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The Big Dawg has blown a gasket over the AP's change to its race result agate -- namely, that AP has dropped race winnings (i.e., the amount of money won) and replaced it with driver rating. Read his rant here. (It's the first bullet.)

My say: Yay.

A few responses:

* If Sport Fan can make sense of the new math behind the BCS standings, Texas Hold 'Em and a QB's passer rating, the driver rating won't be that much of a stretch. (Dustin Long explains it here.) NASCAR Fan ain't dumb.

* Driver rating is as relevant to fans as race winnings or top speed. I'm never going to make $1.5 million for four hours of work, and I'm never going to drive a car 200 mph. In other words, none of those stats are relavent to my day-to-day existence.

* Unlike in golf, where annual earnings dictates who keeps their PGA card and who doesn't, NASCAR winnings are an absolutely meaningless statistic that plays no role in who drives, who doesn't and where they rank.

Let's face it: The who-got-more game is just one big p*ssing match between athletes. The reality check is that even the lousy ones (I mean you, Kenny Wallace) make more money playing sports or hitting a golf ball or driving a car than you or me or the neighbors on both sides of you. Track promoters used to use the purse as some sizzle. But in a day and age where the right tackle (not the left) for the Carolina Panthers is being forced to take upward of $7 million to play 16 football games next year, a million bucks seems, well, kinda cheap.

If money's the story, how about finding out the dollar values of the contracts these drivers make? C'mon, Big Dawg! Dig for that bone!