2006 Countdown to the Championship update (1 Viewer)

PJ, I like your quote, ("IHRA-Where Championships are still decided on the track. In 2007 NHRA will not be able to say that.") at the bottom of your page. Great job!!!

I have ideas for several I guess protest type of shirts. That quote would be one of them, thanks
 
Dude, give it a chance! I don't think I have ever seen someone so negative about something without actually seeing how it will play out. If you would recall back to the Nascar chase announcement, everyone there hated it also. Now, 3 years later, you can count the people who dislike the chase on one hand.

At least PJ and Me... The chase in Nascar was the last straw... Haven't watched a Cup Race in the last three years...
 
Very well said Richard!
I think it's ironic that this chase was implemented to bring more excitement into the final few races as last year's Pomona was for F/C. This year all four Pro classes could be decided at Pomona with true season-long championship points earned without any welfare system.

And Bullard, it's not like Tony Stewart didn't get press yesterday as he coasted across the finish line out of gas. He's out of the chase but Home Depot saw lots of good press?

Just as I said, If you run good, they have to show your sponsor!!
 
Because unless, the No. 1 guy wins Las Vegas and the other three guys go out first round, it ensures that the title will be decided at Pomona, which really is the reason for the points system switch.
I'm willing to give it a try. Hey, if a non-division winner can win the World Series in three out of the past four years, what's wrong with this?

And Steve... That's why I could give a Damn about MLBB... I stopped careing when baseball became big enough to need play-offs... The team that wins the most games in the NL should play the team with the most wins in the AL... and no more inter-leauge during the season....

Same thing with the NFL... no more inter-league and the team with the best record in the NFC plays the best record in the AFC... and if two teams have the same record, it the team that beat the other during the season that goes.

You ain't the champ if you weren't the BEST all season overall... won't it be great when someone that doesn't win a race all season becomes the Champ... it could happen... and I'm hopeing it does... just make the semi's week after week...

Winning isn't everything... it's the only thing
 
Come on, I like the guy and hope he lifts the trophy one day but 2nd place for 4 good races? Kurt would have won pro stock despite GA having a couple hundred more points. I'm a huge KJ fan but thats just not right.

At first I really thought the idea was pretty stupid like 90% of the people out there do, but at the same time I figured that maybe you have to look at it in a different way. If you think about it, every sport is like this... PJ, take a look back at the NFL last year. The Colts lost ONE game all year...did they win the Super Bowl though? No.. a team that made it into the playoffs as a wild card won. If you're going to give a championship away based on regular season performance than there would have been no need for the playoffs and they could have just given the Colts the trophy. NHRA's basically just changing to a playoff system like every sport does...maybe it's not that dumb after all. Like Karl said, "You ain't the champ if you weren't the BEST all season overall". I really don't know if it's "the best" idea, but shouldn't we be willing to give it a chance atleast.
 
I really don't know if it's "the best" idea, but shouldn't we be willing to give it a chance at least.

I don't think we're going to have a choice but to give it a try. What I would like is NHRA to be willing to admit it was a disaster if/when it fails miserably... but that's not very likely.
 
I have several issues with it. I'll try to keep it to the short outline version

-Ok to start with we are not other sports (which is a major positve) nor is this supposed playoff system really a playoff. When the baseball playoffs start we'll see the Tigers and Yankees going at it in round 1. It is just them, we will not see the Indians and Red Sox also playing on the same field. Also when game 1 starts the score is 0-0, same with game 2 and 3 and so on. In this farce, drivers come into the game with points already and non playoff drivers are apart of it. If it were a true playoff it would only be those 8 drivers and there would be no points separation.

-I don't like the phony creation of excitement, I feel like I'm being played or its a made for tv moment. During game shows or survivior type shows they always give the dramatic music and lights. That is what I feel is hapening here. The integrity of the sport is being comprimised for the sake of forced drama. Rather than allow racers to compete and win or lose. We're going to stop twice during the season to bunch them back up that way we can ohhh and ahhh and the lights go dim and the music comes up....adding to a make believe suspenseful moment. I feel like its being wwf'd (wwe). To me it hurts the intergrity of our sport. How far are we from handing out scripts?

