Not a big deal
The more I try to squeeze my little brain around the changes to the Chase, the more I come back to this:
The changes are really no big deal.
Sure, NASCAR will add two more drivers to the Chase. Now we're up to 12 from 10. (Here's the official NASCAR propaganda. And, as Dustin Long points out in today's paper, NASCAR's rush to be more inclusive still comes off as stingy compared to the NFL, NBA and NHL. And, no, 5,000 plus x, where x is number of wins times 10, barely qualifies as algebra. (Are we that short of racin' writers? I mean, Marty Smith is hardly irreplaceable.)
I digress. More after the jump.
The best thing about expanding the field from 10 to 12 is that NASCAR did away with the 400-point provision, which isn't even worth explaining to bury it. It confused the heck out of people, most of all my own copy desk, which can explain the minutia of statistics in most sports (one of them explained to me the Baker system in bowling). The 400-point thing had them scratching their heads longer than they should have. But the 400-point thing is dead because in three years it never came close to coming into play. And setting up a distinct cutoff line makes it so easy that even, well, NASCAR fans can figure it out.
But as much as Brian France and the other NASCAR firesuits spin the changes as putting more emphasis on winning, the only thing I'm getting is dizzy. Five more points for a win - whee! - that's a big 2.8 percent increase. Resetting the points for the Chase based on wins during the first 26 races - oh boy! Heading into last year's Chase, the gap between Matt Kenseth (5,050 points) and Kasey Kahne (5,005) was 45 points. If the new system was in place last year, the gap between first (Kahne) and Jeff Burton (12th) was ... wait for it ... 50 points. There just aren't that many wins to go around. Remember that NASCAR is in the market for a down-to-the-wire finish. They don't want the Chase to come down to the equivalent of a half-lap last-lap lead at Michigan, which is why they're adding just five and not 50, 500 or 50 million. Consider this the equivalent of boring slightly bigger holes (like 1/16th of an inch) in the points race restrictor plate.
I guess the best part of yesterday's hoo-ha was watching the Big Dog chase his tail. Arf!
Comments (3)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
12 drivers instead of 10+ the 400 point window. Not a big difference. If the 400 point deal was never a factor, doesn't that only reinforce the idea that only 10 drivers are truly deserving?
Also, five more points for win? I don't envision a battle royale at Las Vegas to gain the same amount of points that Kyle Petty can earn by staying out under yellow.
As for replacing Marty Smith: It's not easy to find someone to take a username like biggest22fan and turn it into a hilarious reference about Jared Lorenzen.
Posted on January 23, 2007 7:33 PM
It's easy to knock anyone named Mart-dawg, but he was the face of NASCAR.com, and he always had something to say. ESPN.com was smart to lure him away.
One of NASCAR.com's most recent hires is Bill Kimm, who had the morning slot on the sports-talk AM station in High Point. Best I can tell, his only qualification for the job (he's from Oregon, iirc) is that Duane Cross did a regular segment on his show.
Posted on January 24, 2007 10:56 AM
I agree that the changes seem minor to what many had hoped for. Seems that adding 2 more drivers is just a way to not have Stewart, Gordon or Jr on the outside looking in again.
Marty is no longer with nascar.com? Man, I'm out of that loop. We were just discussing MartDawg on my blog and the 7 Days broadcast on SPEEDtv about him.
Posted on January 24, 2007 2:20 PM