NHRA Championship Points (old style) Memphis (2 Viewers)

[Sully]

I don't likle it for the same reason I don't like "reality" shows or the NASCAR championship format or professional wrestling. Basketball was a loser in this regard a long time ago, their "regular season" is just a way of paying for stadiums and overpriced players, the games mean almost nothing. Artificially creating the appearance of close competition takes away all the real drama and substitutes dramatic fiction in its place. I quit paying attention to NASCAR when they went to the current system and I may have to find something else to do with my weekends if NHRA sticks with this phony drama.

Used to be, the U.S. Nationals counted for more in the points than the other events and that was changed so that all events counted the same. Now we've gone to a system where the first seventeen don't count for much, the next four count half, and only the last two really count for much at all. Might as well skip the first 21 (maybe the first 22 next year) and just pay attention to the last two. That's the way I watch a NASCAR race on TV - watch until the first caution, take a nap, wake up for the debris caution with 30 to go and watch the race that counts at the end. No need to watch all the filler in between or remember what happened because they will throw a debris caution near the end of the season, wipe the slate clean, and start the race for the championship.

 

[Chili]

Cheated, how can you say cheated, the Countdown is filled with come from behind scenerios. The points shuffled with every round of racing in Memphis........
Tracking the old system is really pointless. People went into test mode, took dives, what have you.



Reading two pages and replying to a thread about something you don't believe in is a waste of your time and pointless. While I'll admit most teams are testing things for next year, they are out there trying to win races. Troxel is a good example of that. They have sponsors to promote and the only way to do it is win rounds and races. If you want to see some diving just wait until Pomona. If current standings remain the same and Hight is the only Force car of the final 4 and all 3 of Shoe's car are still contending it gives Hight a huge advantage. He could pair up with either of his team cars and get free rounds.

 

[PJ]

Reading two pages and replying to a thread about something you don't believe in is a waste of your time and pointless. While I'll admit most teams are testing things for next year, they are out there trying to win races. Troxel is a good example of that. They have sponsors to promote and the only way to do it is win rounds and races. If you want to see some diving just wait until Pomona. If current standings remain the same and Hight is the only Force car of the final 4 and all 3 of Shoe's car are still contending it gives Hight a huge advantage. He could pair up with either of his team cars and get free rounds.

That does bring up something I wanted to mention here a few weeks ago but I can't seem to even ask a question about the fake chase without being labeled a whiner by some.

I ask a philosophical question regarding the scamdown

Since we have Force and Shumacher each with 3 funny cars lets use them as an example. Is it better to have all 3 cars qualifying for the final 4, thus giving the team a 75% chance at winning it all or is it better to be that 1 car vs those 3, in that you would then have 2 teammates on the outside that could have some timely equipment issue that could help you along the way?

 

[Rajunz]

That does bring up something I wanted to mention here a few weeks ago but I can't seem to even ask a question about the fake chase without being labeled a whiner by some.

I ask a philosophical question regarding the scamdown

Since we have Force and Shumacher each with 3 funny cars lets use them as an example. Is it better to have all 3 cars qualifying for the final 4, thus giving the team a 75% chance at winning it all or is it better to be that 1 car vs those 3, in that you would then have 2 teammates on the outside that could have some timely equipment issue that could help you along the way?

It doesn't matter as they all race on the track at the same time. How they pair up does matter though.

Chris, I'm not wasting my time. I express my opinions just as everyone else here. I know I'm not going to change your opinions by what I have to say. I don't however come on here and bash others, or make immiture remarks, I just merely try to point out a different view on things. I do yank on P.J.'s chain at times, but it's all in good fun!

 

[d'kid]

I'm going to the drags in a couple of weeks... Ya'll know who my favorites are... I'm going hoping to see one win in Top Fuel and one win in Flopper... I could careless who wins the championship, either old style or new... but the old style made better sense... the person with the most points for the whole year was it... as it is now, if my favs are out... I stop watching the broadcast... end of story... and it's more likely now with the new countdown that I'll skip the end of a race... bet advertisers love that

 

[Don]

Well, I hope you keep doing it.

I will second what the infamous Mr. Dunlap said..

Hey Ron,,,,,getting close to the annual chili-fest in Hotlanta.
I assume you will be going....

When are you ever going to come up Louisville way so you can buy me dinner?

 

[Don]

That does bring up something I wanted to mention here a few weeks ago but I can't seem to even ask a question about the fake chase without being labeled a whiner by some.

