail making all the races pay the same; otherwise any winner at the higher paying tracks would have an advantage. (gee, isn't that why Kenseth is leading in earnings?)

Making it about wins or making it about consistent results, that has always been the debate. Remember when Kenseth won the Championship without winning a race? That was a factor in changing into this POS we call The Chase. The decision makers thinking that if someone doesn't win, they don't deserve to be a champion. Or they thought it wasn't exciting enough for us fans. Well, this fan says the old points Championship was way more exciting then this media contrived extraveganza.

Lets get back to racing. And racing isn't always about being the winner; its about getting the best finish your ride allows for.

To you and Boplenty: Good points about the money winnings. I'll gladly back down on that one.

I am total agreement that the old point system was much better. What this new POS (I like that acronym, it is so descriptive and appropriate) has done is bring points racing to an unheard of level. All it is, is a measurement of success which has been used in S&B since forever. What everyone, Brian France and the new fans especially, just don't "get," is that stock car racing IS NOT S&B. It just doesn't equate.

I would like to see them go back to the way things were prior to RJR's entering the game. The emphasis was on the individual race and not the season championship. The bulk of the prize money was paid during the season as race purses. At the banquet they gave some recognition, a little money and trophies, had a good meal, some drinks, then everyone when home.

I don't know about anyone else but I watch NA__AR for the racing, NOT the ongoing maneuvering for a playoff berth, and most of all, NOT for some supercilious banquet! I find it about as enthralling as watching the Academy Awards, and just about as phony.

I think Junior Johnson had the right idea. He has been quoted as saying, "I always thought winning the race was the most important thing. If I did that I figured the championship would take care of itself. If we had more of THAT attitude today we'd have a hell of a lot better racing.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by kkfan91

So you'd rather have stewert running away with a 230+ point lead?

I don't care. It's not about the championship; it's about the race.

[boplenty]

Bob, the quote at the bottom of your post "Every government interference..." could be translated as ""The Chase" interference in the "championship" consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some "drivers" at the expense of others."

[LSC9901]

I do ever so much agree that the race at hand is what the driver and team should be concerned with. Problem is we are now a source of entertainment and what we once were, we'll never be again. There is plenty of blame to go around but the over riding factor here is that we cannot ever return to where we once were. The days of trying to win the race are gone. Today it is about points and speaking the sponsors name into the camera. Where we are today has been a slow moving evolution to the field of entertainment. It is with the greatest joy that I come here to this forum and complain about where we are today versus where we were when I first noticed racing at this level. I will never be 25 again and NASCAR will never be about (my memory of) racing again.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I do ever so much agree that the race at hand is what the driver and team should be concerned with. Problem is we are now a source of entertainment and what we once were, we'll never be again. There is plenty of blame to go around but the over riding factor here is that we cannot ever return to where we once were. The days of trying to win the race are gone. Today it is about points and speaking the sponsors name into the camera. Where we are today has been a slow moving evolution to the field of entertainment. It is with the greatest joy that I come here to this forum and complain about where we are today versus where we were when I first noticed racing at this level. I will never be 25 again and NASCAR will never be about (my memory of) racing again.

The sad thing is, as far as I'm concerned, that so many of the new fans have no memory or interest in the way it was when it was actually NASCAR. They believe that what we have today is an improvement.

[nascar_freak]

I say do away with the chase, go back to the way it was.

[boplenty]

I haven't thought this completely through but how about this scenario: Rather than "The Chase" format of bunching the top 12 together, why not let the points standings remain the same and give the last 10 races extra points for finishing 1st or 1st thru 3rd. This, I believe, would keep a guy with a big lead from coasting and more importantly, put the emphasis on winning the race. Just a thought. Whatcha think?

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by boplenty

I haven't thought this completely through but how about this scenario: Rather than "The Chase" format of bunching the top 12 together, why not let the points standings remain the same and give the last 10 races extra points for finishing 1st or 1st thru 3rd. This, I believe, would keep a guy with a big lead from coasting and more importantly, put the emphasis on winning the race. Just a thought. Whatcha think?

That's another good idea. Almost ANYTHING is better than this abominable pseudo- stick&ball scenario we have today.