How would you change the Chase?
So if you could be Brian France for a day, what would you do?
Other than move to anywhere else in the world other than Daytona Beach, that is.
Dustin Long's grand plan: Change the Chase. In today's paper, he throws out several ideas for tweaking the points race that will become oh-so-controversial if Kasey Kahne and his five wins don't make it and if winless (but consistent) Mark Martin and Jeff Burton do. (If Junior or Jeff Gordon gets skunked again, watch out.)
Dustin worked through some ideas that have been kicking around for awhile:
* a wild card (which would get Kahne in)
* dump bonus points for leading laps (which would tighten the race)
* give extra to the winner and something for winning a pole
* go to a playoff system (the one Jeff Burton has proposed)
* give double points at selected tracks (talk about wild!)
* award the same points to everyone who finishes 25 or so on back (which Jeff Gordon likes and which Formula 1 uses).
Me, I like the idea of rewarding winners and punishing losers. Anything to make drivers race instead of just drive (see last week's race at California) is an improvement. So, too, is figuring out how to get those hoodless junkers off the track at Bristol and Martinsville. I also like the idea that Ron Fellows or Scott Pruett could have two really good road-course races and could finish the season higher in the standings than Travis Kvapil or David Stremme.
And, yes, there's plenty of precedent for tinkering with the points.
So what do you think, Commissioner-for-the-day?
Bonus coverage: Dustin's driver capsules from today's paper after the jump. He doesn't come right out and say it, but he figures that Kahne will bump Mark Martin from the Chase tomorrow night.
KEVIN HARVICK
Points: 3,296 (3rd)
Points ahead of 11th: 147
At Richmond: Average finish of 11th in past five races; no victories.
Rising or falling: Rising. He has finished outside the top 15 once in the past two months.
To clinch: Must finish 40th or better regardless of how any other driver does.
Chances: Slam dunk — he’s in the Chase.
JEFF GORDON
Points: 3,251 (4th)
Points ahead of 11th: 102
At Richmond: Average finish of 24th in past five races. Two career victories (March 1996, September 2000).
Rising or falling: Rising. He has three consecutive top-five finishes entering the weekend.
To clinch: Must finish 25th or better.
Chances: Good. He should return to the Chase after a one-year absence.
KYLE BUSCH
Points: 3,244 (5th)
Points ahead of 11th: 95
At Richmond: Average finish of 4.3 in three starts. No victories.
Rising or falling: Rising. Four top-10s in the last five races shows he’s ready for the Chase.
To clinch: Must finish 22nd or better.
Chances: Count him in.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.
Points: 3,226 (6th)
Points ahead of 11th: 77
At Richmond: Average finish of eighth in past five races. Three career victories (May 2000, May 2004, May 2006)
Rising or falling: Rising. He finished a career-best second Sunday at California.
To clinch: Must finish 16th or better.
Chances: Back in the Chase after a year off.
DENNY HAMLIN
Points: 3,225 (7th)
Points ahead of 11th: 76
At Richmond: Finished second in May, his only Cup start at this track.
Rising or falling: Rising. His seven straight top-10 finishes make him one of the circuit’s hottest drivers.
To clinch: Must finish 16th or better.
Chances: Expect Hamlin to become the first rookie to make the Chase.
TONY STEWART
Points: 3,194 (8th)
Points ahead of 11th: 45
At Richmond: Average finish of eighth in last five Richmond races. Three victories (September 1999, May 2001, May 2002).
Rising of falling: Rising. He has five top-10s in the last six races
To clinch: Must finish seventh or better.
Chances: The defending series champion is in a tight spot, but should pull through.
MARK MARTIN
Points: 3,181 (9th)
Points ahead of 11th: 32
At Richmond: Average finish of 10th in last five Richmond races. One career victory (February 1990).
Rising or falling: Falling. Martin has placed outside the top 10 in four of the last six races.
To clinch: Must finish fourth or better.
Chances: He could be vulnerable to a Kasey Kahne rally.
JEFF BURTON
Points: 3,179 (10th)
Points ahead of 11th: 30
At Richmond: Average finish of 17th in past five races. One career victory (September 1998).