QUOTE]

Brother, "whine" all you want. The new system SUCKS....plain and simple

 

[yoda]

Brother, "whine" all you want. The new system SUCKS....plain and simple

Yup... I just did the side-by-side with the current points, and I wouldn't want to be a Glendora suit after Vegas... Some folks are gonna be out some pretty big cash if they don't make major moves.

I know everyone was racing all year for this point, but when you see how it's working for AND against some teams, verses the old system of "you do good, you move up", some folks are gonna have a hard time wanting to show up for the banquet...

 

[PJ]

I'm not sure they really care what the fans say or the racers say for that matter. It will take a big or several big sponsors to get po'd over it and I don't know if any of them care enough. Of course if one did stand up they would be the hero to the masses then, hell I don't care what they sell but I'd be two...at least.

 

[yoda]

I'm not sure they really care what the fans say or the racers say for that matter. It will take a big or several big sponsors to get po'd over it and I don't know if any of them care enough. Of course if one did stand up they would be the hero to the masses then, hell I don't care what they sell but I'd be two...at least.

Exactly my point, PJ... Somebody being P.O.ed isn't always gonna be the race team- it will probably be the big sticker on the side of the car that doesn't see it on TV as much, or represented at the banquet like it should have been, all because there is a difference in Performance Points verses Media Hype Points...

So far, I haven't seen any additional media chatter this year over any other year based on the points system change... Most of the coverage has been based around an Austrailian wreck, a tragic accident and Ashley being recognized as "pretty"..

USA Today is still our big external media press, and they still pretty much do the press thing like they always have- Most of the talk and interest has been HERE.. Now that was senceless, huh? WE were ALREADY talking about Drag Racing...

 

[d'kid]

Non-fans I know don't care... nor is the countdown getting them to watch... they just check with me Mondays to see how "my people" did... have ya'll noticed on Yahoo, they had a news link to stick and ball, and nascar... not a dang link even to NHRA.com... what's that tell you?

Three weeks to Richmond... not a single bit of HYPE yet... and I'm 90 miles from the track....

 

[kingcobrafan]

Tracking the old system is really pointless. People went into test mode, took dives, what have you.

You're right, Chris, they did. All a direct result of the Countdown. Do you like paying to watch that? I sure as hell don't. Oh, I'll still go, cause I'm not strong-willed enough to just do away with my nitro fix, but I don't like it one little bit.

... there is no backing into this deal.

Of course there is. It's exactly how numbers roughly 4-8 in T/F, F/C, and P/S still have a chance to win the championship.

 

[Rajunz]

You're right, Chris, they did. All a direct result of the Countdown. Do you like paying to watch that? I sure as hell don't. Oh, I'll still go, cause I'm not strong-willed enough to just do away with my nitro fix, but I don't like it one little bit.



Of course there is. It's exactly how numbers roughly 4-8 in T/F, F/C, and P/S still have a chance to win the championship.

The thing that is missed, is that for years Greg Anderson, Shoe, Force etc. have just coasted in for their Championships. Sure, they put themselves in a position to do so by running better than everyone else for a stretch of time earlier in the season, but basically those teams just OUT $PENT everyone throughout the season. That's not going to happen anymore. Now, with this much pressure on the line, the teams that come out on top will have truly earned it, not bought it! It will be the teams that performed the best under the pressure for the 6 race period. So if a team can come from 8th position and hold out better than the other 7, that's a Championship run in my book!

 

[d'kid]

The thing that is missed is that for years, Greg Anderson, Shoe, Force etc. have just coasted in for their Championships. Sure, they put themselves in a position to do so by running better than everyone else for a stretch of time earlier in the season, but basically those teams just OUT $PENT everyone throughout the season. That's not going to happen anymore. Now, with this much pressure on the line, the teams that come out on top will have truly earned it, not bought it! It will be the teams that performed the best under the pressure for the 6 race period. So if a team can come from 8th position and hold out better than the other 7, that's a Championship run in my book!

Lance, The "Pressure" today is no different than it was in February... What part of The Best All YEAR don't you understand?

This isn't Football with 6 conferences and two leagues... This isn't MLB with the American league and the National league with with multiple divisions... they need a play-off... we don't.... just like when there were 13 AL teams and 13 NL teams... The winner of each league played in the World Series... Gee, should the NHRA winner race the IHRA winner best outta 5 to be The World Champion?...

It's Hype... that's it... and it's turning me off from the sport... and yeah, I Stopped watching NASCAR for the same reason... but that's me...

Will I Talk Up NHRA to non-fans? The Racing Yes... The Countdown... NEVER

 

[Cabes]

Lance, The "Pressure" today is no different than it was in February... What part of The Best All YEAR don't you understand?

