[NASCAR] Even a blind hog …
As a brief follow-up to my previous rant. As the old saying goes, "Even a blind hog can find an acorn every now and then". I'm not sure if it's appropriate to pat John Andretti on the back or not for his substitution of Dale Junior at Pocono. Just looking at the final statistics, Junior was in 33rd position when he was relieved. Andretti brought the #8 home in 25th position. Of course, the route to 25th place was via putting the 8 into the wall for the second week in a row, and a few laps in the garage. So, on one hand, Adretti's stewardship only lost Dale Junior an additional 102 points to point leader Jimmie Johnson (as opposed to 121 pts w/ Junior in 33rd place). On the other hand, just about anybody with a pulse and a car that was still running should have been able to finish 7 laps down! At this point, I think I'll hold off on giving Andretti a kudos.
If I'm Rick Hendrick/Jeff Gordon (the owner not the driver) right now, I'm a bit sick knowing that the slate will be essentially wiped clean after race 26. Johnson is having a pretty awesome year, and is approaching the point of having an untouchable lead (based on the old points system). Finally, I've not been a big fan of the Chase for the Championship, since, I personally like the idea of rewarding year long consistency. I must admit that it's terribly exciting to see Mark Martin only 89 points from "making the show". 89 points in 6 races is a much easier route to the cup then 709 points in 16 races. Perhaps the new points system will inject some "championship excitement" for more than the top two or three.
2 Comments:
The Chase for the Championship has brought a new excitement to the mid-season doldrums. But the reality is that we're seeing a fight for the precious, bottom-feeding, 10th place in points. Jimmie Johnson is over 200 points ahead of 2nd place Jeff Gordon, and roughly 400 points ahead of 3rd place Matt Kenseth. Meanwhile, there is a cluster of drivers fighting to stay in or get in the top 10. When Brian France dreamed this thing up, the cutoff point would be 400 points behind or the top 10, whichever provided more drivers. Right now only 5 drivers are with 400 points of Jimmie Johnson. Is this stratification, or what?
When race 26 is done, all the points will be reduced by an order of magnitude. If it were applied now, Jeff Gordon would be 23 points back, and Kevin Harvick (10th place) would be 62 points back.
A quick review of the points standings after each race shows that, after the first ten races, Dale Earnhardt Jr had amassed a 50-point lead over his next closest competitor. That is roughly the difference between 1st and 10th place finish in one race.
So let's say Johnson holds his 23-point head start on Gordon all the way through the final ten races. Jeff Gordon would have to place about 5 places higher than Johnson at the last race to win all the marbles. If Johnson manages to add 50 points like Jr. did in the first ten races, that difference increases to 15 places. I guess that's better than Kenseth wrapping it up with two races to go at the end of the 2003 season, but it still doesn't sounds all that exciting.
Or I could be all wrong, and this thing will go down to the wire. Stay tuned, race fans.
TAG,
Seems to me that you are proving my point...
The Chase for the Championship is indicative of Today's "Winning is Everything" attitude. Brian France apparently fears that once the Championship has been essentially sewn up, people tune out because it's no longer "exciting". I find NASCAR exciting, regardless if my driver is going to win the championship or not. My only point was that Jimmie Johnson, once the points are normalized, is one blown engine away from being the goat. And, Mark Martin, who might possibly crack the top 10 by race 26, has a legitimate chance to win the Nextel Cup this year. Based on last years points, he wouldn't have a chance to win the championship. I've still not decided if I like this or not, but it's interesting -- sort of like a car wreck.
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