NASCAR Chase Changes

[Jason]

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/head...ges/index.html

I like what I see so far. It's about time winning was given a little more of a boost. I really like the chance to the chase that everyone's starting out equally and bonuses given for wins.

I'm not that crazy about expanding the chase to 12 but I guess they had enough of seeing a Stewart or Gordon missing the chase. I actually found the fact one of the "big guns" could be on the outside looking in appealing.

[Jordan]

I like the changes. Although the OCD side of me just can't get over the 12 drivers. It's not as round as 10

Should be interesting to see who the 12 are after 26 races. Plus I think it eliminates the sob stories that Jaime McMurray and Tony Stewasrt and Kasey Kahne have suffered over the lat few years.

[magnet]

I'm not sold on 12 in the Chase eliminating the chance of a big gun missing it. With the amount of new drivers every season, the chance for a standout rookie tour is one of the best in the history of NASCAR.

[TC Dale]

I personally think that the points should have been higher, instead of 5 points, give the winner 10. The other parts are window dressing mainly, and something that probably should have been done when they started....

But NASCAR doesn't know playoff mentality like other sports, so they had to learn the hard way. Twelve is not that much more than 10, and rumors had been rampant that 15 was a possible number too.

As long as it takes the "conservative" out of the racing, where people are now racing to win, and not for points, then NASCAR did the right thing. If we still see people just drafting and trying to make a top ten or five and not push for a title, then it was for naught.

[JoeRockEHF]

Seems alright to me although I would have left it at ten drivers for the Chase instead of twelve.

[Kyros]

If there is a "top 12 driver list or cut-off" then what happens when there are 5-6 drivers tied for 12 place all with one win in the regular season? So, (for example) it "could" look like this, correct;

1) Driver A - 5 wins
2) Driver B- 4 wins
3) Driver c - 4 wins
4) Driver D - 4 wins
5) Driver E - 3 wins
6) Driver F - 3 wins
7) Driver G - 2 wins
8) Driver H - 2 wins
9) Driver I - 2 wins
10) Driver J - 1 wins
11) Driver K - 1 win
12) Driver L - 1 win
13) Driver M - 1 win
14) Driver N - 1 win

Or will there be a cut-off at twelve and then it goes to points from the regular season?
If I missed it in the article where it states this I read to fast then, sorry.

I hope I made some sense..... hehehe

[TC Dale]

As far as I know they haven't released any tiebreakers, I sure hope they have worked that part of it out. There isn't any columns on the details of any tiebreakers that is for sure.

Hope they thought this far ahead.

[Jason Moyer]

Originally Posted by TC Dale

I personally think that the points should have been higher, instead of 5 points, give the winner 10. The other parts are window dressing mainly, and something that probably should have been done when they started....

5 points isn't going to make a big difference in the value of winning. I think if NASCAR wants to rewards wins and top finishes, the points sytem should be rebuilt from scratch. 5 points out of the nearly 200 you can get per race isn't a big deal.

Personally, I preferred the original points structure pre-chase, since it made NASCAR unique in that it rewarded consistency. However, if they do want to focus on wins and top-5/10 performances, they need a points system that reflects that. I'd give points on an exponential scale, and I'd require drivers to complete 99% of the race distance in order to receive points (i.e. 198 of 200 laps at Daytona, or 490 of 500 at Bristol).

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Kyros

If there is a "top 12 driver list or cut-off" then what happens when there are 5-6 drivers tied for 12 place all with one win in the regular season? So, (for example) it "could" look like this, correct;

1) Driver A - 5 wins
2) Driver B- 4 wins
3) Driver c - 4 wins
4) Driver D - 4 wins
5) Driver E - 3 wins
6) Driver F - 3 wins
7) Driver G - 2 wins
8) Driver H - 2 wins
9) Driver I - 2 wins
10) Driver J - 1 wins
11) Driver K - 1 win
12) Driver L - 1 win
13) Driver M - 1 win
14) Driver N - 1 win

Or will there be a cut-off at twelve and then it goes to points from the regular season?
If I missed it in the article where it states this I read to fast then, sorry.

I hope I made some sense..... hehehe

The points system determines who's in the top 12. The actual seeding of the guys who made it in by wins doesn't start until after the top 12 is determined.

I.E.

Driver 11--1840 points and 1 win
Driver 12--1812 points and 1 win
Driver 13--1811 points and 3 wins

Driver 13 is out of the chase even with more wins.

[Meth_Lab_for_Rudy]

Is it true that they're going to start awarding championship belts rather than a cup? Maybe they can add mid race segments where the driver's blustery crew chief rants about how great his driver is and what's going to happen at the next pay per view too.

[Meth_Lab_for_Rudy]

I got another idea: Chase Provisionals. If you can a certain threshold of fans (say 1,000,000) to pay $3.99 to call and vote you into the chase you're in.

[mikev]

Damn, I was excited when I clicked on this.

I thought that I was going to see "right turns more than twice a year"

Oh well.