-Drag racing is already exciting, every race is a playoff and a true on at that. Win or go home. Thats it, end of story. Before Winston arrived the champ was whoever won the Finals. There was no season long points. You had to earn points to get there but that was it. One year Ace won every race but the finals and he was not the champ. I understand other sports have similar things happen, however in a drag racing season you pretty much are going to run every regular at least once. The contenders will race each other several times. There are 32 teams in football and they only play 16 games, each team plays 3 teams twice so they only play 13 of the 32 teams. A playoff is needed to decide who is the best of the best. By going to this system we are actually regressing to pre 1972 standards. What other sport would back their rules up 30+ years and call it a positive move?

-The top 10 has always meant something now after 17 races it will stop. Phil Burkhart jumped into the top 10 at Indy, next year that can't happen because its after race 17. I could easily see Hillary winning a race or two and moving up a spot of two, next year that can't happen as she will be locked in at 9th place. Last year Doug Herbert had a couple of good races at the end of the year. He finished a career best 6th. If the new points were in place he would have finished 2nd....all for having 3 or 4 good races. I don't think thats right. Last year Fuller made the top 10 after not racing much to start the season, JR todd is trying to do the same this year, those events can't happen next year. In Whit's situation, next year he would maintain his 8th spot, this year he will drop out of the top 10.

-Team issues. I don't mind there being teams as long as they race heads up. I fear this points system will create more issues with drivers taking dives. Even if its only percieved as being such I believe that would greatly hurt the sport. People who know nothing of formula 1 have heard about the incident where one teammame pullied over so his partner could win the race and help in his drive for the championship. How can a cloud of suspiscion over our champs be a good thing? We know things will be bunched at the end. So in the final round at pomona we have 2 teams cars racing, 1 thats in the chase and the other is, do we really doubt who will win that round? Where's the big drama payoff then? If a big money driver needs to win the finals at Pomona and has to beat a lower budget team(who's not in contention) in the finals to claim the title, I could easily see some money changing hands in order to gaurantee a win. Before you say that would not happen, Remember when alternates where used if one of the qualified cars didn't show or couldn't go, that doesn't happen anymore as drivers in the points battlle bought there way back in. Several years ago a driver in the champiosnhip hunt did not qualify for a race late in the season but made it back in when a lower budget team wasn't able to go on raceday due to some money changing hands.

-With the points being adjusted closer with only 2 races left I think it would be very easy to have a tie after the 2 races. What happens then, we go to the rule book to see what the tie breaker is? Takes away any supposed excitement as we wait for someone to read to us who the champ is.

-Tony Shomacher has been making one hell of charge this year as has Bernstein. Even though I'm rooting for Doug to hold on it does make it exciting. Next year it doesn't matter at race 18 they're going to put those drivers 10 points behind the leader anyways. There's been exciteiment buuilding most of the season as we wonder can Doug hold on will Tony or Brandon catch him. Next year that season long excitement is wiped out. It will be like regualr season hockey or college basketball it doesn't matter. Its a welfare points system now. The drama and excitement of an entire season is washed away. People still talk of Cruz's late season dash to catch and pass Force, now how exciting can l it be to come from only10 points down?

-Of the 4 pro categories only 1 person in 8th place had a winning record after the 17th race and if I remember correctly that was only by 1 rd. I want to know whoever is the champ earned it and kicked butt over a season and didn't get lucky or back into it over a couple of good races.

-Why is it needed? Last years funny car chase was great. This year in each of the classes we have several cars/bikes still in real contention for the championship. It's real and unadulterated thats why its great. Also it doesn't happen every year, thats what makes seasons like this special. Now only the last 2 races will matter what a yawner.

-In nascars version, look at the advertising for races prior to the cutoff. It's not about who will win the race or who's in the points lead but rather who's in or out of the chase. I would think that its better to focus on the leaders than who'd fighting for 10-15 place. Nascars drivers and sponsors have taken issue with the lack of coverage non chase drivers get over the last 10 races. We've all complained here when some guy gets a win against a "name driver" yet doesn't get any tv time. Instead the coverage goes to the big name guy who lost. While I understand why that is I think it hurts the posrt. How can you grow as a sport? How can drivers get sponsorships from new companies when the ceo is watching only a handful of drivers getting tv time? Many complain about how the small budget guys have been squeezed out, I would think will make it even worse.

-I wonder what they consider a success will be. After trying this for a year how will they determine weather to keep it or not? I would hope that there is some measurable accountablilty. Ideally with a move this big and idiotic Comptom should stake his job on it.

