I Knew It Was Coming

[vegasnitro]

You then become a willing spectator spending $8K per run for no reason beyond your love of the sport or contractual obligation.

Doc, 95% of the teams going into the last 4 races of the season already are in this predicament anyway. At least under the new format, the guy 7th or 8th in the points has a shot at stringing something together and putting himself/herself in position to win a Championship. Under the present format, it is not a possibility.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not decided whether or not I like the new format, too many pros and cons to make snap judgements. In all liklihood, I will wait and see how the season unfolds next year. I will say that a playoff format has not hurt any other sport.

 

[vegasnitro]

I can , and I will

the steelers aren't worthy champions. Indy was a better team all year. The steelers got a gift.

The "play" that won the Steelers the Super Bowl was when Kimo the Crippler rolled up Carson Palmer's leg. The Bengals were on their way to a rout. No, I am not a bitter Bengals fan, not at all. Why do you ask?

 

[mick]

As far as the sponsors go, my guess is that they are saying, "Do what ever you want. Show us that the "numbers" are better next season and we will be happy.

Exactly - how does NHRA keep sponsors happy and not leaving for other
marketing ventures........ increase awareness / increase fan base
a.k.a. return on investment.
will be interesting to listen to feedback from team owners.
(if they make public statements regarding this issue)

 

[vegasnitro]

will be interesting to listen to feedback from team owners.
(if they make public statements regarding this issue)

Evan Knoll made a pretty strong statement on the first page of this thread.

 

[Rollout96]

Here's a question I have been mulling. Let's say that the net result of this new format is simply that the 4th through 8th spot after 17 races have a chance at the championship. Lets assume that they never would have before but now they will have a legit chance. Is that a GOOD thing? Do they deserve to be "in the hunt" at the end?

 

[DrRocket]

Evan Knoll made a pretty strong statement on the first page of this thread.

It's on the second page, and here it is.

 

[none]

And risk falling from second to fifth? With all due respect (because you're Reinhart and I'm nobody) I'll remind you that with the past system in place they all still came to Pomona's finals for a reason.
That reason may have been eliminated with Compton's latest genius?

Doc,

I respect your opinion. If you go way back in time, the winner of the World Finals was the World Champion. And when the current point system was put in place there were people that hated it because the tradition of the World Finals changed. The sport survived and thrived. Give this a chance. Change isn't automatically bad.

Alan

 

[Jimbo]

Just when I thought NHRA couldn't F@#k thing up any more they pull this.

I would think IHRA is starting to look real good to a lot of teams right now.

Maybe someone will lease the land that Beeline Dragway is on and make it a west coast IHRA track. I think the tower is still there...

 

[stanman]

An NFL team could go 16-0 in the regular season and lose to a wild card team in the playoffs. The Steelers did not even win their division last year, does that mean that they don't deserve to be Super Bowl Champions?

If you're going to use football as an analogy and compare it to this moronic idea, at least do it accurately...

The regular season for football is just like Friday and Saturday qualifying in drag racing. The playoffs in football are just like Sunday eliminations in drag racing.

On Sunday, any drag racer that made the field can win the race just the same as any football team that makes the playoffs can go on to win the Super Bowl.

 

[stanman]

... I don't remember the cries about the "lower budget" guys not having a chance then. Anyone remember the years that Force had it locked up at Indy? And for the rest of the year, all the other Funny Cars still showed up.

Just hang on guys, the sky isn't falling

Alan

Alan,

I think the majority of us agree with your point about winning the championship. But what does this do to rest of field that may have an opportunity to move from, say 10th or 11th up to 6th or 7th because they get on a roll the last few races?

 

[Murph]

The regular season for football is just like Friday and Saturday qualifying in drag racing. The playoffs in football are just like Sunday eliminations in drag racing.

I was going to make the point that maybe the chase could be considered "playoffs"

You nailed it though. The playoffs are Sunday.

