Anyone else following NASCAR...

[lewpac]

And please, if you don't follow it or don't care, spare us all the lame-brain dead "redneck" stuff and "just going around in circles" stuff. Or, if you want to pull on a chain, at least come up with something orignal.

I'm just wondering if I'm alone out here with three races to go until the Chase/playoff format begins. It's getting pretty tight between around 8th and 14th in the points, with Kyle Busch in 14th. Him and Tony Stewart are big stories this year.

Anyone besides me..............................?

 

[Rampage]

my main man Tony Stewart is taking home the crown this year. screw Gordon and Johnson!

 

[lewpac]

my main man Tony Stewart is taking home the crown this year. screw Gordon and Johnson!

Now, now, behave yourself.

Jimmy still wears the crown until further notice. And OUR JEFF seems to be in position for a Championship run. And don't forget that Tony's driving around in Hendrick stuff too. Either way you cut it, Hendrick Motor Sports is having another HELL OF A YEAR. Chances are that one of these three is gonna' win it anyway, barring a big suprise during the Chase................

We'll see. Anyone but Rousch for me BTW.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Gotta love the Hendricks hate :laugh2:

Bill Elliott is my all time favorite but I pretty much root for everyone not named Earnhardt Jr.

I respected his dad but never liked him.

Kyle Busch is one of my favorites because the dude can flat drive his *** off and he had the balls to put Jr in to the wall. :laugh2:

 

[Doomsday]

Im in a fantasy Nascar pool, so I am rooting for Vickers to keep his run going and get that last spot.

I would throw Logano into the mix as stories of the year, he has had a heck of a rookie season thus far.

 

[Scranton Tiger]

I'm a huge NASCAR fan and have been since the mid eighties. You really can't pick a Champion right now. Thanks to probably the single most ignorant rules change in the history of all sports, chase for championship, you don't have to be the best driver anymore to win a title. I'm not a Gordon fan but since you are lewpac it might be of interest to you that the chase has stolen two Championships from YOUR JEFF (2004, 2007). Carl Edwards would havw won last year under the old system as well. In five seasons, the chase has only given us two true champions.

 

[lewpac]

I'm a huge NASCAR fan and have been since the mid eighties. You really can't pick a Champion right now. Thanks to probably the single most ignorant rules change in the history of all sports, chase for championship, you don't have to be the best driver anymore to win a title. I'm not a Gordon fan but since you are lewpac it might be of interest to you that the chase has stolen two Championships from YOUR JEFF (2004, 2007). Carl Edwards would havw won last year under the old system as well. In five seasons, the chase has only given us two true champions.

Your right about OUR JEFF, he would've won the Trophy if the old system was in place.

However, you've got to take into consideration some of the following that doesn't make this automatically true:

Everyone knows going into Daytona that the format has changed. There's a totally different agenda driving in the first 26 races. For instance, yeah, Jeff had a huge lead going into the Chase two years ago. But you gotta' figure into that lead that the guys from 2 back to probably 8 or 9 knew they were "in the chase" by about August, so they race differently. They're not trying to catch Jeff at that point, they're just trying to not screw up and get knocked out of the chase.

Because one the Chase starts, all the points get whiped out and they start in increments of 10 points, back to 10th.

Then, they changed it to 12 drivers, AND, the 10 bounus points for each win going into the chase.

All I'm getting at is that teams are now thinking "OK, just make it to Richmond, and then we'll start over from Loudon only down 30 or 40 or 50 points".

So, if you count the points according to the old format, yeah, Jeff Gordon would've won two more by now. But you can't do that, it's a moot point. Because if you told the other 42 drivers at Daytona that there is no "Chase" format, their entire season agenda would've been different.

I know you're an old-timer and probably hate this "Race for the Chase" deal. I too am an old-timer and of course resisted "change" and didn't like it. I still don't like it. But I have no say in the matter. NASCAR is not a Democracy. It's a Kingdom run by the France family, and that's the end of that. So, it is what it is. I'm NOT going to stop being a rabid NASCAR fan because they changed the format.

Had their been no chase, who knows what Jeff's lead would've been going into the last 10 races.

 

[Joe Realist]

Anybody but that 88 car. He is non-issue again this year, and I really am not into it.

 

[Scranton Tiger]

I know you're an old-timer and probably hate this "Race for the Chase" deal. I too am an old-timer and of course resisted "change" and didn't like it. I still don't like it. But I have no say in the matter. NASCAR is not a Democracy. It's a Kingdom run by the France family, and that's the end of that. So, it is what it is. I'm NOT going to stop being a rabid NASCAR fan because they changed the format.

Had their been no chase, who knows what Jeff's lead would've been going into the last 10 races.

You're right about that and the kingdom has been going to **** ever since Brian France stated taking an active part in the decision making. It has only gotten worse since he became "king". That man isn't half the leader his father and grand father were.

 

[lewpac]

You're right about that and the kingdom has been going to **** ever since Brian France stated taking an active part in the decision making. It has only gotten worse since he became "king". That man isn't half the leader his father and grand father were.[/quot

Right. Only in NASCAR can they change the rules at any time they deem necessary..............usually in some overtly biased way to favor a golden boy, or to punish a bad-boy. That's what happens in a "Kingdom". The Golden Rule is that "The king has all the gold, and makes all the rules". And that's Brian France.

I've seen rules change between races in the middle of the week. I've even seen, more times than I'd like to admit, rules change IN THE MIDDLE OF A RACE! You're just sitting there stunned and saying "WHAT ABOUT THE RULE???"

