Official NASCAR Series News Thread

[Yrogergj24]

I like this format, one overlooked positive change is that the bonus points accumulated pre-playoffs carry over through every round of the playoffs.

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yrogergj24

I like this format, one overlooked positive change is that the bonus points accumulated pre-playoffs carry over through every round of the playoffs.

Yeah, that's nice. The current format is definitely entertaining in the final 10 races, but it makes the first 26 races pretty drab and boring (once you get a race win, there's hardly anything to race for aside from just getting wins).

I am a fan of the traditional points system (i.e. Pre-Chase), and would prefer to see us return to that, but I know that's not going to happen. I hated the original Chase, but sort of liked the more recent Chase itself (it didn't necessarily reward the best driver, but that went out of the window with the Chase's implementation, anyways, and it was at least entertaining).

I need to read up on this new system to really get a read on it, but I am willing to give it a chance.

That being said, this does certainly wreak of desperation to me, as well.

[dochalladay32]

That's why I've never agreed with the chase, especially in it's current form. It really does make the regular season irrelevant because 80+% of the drivers will make it on a win. Some on a highly unlikely win. And even with bonus points, I don't know if it will change significantly how the season plays out. Outside of the plate races, I don't really see guys sandbagging and waiting to race. I will say I don't mind the Chase in it's current format either. But if you keep changing it, I'll give up on it at some point.

Traditional points is where it was at. NASCAR is like the English Premier League. Everybody races everybody. There is no need for a playoff to undermine what you spent 26, however many races, to determine. It's like the Big XII who wants a title game after you play a round-robin regular season. Great, it makes you money, but now what happens if #1 beat #2 in the regular season and #2 beats #1 in the championship game? You done screwed up.

In NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin don't race each other only 5 times a year and show the need for a playoff to determine who is better. You race each other every week. Do that 36 times. Whoever comes out ahead more often is the champion. It was that simple. They didn't have to change it to increase the fan base in the 80's and 90's. Obviously you can't prove it, but they'd probably still lose fans in the 00's if they hadn't changed things... or maybe some might have stuck around if they had left it alone. Artificially recreating 1992 every year means you can never make the finish to a season any more exciting than you have it now. What happens when fans keep walking a way?

[Turbojugend]

I'm probably a more casual fan than most, but I like these changes, or at least the way they are being presented by NASCAR. I don't follow point totals, I just want to see great start-to-finish racing.

Honestly, I'm more concerned with emerging personalities than rules/points changes. Guys like Petty, Allisons, Yarborough, etc. are what initially drew tons of newer fans to the sport back in the day. Then a newer generation (Earnhardt, Waltrip, etc.) came along and did pretty much the same thing, and then another (Gordon, Smoke, etc.). Now many of those guys are have retired or soon will. Who is going to fill these shoes and become the next superstar for a new generation of fans?

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by Turbojugend

I'm probably a more casual fan than most, but I like these changes, or at least the way they are being presented by NASCAR. I don't follow point totals, I just want to see great start-to-finish racing.

This may work. But any fan who thinks a driver will throw a car sideways into the final corner to earn "valuable" points from one of the first two segments is nuts. Nobody will risk missing the second or third segment due to a big wreck.

Quote: Originally Posted by Turbojugend

Honestly, I'm more concerned with emerging personalities than rules/points changes. Guys like Petty, Allisons, Yarborough, etc. are what initially drew tons of newer fans to the sport back in the day. Then a newer generation (Earnhardt, Waltrip, etc.) came along and did pretty much the same thing, and then another (Gordon, Smoke, etc.). Now many of those guys are have retired or soon will. Who is going to fill these shoes and become the next superstar for a new generation of fans?

Good point. And the answer is no one. The personality of drivers has been sanitized from the sport. None of the supposed "young guns" of NASCAR other than Kyle Busch resonates with any fans. Logano, Austin Dillon, Larson, Chase Elliott -- ZZZZZZZZZ.

NASCAR is facing a superstar crossroads in the next five years. Smoke, Gordon and Edwards already have retired. Johnson, Junior and Harvick all will be gone within five years.

It's very similar to what happened in IndyCar racing from 1991-94. Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Danny Sullivan, Al Unser, Tom Sneva, Gordon Johncock and Johnny Rutherford -- all American racing legends and Indy 500 winners -- all retired within that span.

No question The Split that started in 1996 was a big factor behind the demise of American open-wheel racing. But so was that huge talent drain, a fact no one wants to acknowledge because it doesn't fit the false media and fan narrative that Tony George is the antichrist.

[UFCMPunk]

Quote: Originally Posted by superjames1992

I am a fan of the traditional points system (i.e. Pre-Chase), and would prefer to see us return to that, but I know that's not going to happen. I hated the original Chase, but sort of liked the more recent Chase itself (it didn't necessarily reward the best driver, but that went out of the window with the Chase's implementation, anyways, and it was at least entertaining). That being said, this does certainly wreak of desperation to me, as well.

I also agree with you in the fact that it does wreak of desperation. I really wasn't a fan of the last system with the whole 16 Drivers, down to 12, 8 then final 4. NASCAR isn't March Madness. I thought the 12 Driver Chase system was better because you have the top 10, and essentially the two wild card spots. Plus there was a battle within the Championship Chase to make the Top 10 to make it to the Banquet.

To me, NASCAR has made so many tweaks to try to manufacture drama and not let the drama come naturally. I think on top of the ever constant points system change along with the lack of drivers to keep fans interested, NASCAR is going to lose more fans.

[franko3219]

Quote: Originally Posted by UFCMPunk

To me, NASCAR has made so many tweaks to try to manufacture drama and not let the drama come naturally. I think on top of the ever constant points system change along with the lack of drivers to keep fans interested, NASCAR is going to lose more fans.

That is the problem, they have plenty of drama that can come naturally, but they only want "clean" drama. God forbid drivers put people in the wall anymore. Don't get me wrong, I never want to see a driver get hurt, and drivers need to be smart about how they handle their business, but when drivers can't have personalities, it really drains the sport of excitement. I was a big fan of the concept of, "boys have at it", but as soon as the people who never watched the sport started to complain, NASCAR bowed down. NASCAR is rooted as a sport of rebels and going against society (moonshiner runners), but apparently the decision makers have forgotten that along the way.

[pk500]

"Boys, have at it," was one of the worst decisions NASCAR has made. Racing should be about who can drive the fastest and most skillfully, not who has the widest chrome horn.

The Truck Series finish last August on the road course at Mosport, in which the winner drove the leader into the fence on the final straightaway, was appalling. Any other sanctioning body would have removed the victory for the driver who pile-drove the leader into the wall, and rightfully so. That's not racing.