My friend Jim Walther won the TF World Championship in 1972 after winning the Amarillo, TX (World Finals) race, but it was his only win for the season. I agree the WCS (World Championship Series) method of points accumulated over the whole season was the most fair way of deciding champions. The Countdown makes no sense at all, and as we have seen in some cases rewarded mediocrity.
I don't know that it's rewarded mediocrity. But I do know what it does reward. Consistency. And, it has made the last couple of races interesting for everyone who watches and follows points closely. It also keeps every car going to events rather than sitting out 2, 3 or more events before the finals.
Look at Funny Car this year. Tommy Johnson Jr was in 5th place (I can't recall the point differential between he and the 3rd and 4th place teams but they were all close) going into Pomona. They upped qualifying bonus points for the Finals and also made round points worth 1 1/2 times more than the other races.
So he goes goes out and goes low in Q1, Q2, and Q3 and 3rd quickest in Q4. For a total of 14 points. That moved him to 4th in points, something like 21 points behind Capps. He needed ato win 1 more round than Capps to jump to 3rd. He does, and finishes 3rd for the year. In years past, about the only way you would see any drama like that would be to set an ET or MPH record in the final round.
You gotta look at things like this. This isn't something that was started, or is enacted on a whim midseason. Everyone knows the deal going into the year. Finish in the top ten at Indy. Thats better than having a team win 6 events before Indy, 2 after, and then just handing them the trophy at Dallas, rendering the rest of the races useless for a championship.
I kept side by side points totals, here on the Mater, way back when it started in 2007. Using the old Winston Point system, following Richmond, going into Vegas, every single pro class would have been decided except FC. So, there likely would have been fewer cars and fewer fans at Vegas and Pomona that year. Using the new point system (at the time) every class was within 2 rounds for the lead. (I consider pro classes as TF, FC and PS. Sorry bike guys). Capps did get burned by the countdown that year, but it was because of no consistency. He won 3 races before Indy, and zero after. The Champ that year, Tped, on the other hand won 1 race before Indy, got into the countdown, and then won 2 more after Indy to win the championship.
There are threads about it from back then if you want to search for them. If I remember correctly, I kept side by side point totals for old and new point systems for the year.