Countdown Format (1 Viewer)

[junglevsbrutus]

Yep, the finals at Amarillo, Texas. You won & became the Champ.

Cliff, another key bit of info for newer fans since you mentioned Amarillo TX.
In the early years of the World Finals the event had to endure several location changes.
The inaugural event was in 1965, held at Tulsa OK. The race continued there through '68.
Then, Dallas International Motor Speedway hosted the race in '69 and '70.
'71 through '73 were the years of Amarillo TX.

Here's something that was kind of odd and amusing when looking back at the history of NHRA national events.
As we have discussed '74 was NHRA's first year of using a points system to determine the world champions. This was also the year
the World Finals moved to Ontario Motor Speedway.

But OMS was already hosting the Supernationals since 1970.
In my other post I mentioned how the required divisional races precluded many of the touring stars from racing at the World Finals.
This is just my guess, but I believe the Supernationals was sort of a "race for all" so to speak, to fill that gap. That is, there was no prerequisite to attend. Well, save for the first year where it was actually an invitational event. Yes, you needed a formal NHRA invitation to attend!

But after that it was an open event. And with many stars in SoCal for the fall season it was a perfect date for a great race.
So, the Supernationals already had its own stature and reputation. I give this background for the following reason.
During the first years of the World Finals at OMS the race was actually called "The NHRA World Finals Combined with the Supernationals!" Yup, that's what the first few years programs read on the cover! Then, after a few years it finally became just the World Finals.

 

[Cliff]

The first Supernats was T/F, F/C, Pro/S, and Pro/Comp. That was it. Format didn't work too well, cuz too much down time toward the end. As far as the points system.... man I don't know what to think. How about points only given to the race winner. One point per race. Then, whoever wins the most races is the champ. If you have a tie, then the 2 cars run a race & whoever wins is the champ. This would eliminate the possibility of someone who hasn't won a race still winning the championship on points. All the points would be tallied after the Finals. So X would be the champ cuz he/she won 8 races this season. etc Or change the points to team only, not by driver. Then the team would be the season champion(s). Well, I still like the idea of season long points. Wait.... only earn points at every other race. Naw.....

 

[mick]

be careful. starting in '18 bruton will host the 22nd and 23rd race, 2 lane racing, but both tracks having 4 lanes. don't care to see 4-lane racing that late in ANY points format.....just sayin'. it could happen.

 

[Cliff]

8 lane race track. 2 rounds and the race is over.....

 

[junglevsbrutus]

The first Supernats was T/F, F/C, Pro/S, and Pro/Comp. That was it. Format didn't work too well, cuz too much down time toward the end. As far as the points system.... man I don't know what to think. How about points only given to the race winner. One point per race. Then, whoever wins the most races is the champ. If you have a tie, then the 2 cars run a race & whoever wins is the champ. This would eliminate the possibility of someone who hasn't won a race still winning the championship on points. All the points would be tallied after the Finals. So X would be the champ cuz he/she won 8 races this season. etc Or change the points to team only, not by driver. Then the team would be the season champion(s). Well, I still like the idea of season long points. Wait.... only earn points at every other race. Naw.....

Cliff, the first 2 Supernationals offered a full slate of NHRA eliminator categories including the sportsmen:
'70: TF-Rick Ramsey; FC-Snow; Pro-Sox; TG-Pusch & Cain; Comp-Don Enriquez; Modified-Jim Stevens; SS-Ray Allen; Stock-Marv Ripes
'71: TF-Daily & Johnson; FC-Larry Arnold-King Fish; Pro-Sox; TG-Jim Bucher; Comp-Francis Crider; Modified-Paul Blevins; SS-Ron Mancini; Stock-Keith Berg.
1972 was the first year of the "pros only" Supernationals. Those winners were:
TF-Don Moody; FC-Dunn's rear eng. Cuda; Pro-Grumpy's Vega
Yes, there was too much down time as you mentioned. Do you remember the Hell on Wheels "wheelie tank?".....or the guy who hung on the back of his riderless motorcycle and shot sparks from his magnesium plated shoes?
That downtime probably led to the expansion of "pro" categories for '73:
TF-Garlits; FC-McEwen; Pro-Gapp & Rousch; Pro Comp-Don Enriquez; Pro Bike-TC Christenson.
Then of course, NHRA instituted the season long points system in '74

