Sprint Cup Headline News, Commentary and Race Coverage

Looking For Sprint Cup News?...... Visit our home page for the latest news and rumors in the Sprint Cup Series along with commentary, weekly columns and race coverage






Click on button to go to
Home Page
Insider Racing News


Tickets Make Great Gifts

SoldOutEventTickets.com
F1 Tickets
MotoGP Tickets


Insider Racing News
Copyright © 2000-2010. All Rights Reserved.

Sprint Cup® and NASCAR® are registered trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. This web site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR®. The official NASCAR® website is "NASCAR® Online" and is located at.. www.NASCAR.com


Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

An Opinion


July 13, 2010

By Allen Madding

Allen Madding

“Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)” – David Bowie

In 2004, The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series elected to change how the season points champion was determined.

It announced the “Chase for the Sprint Cup”. Currently, the Chase format works in somewhat of a playoff time system. Twelve drivers qualify to be involved in the chase by being in the top 12 positions in the points system prior to the last ten races of the season. At that point, each of the 12 drivers have points set to 5,000 plus ten additional points for every race won during the first 26 races of the season.

In the years prior to the Chase, drivers earned points during the entire schedule based on consistency. It was quite possible for a driver that finished in the top ten consistently and not to have garnered a win during the season to be crowned the champ over another who might have won four or five races but finished outside the top ten more often than not.

When the Chase was born, the original points scheme was employed for drivers to acquire points during the first 26 events, but then the big reset came for the final ten races. Effectively, finishing in the top ten consistently would get a driver into the Chase, but all of that was wiped away when the chase started. Chase drivers points are now reset to 5,000 points and a bonus for wins. Goodbye points for consistently being up front all season.

So if a driver wins 10 events during the season but is not the points leader in the first 26 events, when the chase starts, he would be the points leader with 5,100 points.

Lately, NASCAR has been rethinking the Chase trying to figure out a formula to make it more exciting and to create more drama to increase TV ratings during the Chase and encourage folks to come back to the race tracks. There has been some talk about an elimination format so that by the time the series arrived at Homestead there would be only two drivers in contention for the championship.

I do not think that would increase the drama. If drama is what NASCAR is after, tweak the Chase points. Reset the Chase contenders to 5,000 points with NO bonuses for prior wins. Now all twelve drivers start on equal footing and the champion is determined solely by the last 10 races. Award 10 points for a win in the chase, 9 points for second place finish, 8 points for third, 7 points for fourth, 6 points for fifth, 5 points for sixth, 4 points for seventh, 3 points for eighth, 2 points for ninth, and 1 point for any finish tenth place or worse.

Now there is some drama. Going into Homestead there could be three or four drivers who could win the title by winning the final race. Instead of eliminations where there is only the possibility of two drivers winning the title, this could keep the Chase competitive and suspenseful right up to the very end.

In other changes, race track attendance is still something in discussions and of concern to the sport. For those watching the “Countdown to the Green” Saturday night from Chicagoland, it was apparent that the crowd in the grandstands for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, was not any larger than the crowd assembled the night before for the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. This may very well have been due to Chicagoland Speedway only selling combination tickets for Friday’s Nationwide Series event and Saturday’s Sprint Cup race, but it still magnified the absences of fans in the stands.

Attendance at a number of tracks has been underwhelming over the last two years, and there are rumblings that NASCAR may be about to rearrange the schedule for 2011.

Repeatedly we have heard that Atlanta, California, and New Hampshire may lose one race date on the 2011 schedule. The latest talk in the garage is that Kentucky could be added to the schedule, and Las Vegas and Kansas could pick up a second date.

I still believe the schedule should go through a master revision instead of continued patch work. All of the tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule should be reduced to one event a year. Other than the owners, one would be hard pressed to assemble a large national contingency that believe the Cup cars need to go to Pocono twice a year.

By reducing the track schedule to one race a year per track, there would be room for Kentucky and Nashville. The remaining reduction in the schedule would significantly help the teams better spread the limited sponsor dollars around their operation.

We can count on the reality that the Chase for the Cup will change for 2011 and that the schedule will be changing. The details of these changes will be revealed soon. Perhaps ESPN could hold a one-hour special called “The Decision on the Chase for the Cup” and another called “The Decision on the 2011 Cup Schedule”.

You can contact Allen Madding at .. Insider Racing News
You Can Read Other Articles By Allen Madding

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Finding cures for children with catastrophic
illnesses
through research and treatment

return to top
Google
 
affiliate_link