The one that gets me is when Jr., AND ONLY JR......... goes below the yellow line in restrictor plate races and advances his position, and nothing is ever said or done about it. Every NASCAR fan watching KNOWS what just happened, but nothing comes of it. I've seen THAT with Jr. on at least 3 or 4 occasions.

But that's all a part of what makes the sport what it is. This France thing and rule thing is legendary in NASCAR.

 

[Scranton Tiger]

Originally Posted by lewpac The one that gets me is when Jr., AND ONLY JR......... goes below the yellow line in restrictor plate races and advances his position, and nothing is ever said or done about it. Every NASCAR fan watching KNOWS what just happened, but nothing comes of it. I've seen THAT with Jr. on at least 3 or 4 occasions

Actually, that only happened twice with Junior. Once (Talladega 2003) and he was already door to door with Kenseth when he went below the line. Add that to the fact that Kenseth was in the middle of the track when it happened. I've got that race on DVD and watched that incident frame by frame when I first bought it. It was a clean pass. The second time (Daytona this year) he was forced below the line by Vickers and he didn't actually pass Brian when he went below the line. He wrecked him when he tried to come back above the line. He shouldn't have done it, but he was only half at fault for it. At least the single biggest cry baby since Rusty Wallace retired was also taken out in the aftermath. The only time I've seen that particular rule REALLY screw someone was last season at Talladega when Stewart forced Regan Smith below the line and the penalized Smith for it. Before that incident, a driver was supposed to be penalized for forcing someone below the line as well. The yellow line rule is a stupid rule though. It's not the line that causes so many wrecks, it's the plates. And don't be confused, NASCAR is well aware of that. But, big wrecks bring along big publicity.

I know that Junior, just like the Cowboys, has just as many haters as fans. It goes with the territory. Because of that though, he gets blamed for alot that doesn't/hasn't happened.

 

[Doomsday]

You make a good point about drivers using different strategies for the first 26 races. I think Jimmy Johnson is a good exampe of that this year. If we were on the old system there is no way he would of risked running out of gas those 3 races. He knew he was going to be in the chase and was trying to get the win and bonus points, if it was the old format he would of played it safer and took the points instead of going for the win.

 

[theogt]

Anyone else following NASCAR..........

No, not at all.

 

[Scranton Tiger]

You make a good point about drivers using different strategies for the first 26 races. I think Jimmy Johnson is a good exampe of that this year. If we were on the old system there is no way he would of risked running out of gas those 3 races. He knew he was going to be in the chase and was trying to get the win and bonus points, if it was the old format he would of played it safer and took the points instead of going for the win.

Not necessarily. Mark Martin is in the exact opposite situation as Johnson. He still did the same thing. Tried to make it without fueling up on the last caution. Not making it really hurt him.

 

[lewpac]

Yeah, but you gotta' think that Tony, Jeff and Jimmy are now just testing for the chase.

In fact, from what I've heard and seen and have reviewed in reports, it's now the default position of guys with the lead these guys have. Sure, the wins=10 points deal comes into play. But these three guys are IN, and have been IN for over a couple months now.

That means that Tony and Jeff and Jimmy can either go balls-out for wins when they otherwise (in the non-Chase format) wouldn't, or lay back and take a top-10 and go racing next week....... they would just points-race for the big picture. But because they're a lock to make the Chase, as has been Hamlin and Edwards and Kurt Busch for all practical purposes, all summer..................these guys can race differently, MUCH differently than if there were no Race-for-the-Chase playoff deal.

There's a few reasons why the "under the regular points system, Jeff would've won the Cup Trophy" stuff is really off the radar and not valid. Once this Chase thing started, everyones agenda and program and plan changed froma 36-race "points racing" deal, to a 26-race, "and then a playoff" mind-set.

There's no telling how many points that Tony Stewart (currently 284 over Jeff and 303 over Jimmy) would be up on those in his rear-view mirror if this Chase format weren't the program. It's impossible to tell. Because the way they race and plan would be nothing like whats happened these last 23 races so far.

 

[lewpac]

Not necessarily. Mark Martin is in the exact opposite situation as Johnson. He still did the same thing. Tried to make it without fueling up on the last caution. Not making it really hurt him.

See,this just makes my case...............

Jimmy had nothing to lose. He's got three wins (30 points) and is already in the chase.

The #5 is hanging by a thread (12 points ahead of 13th) and fighting for his "Chase" life. Jimmy hung it out and tried to make it becuase, ah, what the hell? What does he have to lose? NOTHING, that's what. Mark Martin had no choice but to stay out, because it stayed green and there's no way he was gonna' come in for gas with 10 to go under green.

This gas-milage race..............if the caution didn't come out with 15 or more laps to go, you're not gonna win. If the caution came out with 20 to go, and if Martin came in for a splash-n-go, then yeah, there's enough laps to come out in 12th and contend for the win (Michigan is a 2 mile, big track). But, the caution didn't come out, and he got caught.

Jimmy was racing for a "what the hell" win. The 5 is racing for his Chase life.

Big difference...................

 

[Yeagermeister]

I like the new format. It keeps drivers from coasting along and just collecting points without winning a race.

 

[CATCH17]

I used to love the sport when Dale Jarret racing but now im not a hardcore fan of anyone so I can't really get into it like I used to.

I used to tune into every race until football started but now I might catch the last 20 laps of a big race and thats it.


It's a ok sport though if you have someone you can follow and root for.

 

[Doomsday101]

I'm an Earnhardt Jr. but with him out of the race for the cup I like Smoke to win it all.

 

[Alumni2k11]

I'm a RCR fan (Was a #3 fan too). With that being said, I havent had much reason to watch this year...