Your idea of having only the previous 23 race winners run for the title is an intriguing one!
But one major hurdle would be those rare years where you have more than 8 winners in a single season.
Still, there could be solutions like having cars #8, #9, etc. have a shootout among themselves to determine the final spot.
The ladders could then be determined by season long round win totals (similar to the current format, 20 points per round).
Then race for the gold at Pomona, a season long shootout in one day!

Here's a somewhat related approach while still maintaining a season long points chase.
Your idea sparked another one I've had for years. That is, the main goal for any racer is to win each event.
And we know how hard it is to win 4 rounds of racing at any event. With that in mind I always felt that that the event champion should receive
bonus points for remaining undefeated on Sunday. Instead of 20 points for the final round winner he/she should get 30 or 40. This would give the deserved recognition for the event winners and diminish, albeit just by a bit, the racers who just go rounds but don't take home the trophy.

Regarding team orders, as I said last week I think the competition director should have the authority to juggle the first 3 rounds whenever team
cars match up, especially during the Countdown.

 

[Jimbo]

I agree with Antron's statement "I feel like our sport was truly better the old natural way where it was all year long, but that's my opinion,"

It seems every sport wants the playoff to come down to the final game, lap or run in order to keep the fans attention right to the end.

I realize I am "Old Skool" but I liked it better the old way.

Jim Hill
www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[mick]

don't have the answer on how to do points, but it seems like there could be another big 'something' around memorial day,
or over the 4th at norwalk.....extra points? extra money?.......the entire season is race after race 18x until everything culminates
at indy with the traxxas money races and the excitement of who will be the 10th best racer in each pro class .
even if gainesville could be ramped up somehow. (besides the factory shootouts already held there)

run a loser's bracket......2nd round would still host 8 races and all 16 cars.....would end up with 2 finals.......place extra money
at each round of loser's bracket that would be less than winner's bracket, but extra money nonetheless. no points
in the loser's bracket. just extra money. first round would have 8 races. second round would have 8 races. 3rd round 4 races.
4th round 2 finals......get rid of PS and PSB for one or two events and run this. on sunday TF and FC would each have 22 runs,
compared to the standard 15.......fans would see 14 additional TF and FC runs on sunday.

the run total for TF and FC would be 44 on sunday. compared to standard TF, FC, PS, PSB format is 60 runs on sunday,
so time shouldn't be a factor.......fill between rounds with sportsman classes, provide ample time for fans in pits.

or get real adventurous and run a 2 day event. 2 Q runs on friday..... elims. start sat. afternoon. finish under the lights.
extra nitro runs under the lights. who wouldn't want to see that?

 

[Cliff]

I like Mike Larson's idea of a 2 day event, w/ racing on a Sat night. I have been to many races just like that, at Lions, OCIR, Irwindale, etc. Was not a Nat'l meet or a Div meet, but just a "show". OCIR was good with 3 classes, T/F, F/C and Combo Elim (which was the fore runner of Pro Comp). That class had AA/FA, A/FD, B/FD, blown gas dragsters and they put on a good show. The "filler" was the fast ET brackets, like 9 second cars in the 1970's. Anyhoo, I know times have changed but I really like the idea of a 2 day show. Have thought about splitting the way Nat'l event races are run, ie: Sportsmen have their own series and Pro's have theirs. To me, the Pro series would be T/F, F/C, Pro Stock, Pro Mod, both alky classes. Sportsmen series would be all the rest of the classes, with Comp, T/D and T/S as the "headliners". Some divisional races have that format now, with no alky cars. By the way, I would go to a sportsmen only race, even without alky. (Div 7 race at Wild Horse is my fav, like it better than the Natl event). So, that's my 2 cents. Do agree that 1. without DSR and JFR, the nitro classes would be bankrupt 2. We need to get rid of the countdown.