 

[stanman]

The current points championship system rewards those competitors that had the best overall performance for the duration of the season.

This new system does not reward the competitors that have the best overall season. But instead rewards those competitors that only performed sufficiently to make the Top 8 and giving them a chance to win the championship.

As noted previously in this thread, what happens when the person who entered the Chase in #8 ends up winning the championship when they have a far worst W-L record that the person who started the Chase in #1!?!?

 

[Joker]

Ok, as I was driving home from work, I thought about this:

One oil down penalty could really cost you the championship now.

Thats ridiculous. I can see it now,

"Well Mr. Force/Capps/Scelzi etc I am sorry but even though you won 5 of the first 17 races and had a 200 point lead, once we erased all that and you had already used up your freebies, then you needed every point you could get so you went for it in qualifying and blew up on our racetrack, thats 10 pts, and well I am sorry but after that you lost the pts race by 9 pts. Sorry."

I know that oil down penalty's count now also, but with pts being reset, they will play a role in the championship now. How in the heII is that good for the sport?

 

[SDR]

Can anyone say IHRA!!! I always admired the fact that we counted the Top 10 in every class as the best in the world at the end of the year!!! This could possibly set NHRA back a few years or draw a new crowd. This can't last long.

 

[__]

Hmm... honestly I'm not sure what to think yet. You folks have posted several interesting scenarios. Here's a couple that came to mind:

- I'm on a single car team. I get on a hot streak early in the season. Say on race 15, I realize I'm doing so well I can bag the last couple races. I go IHRA racing (with smaller fields while the rest of the NHRA regulars fight to get into the round of 8), bag more prize money that I ordinarily might have and into the eliminations with a fatter war chest. Likely? I dunno. Possible? Sure. I can see TJ, Wilk, Larry, Brandon, or Hot Rod going on a win streak.

- Complaints about big point leads would be eliminated. Anybody remember how well Greg's done in P/S the last couple years. In several seasons, he could've skipped numerous races and still collected his championshup trophy. No more. If somebody can squeak into the round of 8 or round of 4, find something in their set up and knock off Greg or Jason regardless of how well they've done earlier in the year. That doesn't make me happy but it may make the anti-KB crowd feel better?

Just some thinking. Either way, I'm still going to the races. And thank you NHRA for no more September races at Reading!

 

[gerrymack]

Hmm, it's a sunny day here in Melbourne, but it appears as though the sky has fallen in stateside!

Personally, I can't see what all the fuss is about, on first look I think it's a great concept.

 

[handsome]

didn't nhra just appoint some new people to management positions about a month ago? i wonder if this was their big first big project? we have read evan knoll's thoughts, how about jim jannard's ?

 

[__]

Reading and E-town are two of the quickest tracks, so why do they make the racers battle the heat and humidity? Both tracks have so many "firsts" in the record books - I think those days are gone for good.

You liked the May E-Town date better? Personally, I froze my butt off. The Summernationals were always hot and humid. I still looked forward to going. I have to say, I really like the June date. Drag racing on the longest day of the year. Weather's pretty good - hot but never much rain and usually the humidity isn't bad (at least not like July in the old days). I'm just curious if you liked the May date better and, if so, why?

 

[Sully]

One of the unstated objectives of the change (which I am not a big fan of, but I understand the reasons for adopting it) is to regain some media attention from the Fall fascination with other sports. With four championships still in play right up to the final round of the final race, this has to attract more media attention than a championship that is locked up several races before the Finals.

I didn't think it was broken nor did I think it needed fixing, but it certainly has sparked a lot of interest already.

 

[megadeth]

Bob,

The three guys you bring up don't run the full schedule and race for the championship now, so what difference will this make to them?

Alan

Touche!
I guess I used bad examples also! How about Corey Mac or J.R. Todd guy's who have funding but not the deep pockets Schumacher or Force have.
What is your take on this new point's system?
There are a lot of valid points that these people are making so I'm curious to hear your opinion.