-As for spreading drag racing. When was the last time you saw a drag racing comercial when you were not watching racing? I would think one should be one during Driving Force on A&E. Some say the general racing population is getting older, lets see some ads on MTV during pimp my ride or on Pinks. During other sporting events like nascar or nfl. Currently you either accidently come across racing on tv or someone takes you the track and gets you hooked. You need to market the product to have increase numbers, not invent some phony gimmik.


Ok sorry I went so long, I'll get off the soap box for now
 
Dead On in the X ring PJ, I couldn't have said it as well without some profanity. There's no reason to give this flawed concept a chance. It won't matter anyway, The NHRA is not going to do any marketing and is not going to energize its sponsor to do any marketing, we better hope Brut sticks around and UPS steps up next season or else we addicts will soon be relegated to watching NHRA during the infomercial time slots after NASCAR.

S/F
D
 
Has anybody thought that Powerade could be possibly behind all of this?? I'm not saying that they are but since they are paying for the series they may have had some input. I'm not for the Countdown, but it is what it is. I love NHRA drag racing and nothing will change my feelings. My biggest fear is some potential diving, especially the last 2 races of the year.
 
What if???

OK let's say your a PRO driver.. Your talking to a potential new sponsor. They asks about the points chase.

Would it give your potential new sponsor incentive to finance you knowing that halfway thru the season if you made the TOP 8 that you would then be only a few points behind #1

BUT that if you were outside the TOP 8 you had NO CHANCE of getting any better than #9.

Wouldn't it be sad to be #9 an then win every race for the last half of the season while the TOP 8 went out first round every time an you still finished #9

Yes I know highly unlikely but is it a possibilty.
 
Karl, the playoffs are very necessary in MLB. The wild card has been great for the game. People are still going to the park when their team is 3 games out of the wildcard. Wildcard serves the smaller market teams and puts us in the hunt. I know my A's won the West, but maybe next season they don't.
Playoffs are for the Fans. Like this NHRA Playoff is for the fans. I don't make a dime if John Force or Capps, Anderson or Line, Shoe or Bernstein dominate the season and roll to a title. I just sit on my couch from 7 to 10 and watch. Next season I get to do it with Popcorn!
 
another issue is rainouts.

What happens if memphis (the last race of the regular season) or Virginia the last race of part 1 of the playoffs. Gets resheduled due to rain? Races get moved in and out of the chase, quest, countdown....what is the dumb thing called anyway??? Indy goes from being race 1 of the "playoffs":mad: to race 17 of the forgotten season?
 
another issue is rainouts.

What happens if memphis (the last race of the regular season) or Virginia the last race of part 1 of the playoffs. Gets resheduled due to rain? Races get moved in and out of the chase, quest, countdown....what is the dumb thing called anyway??? Indy goes from being race 1 of the "playoffs":mad: to race 17 of the forgotten season?
That's a very good question.
The ''regular-season'' finale is in Reading (that race swapped dates with Memphis). They have left themselves some wiggle room, since there is a weekend off between Reading and Indy, and there is also a week off between Richmond and Vegas, so in each of those cases they could race the following weekend if rain effects the originial date.
 
Karl, the playoffs are very necessary in MLB. The wild card has been great for the game. People are still going to the park when their team is 3 games out of the wildcard. Wildcard serves the smaller market teams and puts us in the hunt. I know my A's won the West, but maybe next season they don't.
Playoffs are for the Fans. Like this NHRA Playoff is for the fans. I don't make a dime if John Force or Capps, Anderson or Line, Shoe or Bernstein dominate the season and roll to a title. I just sit on my couch from 7 to 10 and watch. Next season I get to do it with Popcorn!
Having received my 10/6 National Dragster yesterday (Tuesday), and having read yet another Pro racer (TJ) try to compare this to (insert type) ball sports playoff systems, I can't help but wonder about how they think there is any comparison. Every one of those sports has a regular season where every team competes, then they have a playoff season where only playoff teams compete. In the ball sports, the playoff teams can't be eliminated from the playoffs by a non-playoff team during the playoffs. There are two distinct seasons in the ball sports.

Please understand that this is a copycat of NASCAR, not the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL or any other sport that has a playoff system that eliminates from competition some (most) teams at the end of a regular season.
 
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