TOP FUEL POINTS

[my friends call me Zappy]

Correct me if i'm wrong, (and i'm sure you will ). Now that the Vegas points are up, (Massey -109), it looks like all Shoe has to do is win RD I in Pomona to take the championship.

 

[Dave]

As it stands, Tony just needs to maintain the 109 margin and he gets the check and trophy on Saturday by qualifying.

 

[Sully]

When they finish qualifying and all the little points are out of the way, there will be 100 points left in the season, including a possible national ET record. As long as Schumacher qualifies and leads by 101 or more points after qualifying, he's the champion. The 20 points for round one goes to each of the 16 qualifiers, leaving 80 round points and 20 for the record still available on Sunday.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

at the end of Q4 there would be 120 pts left including new ET racord I think. 100 for the win, 20 new et.

 

[PJ]

not bad, have one good weekend where you win two races and you get to win a championship

 

[stitcherbob]

"all Shoe has to do is win RD I in Pomona"

that's all he needed to do last race, but because I picked him in my fantasy race lineup.........

 

[mike]

Points tally by Dave Weslolowski.

After the Toyota Las Vegas Nationals:

(Position without countdown - position WITH countdown) (+/- position change from Reading) The underlined driver is the last one in contention and everyone from there down is officially out of the championship.

Top Fuel
1 - 5 Doug Kalitta 1,735
2 - 7 Antron Brown 1,629
3 - 1 Tony Schumacher 1,601
4 - 4 Shawn Langdon 1,558
5 - 6 Steve Torrence 1,380
6 - 2 Spencer Massey 1,337
7 - 3 J.R. Todd 1,225 +1
8 - 8 Khalid alBalooshi 1,221 -1
9 - 10 Richie Crampton 1,176
10 - 9 Brittany Force 1,150
11. Bob Vandergriff 954
12. Clay Millican 730
13. Terry McMillen 683
14. Leah Pritchett 560
15. Larry Dixon 372 +1

The countdown is what it is. Everyone is playing on the same field, but it still sucks!

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

not bad, have one good weekend where you win two races and you get to win a championship

Sad but true. Can't someone refine the system to make it more realist??

 

[StockersRock]

Sad but true. Can't someone refine the system to make it more realist??

Like a single elimination tournament style format at each race that awards points based off of how many rounds you go, meaning that the more rounds you win throughout the year, the more points you accumulate (plus qualifying and record bonus points), to thus determine a champion?? Pfft, it'd never work!

 

[Nobody]

Well, at least a team can have the satisfaction of knowing they were the best for the season, even if they are not awarded a title for it. While the NCAA basketball tournament champion carries great prestige, it is also not a season championship. Guess there is not room in the NHRA to recognize both.

 

[Rajunz]

not bad, have one good weekend where you win two races and you get to win a championship

How about winning 3 of the first 5 playoff races, when your opponents can't seem to get out of their own way.

By your logic, the Giants should never have been crowned Superbowl Champs coming in as a wildcard team.

 

[NYNitro86]

Points tally by Dave Weslolowski.

After the Toyota Las Vegas Nationals:

(Position without countdown - position WITH countdown) (+/- position change from Reading) The underlined driver is the last one in contention and everyone from there down is officially out of the championship.

Top Fuel
1 - 5 Doug Kalitta 1,735
2 - 7 Antron Brown 1,629
3 - 1 Tony Schumacher 1,601
4 - 4 Shawn Langdon 1,558
5 - 6 Steve Torrence 1,380
6 - 2 Spencer Massey 1,337
7 - 3 J.R. Todd 1,225 +1
8 - 8 Khalid alBalooshi 1,221 -1
9 - 10 Richie Crampton 1,176
10 - 9 Brittany Force 1,150
11. Bob Vandergriff 954
12. Clay Millican 730
13. Terry McMillen 683
14. Leah Pritchett 560
15. Larry Dixon 372 +1

The countdown is what it is. Everyone is playing on the same field, but it still sucks!

