I heard the tailend of a newsstory regarding the fact that NASCAR is seriously considering tweaking their Chase to more of a "winner take all" format, I didn't get all the details but it would be along the lines of eliminating cars from the Chase after each race, in essence shrinking the field of Championship contenders each week as the Chase progresses. I bring this up because if this happens, does anyone think NHRA will adopt something similar, and who likes the idea? Sorry I don't have more details, maybe someone else here does.
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Dave
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They are going to expand the field to 16 chase drivers. A way into the chase is by winning. If there are less than 16 different winners, the rest are seeded in by points positions. After the 3rd, 6th, and 9th chase races, the bottom 4 drivers are eliminated. The final race will have the top 4 points drivers left reset back to zero and it becomes a winner take all event between those 4 left. It basically is like the tiered countdown the NHRA had in 2007 then got rid of. It assures that 4 drivers will have a chance in the final race of the year. It is possible for one driver to win 35 of the 36 races and lose the championship in the final race. It's just another push to become like the NFL and have it be a Super Bowl sudden death winner take all event. Or it has also been compared to the NCAA Tournament (although there are no ladders.)
Should the NHRA do something similar? They did in 2007 with a two step countdown and the teams didn't like it very much. In my opinion don't have a reset at all. Run the series up to the final race of the year. The top 8 in points qualify to run for the championship. They run qualifying for the top 8 spots. Everyone else fights to qualify 9-16. Then the ladder is set to round is a title vs non title matchup. Round 2 on could be all title contenders or no title contenders. Whoever goes furthest in eliminations takes it. A similar situation happened at the final race of 1993 in IHRA. Richard Langson, Bruce Larson, Doug Foxworth, and Doug Herbert. All qualified in the top 4 and had to make their way through. (It was only an 8 car field.)
Watch here:
Sure it is way more special that the real points ended up that way vs a fabricated reset, but it's one way to make Championship Sunday at Pomona become just that. Every title will be decided in every class on the last day and possibly the last pass of the season.
Edit: Ironically using Top Fuel at the 2013 Finals and shifting the order so the top 8 were the countdown racers and the bottom 8 were not, 4 of the first round matchups remained the same. Also Lucas, Langdon, Millican, and Kalitta would have been the final 4. Langdon and Kalitta would have been the finals for the world title which was still won by Shawn. Funny how things work out sometimes!
Should the NHRA do something similar? They did in 2007 with a two step countdown and the teams didn't like it very much. In my opinion don't have a reset at all. Run the series up to the final race of the year. The top 8 in points qualify to run for the championship. They run qualifying for the top 8 spots. Everyone else fights to qualify 9-16. Then the ladder is set to round is a title vs non title matchup. Round 2 on could be all title contenders or no title contenders. Whoever goes furthest in eliminations takes it. A similar situation happened at the final race of 1993 in IHRA. Richard Langson, Bruce Larson, Doug Foxworth, and Doug Herbert. All qualified in the top 4 and had to make their way through. (It was only an 8 car field.)
Watch here:
Sure it is way more special that the real points ended up that way vs a fabricated reset, but it's one way to make Championship Sunday at Pomona become just that. Every title will be decided in every class on the last day and possibly the last pass of the season.
Edit: Ironically using Top Fuel at the 2013 Finals and shifting the order so the top 8 were the countdown racers and the bottom 8 were not, 4 of the first round matchups remained the same. Also Lucas, Langdon, Millican, and Kalitta would have been the final 4. Langdon and Kalitta would have been the finals for the world title which was still won by Shawn. Funny how things work out sometimes!
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vegasnitro
Nitro Member
If the Chase really worked, they would have it in the Nationwide and Truck series. You will NEVER get Brian France to admit the Chase doesn't work/is a mistake, so we are stuck with it unless extraordinary outside forces (TV/Sponsors) or a change in NASCAR leadership occurs.
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