Nascar Chase For The Championship

[AquaBoogie]

‘CHASE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP’ CREATED FOR NASCAR NEXTEL CUP
NASCAR modifies how premier series champion is determined
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 20, 2004) – NASCAR announced today a modification in how the champion of its premier series is determined, creating a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup “Chase for the Championship” covering the last 10 races of the 36-race NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season.
“The Chase for the Championship will provide a better opportunity for more drivers to win the championship, creating excitement and drama throughout the entire season,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. “In addition, the Chase for the Championship will showcase our drivers’ talents, increasing the value for all teams and their sponsors.”
After the first 26 races of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season, all drivers in the NASCAR Top 10 and any others within 400 points of the leader will earn a berth in the “Chase for the Championship.”
No driver outside the top 10 with 10 races remaining has come back to win the championship of NASCARÂ’s premier series, under the current point system.
All drivers in the “chase” will have their point totals adjusted. The first-place driver in the standings will begin the chase with 5,050 points; the second-place driver will start with 5,045, etc. Incremental five-point drops will continue through the list of title contenders.
In addition, NASCAR is making a change to the current point system for the first time since the systemÂ’s 1975 inception, awarding 180 points to a race winner, compared to the previous award of 175 points. Five-point bonuses for leading a lap and leading the most laps still will be awarded.
The 180-point award will ensure that a race winner gets more points than a race runner-up. This change will be in effect starting this season for NASCAR’s three national series – NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, the NASCAR Busch Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
At seasonÂ’s end, every driver who finishes in the NASCAR Top 10 will receive a point-fund payout of at least $1 million, with the champion receiving more than $5 million. In addition, the 11th-place driver in the final standings will receive a $250,000 bonus.
“This new approach to determining our champion has both the drivers and the fans in mind,” Helton said.
“The Chase for the Championship will be a continuation of our season, with heightened drama. It will increase the spotlight on all competitors and increase the value of being in the series for all teams.
“This will be exciting – and fair. Since 1975, using the current point system, no driver has ever been outside the NASCAR Top 10 with 10 races remaining and come back to win the championship in our premier series. We added the 400-point cutoff to allow drivers outside the top 10 after 26 races to be included in the Chase for the Championship.”
The last time the point system for NASCARÂ’s premier series was altered was in 1975 when the current system, designed to reward consistency, was introduced. This marks the 11th time since 1949 that the point system has been changed.
The system instituted in ’75 remains virtually intact for NASCAR’s three national series – aside from the five additional five points for race winners.
In a safety-related move designed to limit the number of damaged cars returning to races merely to accumulate points, NASCAR will increase minimum-speed requirements, in lieu of altering the points breakdown for lower-finishing cars.

[91nordic29]

now how am i gonna run my pool? any ideas?

[HighRoller]

So what are all the other guys gonna do for the last ten races? Jack Off? Once again CashCar has proven that they are all about the show and forget about racing. If the guy in 10th is 400 points behind at the beginning of the 10 race deal, he will effectively get a 355 point "gift" from Nascar. Now, there is no incentive to get ahead in points, just make sure you don't fall further behind than 10th. And once you get behind with 15 races to go, there's no reason to run hard. I'm sure the sponsor of the 11th place car is gonna love this deal once his multi million dollar investment is flushed down the toilet 2/3rds of the way through the season!

[JakeAisA]

I like the new system. Well, I like the idea at least. They may need to tweek it to make it better, but at least they're trying to make the championship climactic. They lose a lot of viewership at the end of the season because 1) Most fans' drivers are out of the championship race, 2) Baseball is in the middle of thier playoffs and 3) THE GREATEST GAME ON EARTH (FOOTBALL) IS STARTING.
There's a reason why Fox chose the first half of the Nascar season to broadcast...becuase the second half of the season is a loser compared to football and the baseball playoffs.
If Junior or Waltrip aren't in the championship race at the end of the season I'm going to watch my Raider's get thier asses kicked instead and I'm going to watch my Trojans destroy whoever they're playing (assuming the SC game overlaps with a Saturday night race or something).
I love Nascar...but I'm not going to watch Matt Kennseth, or some other Ford driving bitch, race for the Championship when my guy is out of it. There's just too much competition for a boring Nascar season roundup to compete with in the fall.

[Laughlin Drunk]

The new system is not perfect. If a driver won all 26 of the first 26 races then DNF's in 5 of the last 10 it would clearly create a problem for NASCAR. You would have the driver of the best race season of all time NOT win the championship. It would suck.
But, let's be realistic. Sports are not JUST about who had the best season. If that were the case, we wouldn't have Super Bowls, March Madness, Baseball Playoffs, or Basketball Palyoffs. We could just go on winning percentage then have a one of the above bowl games ONLY to break a tie. But, let's face it... that is boring. Yes, it might not be fair that a wild-card team (read: 10th place driver) has the same chance to make the Super Bowl as an undefeated team, but it makes it a lot more interesting.
Sports are entertainment, and sometimes the structure of the game needs to be changed to make it more entertaining. It is just new rules; it is still pure competition.

[HyRider15]

Anyone notice how the current system was not much of a problem until Kenseth won............that poor bastard sure is unpopular with the NeckCAR fans

[Blown 472]

Originally posted by HyRider15
Anyone notice how the current system was not much of a problem until Kenseth won............that poor bastard sure is unpopular with the NeckCAR fans
thats cuz all them rednecks like them ernharts.:rolleyes:

[LASERRAY]

Originally posted by Blown 472
thats cuz all them rednecks like them ernharts.:rolleyes: You say that like it's a bad thing Blown;) :D

[twistedpair]

Originally posted by Blown 472
thats cuz all them rednecks like them ernharts.:rolleyes:
That's Mr. Earnhardt to you Mopar Boy, At least get the spelling right.:D ;)