Rising or falling: Falling. He has finished outside the top 10 in four of the last five races.
To clinch: Must finish fourth or
better.
Chances: Slipping. He has been inconsistent in recent races.
KASEY KAHNE
Points: 3,149 (11th)
Points behind 10th: 30
At Richmond: Average finish of 19th in last five races. Kahne won his first career Cup race there in May 2005.
Rising or falling: Rising. He won Sunday at California.
Chances: Good. Another strong effort should get him in the Chase.
Comments (6)
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If I were Brian France for a day. HHMMMM. Well first I'd visit a Jenny Craig salon and start on a weight reduction program.
I hope that Kasey gets in and Martin doesn't as a result of Kasey's impressive efforts and Martin's typical Sunday afternoon jaunts around the track. Martin after 19 years in the league has had the opportunity with a great team to win a championship yet time and time again has shown us that he doesn't have the goods. Martin's time has come and gone, and finally Roush recognized he needed to retire at least from his cup program.
As far as changing the race to the chase.
Winning is everything, second place is for losers. The driver who wins the most races, plain and simple is the champion. Based on performances this year there ain't a one of us that can truthfully say that as a result of effort and determination, that Kasey with his five wins at this point in the year doesn't deserve the big one.
Posted on September 8, 2006 4:03 PM
Dear Jon,
Talk about something you actually know something about.
Sincrely,
Mark Martin
Posted on September 8, 2006 8:01 PM
I'm not a Blue Oval fan, but I do have a great deal of respect for Mark Martin. The combined under-30 "talent" does not have the ability that Martin has in just his pinkie finger.
Posted on September 8, 2006 8:33 PM
Let me guess Jon you are one of the many who discount Matt Kenseth as a "true" Champion? As for Martin give the NASCAR "police" a bit of credit for him not having a Champs ring as yet.
Changes to be made:
While not whole heartedly behind extra points for winning an event I would concede a small amount should be added say, 20 points for a win or less.
The "out of the box" solution: Many have said more than 10 should be in the Chase. OK fine here's how you do it.
After Richmond take drivers that have finished in 11th thru 43 in points and split them into two groups. Those groups would race in two "feature events" of 100 miles or slightly more.
The top two finishers in each feature would get a free pass into the Chase and would start at the tail of the Chase points table.
Where these two events are to be held are still unclear to my feeble mind. They could be part of the Chase's first weekend and held on Thursday or Friday.
On the other hand throw all caution to the wind and have the events on Wednesday at a track that has not held a Cup race that year. In that way no one would have an advantage over others from a testing perspective and also provide an opportuniy for more fans to see a NASCAR event.
P.S Kentucky Speedway is ruled out of bounds in this scenario based on their idoitic lawsuit that is destined to fail.
Posted on September 8, 2006 8:48 PM
Matt (apparently Mark's alter ego),
Look, last year was Mark Martin's farewell tour and still Mark didn't get the message. But he got the message this year when he sent out feelers about continuing the ride in 2007 with Roush, and the message came back, sorry, you got your gold watch last year. Your 18 years of loyalty got you the gig this year, but we're on to a new page for 2007.
That's the cold hard reality of racing. Quite simply, Mark never accepted that he was old news and it was sad that his employer had to remind him of that fact.
I watched his pre-race Richmond interview and quite frankly I was touched at the emotion in his voice and the equally worried look on his wife's face that the Richmond race could be his final chance for the big one. 19 years, with one of the great racing organizations and just possibly have nothing to show for it but some runner up positions.
After that interview, I was pulling for Mark to get into the finals just for another chance to win the championship that has eluded him for two decades. He's there, and has the ten most difficult races in his life to prove that he has the goods to win the big one.
I wish him the best.
Posted on September 11, 2006 10:41 AM
I'm a fan of the way IRL does it: 50 for first, 40 for second, 35 for third and on down by 3s and 2s and 1s after that. The driver who leads the most laps gets three more points.
Me, I'd start NASCAR at 100 (then 90, 85, 80, 75, etc.) down to about 25th place. Lap leaders gets 5. Pole winner gets 5. Something like this would reward risk taking and not punish you too much if you have one or two bad days.
Posted on September 11, 2006 11:55 AM