This isn't Football with 6 conferences and two leagues... This isn't MLB with the American league and the National league with with multiple divisions... they need a play-off... we don't.... just like when there were 13 AL teams and 13 NL teams... The winner of each league played in the World Series... Gee, should the NHRA winner race the IHRA winner best outta 5 to be The World Champion?...

It's Hype... that's it... and it's turning me off from the sport... and yeah, I Stopped watching NASCAR for the same reason... but that's me...

Will I Talk Up NHRA to non-fans? The Racing Yes... The Countdown... NEVER

MLB doesn't have to be divided by divisions, either. It's just something they chose so they could have a playoff before the world series, first when it was just the league championship series and later when they added the second tier with a wild-card entry. They got sick of the Yankees clinching the pennant by the first week of September and no fan interest for the last three weeks of the season before the world series, so they came up with the playoff idea. Then when division races weren't going down to the wire, they came up with the wild-card idea, which at first had as many distractors as the Countdown does, if not more.

Of course the purist are still against the wild-card idea, just as you guys are against the re-setting of points. It still irks them that since 2002 that three wild-card teams have won the world series and four have advanced to the fall classic, which I guess is kind of like the no. 3 or no. 4 guy in points all year coming through to win the countdown.
It's just part of the way sports is organized now guys...get used to it.
And since when are there two leagues and six conferences in football? The NFL is just one league with two conferences and eight divisions...last time I checked

 

[d'kid]

AFL and NFL... shows how long it's been since I watched football... guess they reorganized sometime in the last twenty years or so... believe it was eastern, central, and western divisions... both leagues....

 

[PJ]

The thing that is missed, is that for years Greg Anderson, Shoe, Force etc. have just coasted in for their Championships. Sure, they put themselves in a position to do so by running better than everyone else for a stretch of time earlier in the season, but basically those teams just OUT $PENT everyone throughout the season. That's not going to happen anymore. Now, with this much pressure on the line, the teams that come out on top will have truly earned it, not bought it! It will be the teams that performed the best under the pressure for the 6 race period. So if a team can come from 8th position and hold out better than the other 7, that's a Championship run in my book!

I don't get the pressure thoughts. How many dnq's have we seen this year where the drivers said it doesn't hurt as bad as it used to because of the chase. They don't have to qualify or even show up at every race to have a shot at the title now. When you know you only have to aim for the top 8 because then the powers that be are going to give you points in order to catch up, to me thats less preassure. You only have to be medicore now.

Out spent? So Kalitta and Bernstein don't have any money and thats why Tony has been winning those championship?

In order to make the money fair, should we only allow money teams to show up at so many races that way the lower budget guys have more time to catch them? Should they get a .1 head start, maybe .2? Yes money is part of the equation there is no doubting that but its not everything.

 

[DLB]

Tracking the old system is really pointless. People went into test mode, took dives, what have you.

Face it, the game has changed this season, and so has the way that the game is played. The one thing everyone seems to forget is that the pressure on the teams with the Countdown is ten fold. For a team to win under that pressure is emence, there is no backing into this deal. Give credit to the teams that do it best, and forget about the "Old Way". All that tracking the old points system is going to accomplish is pissing you off!

Lance has a point here guys.

Tracking the "Old Points system" isn't at all the reliable old points.
Heck, Ron Capps testing during race weekend. Jeff Arend having a 3 second R.T., Brandon Bernstein taking a race weekend off to get his kidney stones checked out. All that happened in effect of the Countdown - and the "old points" would be much different if people hadn't done things different because of it.

The only "real champ" will be who is crowned in Pomona. I'm not a big fan of the Countdown either, but its what we have been dealt. No since in trying to figure a way out of something when it just makes no sense.

DLB

 

[Jude]

Out spent? So Kalitta and Bernstein don't have any money and thats why Tony has been winning those championship?

In order to make the money fair, should we only allow money teams to show up at so many races that way the lower budget guys have more time to catch them? Should they get a .1 head start, maybe .2? Yes money is part of the equation there is no doubting that but its not everything.

Now you did it, next year NHRA will have a salary cap and revenue sharing with lower budget teams.

 

[PJ]

actually I think some type of revenue sharing could help.

It does no good for Force (just as an example) to have all the cash if there is nobody there to race him. I'm not saying share it all but there are ways to spread the wealth, which would increase the health of the sport. Maybe the top 15-20 teams. The nfl saw this as a pathway to power and look at how they've exploded over the past 20 years.

Again not a full sharing, ideally open a new revenue source that would be split.

It's all part of my master plan for nhra to bad I don't think they'd hire me as a consultant