Well the Chase is NASCAR is much worse than what it was, it was like what the Countdown was in year 1. CONVOLUTED

 

[Butch]

I vote NO for the ClownDown.
Simple as that. It worked for years, then for some dumb reason. We get the Clown Down.

 

[Sandy]

should be from 1st race to last race person with most points should win non of this reset the points to let others catch up I hate the count down

 

[yoda]

Almost every professional sport series has a playoff to determine its champion- all you have to do is qualify for it.

Baseball, football, hockey, basketball, stock cars, college basketball- all rely on you bringing your A game when the season is winding down. Dominant teams during the season shouldn't fold up in the playoffs; that's what makes a true champion- Does well under pressure.

 

[mike]

In almost every other professional sport participants don't have to compete against every other competitor equally. That's why stick and ball sports need playoffs, they have multiple divisions and some form of playoffs are the only way to reasonably choose an overall champion. But if, say baseball, only had one division and every team had the opportunity to play every other team the same number of games, the best way to choose a champion would be whoever won the most games at the end of the season right?

NHRA (and NASCAR) had the superior format to begin with; EVERY race was a "playoff" round. Then they switched to a convoluted psedo playoff format that greatly diminished much of the season...heck Erica Enders was able to just skip a few races and still has a good shot at winning the championship. At least for me it takes out much of the prestige of winning the championship...YMMV

 

[vegasnitro]

I agree Mike Miller.

What NASCAR, NHRA and even Major League Baseball since they went to expanded playoffs are so scared of is that 1 team will run away with a championship and no one will watch the last few races of the season. And make no mistake about it, this is all being done for TV ratings. What they fail to take into account, is that by making only the last few events truly count for something, is now no one has any incentive to watch a race/buy a ticket in the beginning-middle of the season. They can casually follow the standings via websites and TV snippets and then start paying attention at the end of the year, whereas people used to watch and follow a lot more.

I have said it a thousand times and I will say it again, playoffs in motor racing do not work. If NASCAR's Chase format was so good, they would use it in the Nationwide and Trucks Series too. The revised Chase format in Cup this year is an absolute joke. It is possible to win the first 35 races of the year and not win a Championship in the 36th. NASCAR jobbed themselves with the Chase this year out of either Dale Jr or Jeff Gordon being champion this year, which would be a much bigger deal than however it is going to shake out (granted Jeff still has a shot, but not a good one).

 

[Rollout96]

I can't believe this old thread has been resurrected!

Wait... WHAT? Oh, this is a NEW conversation? Wow...

:::snicker:::

 

[StockersRock]

I have to disagree with it from the NASCAR standpoint. Their old system, and even the prior Chase systems (for those that were eligible) rewarded "mediocrity", for lack of a better term. Look at Matt Kenseth's 2003 run, Terry Labonte's 1996 run, or Jimmie Johnson's consistency through the Chases during his reign. Now, top 5's and 10's week after week is impressive and difficult, but not very exciting.

NHRA races are single elimination. You win a round, you get more points; you lose, you don't gain points, you go home. You lose in round 1 or 2 too many times early in the season, and you're not going to be in the championship hunt come the end of the year. Pretty much, the guy that goes the most rounds thoughout the year is the champion. That's as cut and dried as a sporting competition can be.

I don't think it makes sense to say the old system of NHRA points keeping and what NASCAR has for a Chase this season are that different. I personally like this year's Chase compared to previous versions of the Chase. It took me some time to warm up to the Chase, but I can see why they did it, and I think they're finally on the path of what they were looking for.

NHRA, on the other hand, had a "you better keep winning, if you want to keep up" formula, and they screwed it up. It has rewarded "mediocrity" in reverse, where teams can basically "test" until Indy, and then turn the wick up, which we all predicted and has basically proven out now. But, good for them, they're just playing with what they're given. I, however, will never be ok with the Countdown like this.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

should be from 1st race to last race person with most points should win non of this reset the points to let others catch up I hate the count down

EXACTLY. No points given that were not erned - no points taken away that were erned.