Nitromater
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Countdown doing its job?
- Thread starter robinjackson
- Start date
Ramjet
Nitro Member
Should-A Would-A Could-A
Don’t count. If the Queen would have had different plumbing she Would-A Could-A and maybe Should-A been the King. It has been this way so long now everyone knows the game. If you don’t have a ton of parts for the whole season you do what you have to to be in the game at tha end.
none
Nitro Member
If I remember correctly, that is also the time Robert ran John while trying to make the countdown and John's car mysteriously turned right allowing Robert to make it in to countdown....... or was it left
z28
Nitro Member
the benefit for the small teams is being able to say they make the playoffs and you never know who might get hot for 6 races. Most of the small teams would have no chance at all under the old system. The strategy has certainly changed for the bigger guys with way more emphasis on being ready for the countdown.
z28
Nitro Member
it got out of the groove really fast.If I remember correctly, that is also the time Robert ran John while trying to make the countdown and John's car mysteriously turned right allowing Robert to make it in to countdown....... or was it left
Here are the REAL results
| DRIVER | PAI | RESET | FINAL | NCP | RR |
| TOP FUEL | |||||
| Steve Torrence | 1186 | 2091 | 2601 | 1696 | 1 |
| Justin Ashley | 1250 | 2121 | 2513 | 1642 | 2 |
| Leah Pruett | 954 | 2063 | 2592 | 1483 | 3 |
| Doug Kalitta | 867 | 2046 | 2649 | 1470 | 4 |
| Antron Brown | 1076 | 2077 | 2423 | 1422 | 5 |
| Mike Salinas | 855 | 2033 | 2465 | 1287 | 6 |
| Brittany Force | 943 | 2053 | 2352 | 1242 | 7 |
| Austin Prock | 838 | 2025 | 2349 | 1162 | 8 |
| Clay Millican | 799 | 2013 | 2276 | 1062 | 9 |
| Josh Hart | 768 | 2000 | 2280 | 1048 | 10 |
| FUNNY CAR | |||||
| Matt Hagan | 1139 | 2090 | 2628 | 1677 | 1 |
| Robert Hight | 1068 | 2076 | 2616 | 1608 | 2 |
| Ron Capps | 1250 | 2114 | 2453 | 1589 | 3 |
| Bob Tasca III | 985 | 2066 | 2611 | 1530 | 4 |
| Chad Green | 914 | 2036 | 2445 | 1323 | 5 |
| Tim Wilkerson | 902 | 2020 | 2409 | 1291 | 6 |
| J.R. Todd | 930 | 2058 | 2332 | 1204 | 7 |
| John Force | 799 | 2015 | 2385 | 1169 | 8 |
| Alexis DeJoria | 926 | 2047 | 2264 | 1143 | 9 |
| Cruz Pedregon | 738 | 2000 | 2319 | 1057 | 10 |
| PRO STOCK | |||||
| Dallas Glenn | 1114 | 2108 | 2446 | 1452 | 1 |
| Erica Enders | 816 | 2076 | 2695 | 1435 | 2 |
| Matt Hartford | 937 | 2083 | 2564 | 1418 | 3 |
| Greg Anderson | 725 | 2035 | 2591 | 1281 | 4 |
| Aaron Stanfield | 745 | 2048 | 2539 | 1236 | 5 |
| Troy Coughlin Jr. | 801 | 2067 | 2450 | 1184 | 6 |
| Deric Kramer | 782 | 2056 | 2332 | 1058 | 7 |
| Kyle Koretsky | 668 | 2024 | 2375 | 1019 | 8 |
| Camrie Caruso | 656 | 2011 | 2286 | 931 | 9 |
| Cristian Cuadra | 551 | 2000 | 2293 | 844 | 10 |
| PS MOTORCYCLE | |||||
| Gaige Herrera | 1055 | 2113 | 2877 | 1819 | 1 |
| Eddie Krawiec | 657 | 2062 | 2663 | 1258 | 2 |
| Hector Arana Jr | 717 | 2076 | 2543 | 1184 | 3 |
| Matt Smith | 729 | 2084 | 2470 | 1115 | 4 |
| Angie Smith | 617 | 2056 | 2312 | 873 | 5 |
| Steve Johnson | 535 | 2042 | 2334 | 827 | 6 |
| Jianna Evaristo | 391 | 2010 | 2358 | 739 | 7 |
| Chase Van Sant | 503 | 2032 | 2254 | 725 | 8 |
| Marc Ingwersen | 393 | 2020 | 2326 | 699 | 9 |
| Kelly Clontz | 373 | 2000 | 2243 | 616 | 10 |
| *PAI | Points after Indy | ||||
| *RESET | NHRA reset points after indy | ||||
| *FINAL | Final standings after Pomona 2 | ||||
| *NCP | Non-countdown point totals | ||||
| *RR | Real results (standings) |
mikebcurve
Nitro Member
That’s assuming everyone would have used the same strategy without the countdown.
Exactly! We don't live in the land of "if", there was a Countdown and those results are what matters.
mick
Nitro Member
Last edited:
Very interesting, thanks for posting. I'd love to see what it looks like every year since it started.
What other strategies are there? You either want to win the race or you don't.
If you mean that certain teams just mail it in because they are not going to win, then that to me undermines having the countdown.
I guess, to close the loop of the thread, I don't know that I have ever heard what the official reason of the countdown is, in order to answer the original question of is it doing its job?
Last edited:
z28
Nitro Member
The strategy on the part of NHRA was to increase attendance, viewership, and excitement until seasons end by keeping the points race close. By having the countdown and bonus points in the final it does tend to keep points counts much closer. That's a win for NHRA. For the teams, they tend to try to save their best for last. They may choose to do more testing in the regular season when they are comfortable in the points knowing they are getting in the countdown. In TF and FC they will keep back clutch discs they know are good for the CD races and I'm sure the PS and PSB guys keep back their best stuff as well. So the CD does change the way they race. If I know the last six races is where I can makeup the most ground I would do the same thing. If you're on a tight budget it means more to you to do that and if you are a Top 5 team you may not want to give away any performance advantage you may have in new parts. It's a pretty small world in that level of competition so if I have something I know will make me faster and I'm comfortable in the points I'll save it for when I really need it before the other guys see and catch up.
none
Nitro Member
At least with the fuel cars, I have always said the key is to get people to the track to experience it in person. It doesn't translate to TV. It's not just seeing the cars but actually feeling them and even smelling them. It is almost a visceral feeling. I have never heard anyone after experiencing fuel cars run up close say eh... that was lame...............
you
Nitro Member
There’s multiple mutterings on mater matters...... it is what matters to maters
Last edited:
Ok, we have no way of knowing if attendance has increased because those numbers are never released. So the countdown has failed there.
Viewership - inconclusive at best, and hard to really measure the impact because of air times, pre-emptions, etc. Neither fail or succeed.
Excitement - not sure how that's measured or quantified. There were many years prior to the countdown that where decided at the last couple races, just as now with a countdown a championship could be and has been also determined in the third to last or next to last race. If that's a "win" then I'd call it a pyrhric one as far as many fans go. And no "small" teams have won a championship as a result of it.