NASCAR considering radical changes to playoff system

According to sources briefed on the proposal on Friday, 16 teams would make the Chase, with positions first going to full-time series contenders who won a race through the first 26 races of the season. Should 16 drivers not win races, the remaining slots would be filled by the drivers highest in points.

Once the field is set for the Chase and re-seeded, the four lowest in points among Chase contenders would be eliminated from title contention after the third, sixth and ninth race in the Chase.

The four remaining contenders would enter the season finale reset with the same amount of points. The driver who earned the most points in the season finale would be the series champion.

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That's utterly ridiculous. This is the ultimate jumping of the shark.

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Even more stupid than the black flagging for drafting crap. Maybe Jeremy Mayfield was right, maybe the powers that be at Nascar need to be drug tested and maybe an ink blot test thrown in for good measure.
 
Imagine if the NFL changed the playoff rules every season. One year 16 teams get in, the next it's 10, the next it's 12 and then every team who has an odd number of letters in their name.
 
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AndyMarquisLive said:
Brian France must've gone "hiking" in Colorado.
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We can only hope there is a hungry bear in the area. Those things love to eat stupid.

We are a step away from spinning a wheel before each chase race so some luck fan gets to throw shoes in front of cars and eliminate drivers until we're down to the required 16.
 
Looking back, there are years like 2003 where the guys who wound up in 25th and 26th in points (Joe Nemechek and Dale Jarrett) would make the Chase just because they won a single race in the regular season. That's stupid as ****.

Someone say with a straight face David Ragan and his team actually should have been in the Chase last year.
 
The new qualifying procedure for Cup races has been released. Drivers will line up based on the results of a foot race between the pit crews.............hold on.........I have breaking news! Chad Knaus has already been caught injecting his crew with steroids.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Jimmie Johnson will win anyway so who gives a ****
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I can tell you he wouldn't have won in 2006...he crashed in the first Chase race at Loudon and finished 39th so that would have eliminated him almost immediately. The eliminations after every three races guarantee one fluke finish can make or break your season.
 
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This will surely never grant Dale Jr or Danica Patrick a championship. What are they thinking??
 
HEY, THAT'S MY IDEA !!!

Seriously, I came up with a similar elimination format a few years ago . . . . . . . as a joke.

So after seeing MWR trying to fix things to get their cars into the Chase, now we'll get to see what car owners will do to pick up a few points to keep their cars from being eliminated after the 3rd, 6th and 9th races.
 
Well, the last race will have drama. 4 drivers. Whoever finishes first wins the season..
 
pjmolo said:
HEY, THAT'S MY IDEA !!!

Seriously, I came up with a similar elimination format a few years ago . . . . . . . as a joke.

So after seeing MWR trying to fix things to get their cars into the Chase, now we'll get to see what car owners will do to pick up a few points to keep their cars from being eliminated after the 3rd, 6th and 9th races.
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Good idea you have, I don't think Mikey will be using two cans of Sunoco race fuel in his cars.
 
Nascar is determined to create more win or go home, do or die moments. This is gimmicky as hell, but it will do that.
This would create 5 elimination races.
1. Last race to get into the Chase
2. 3rd Chase race
3. 6th Chase race
4. 9th Chase race
5. Finale
 
And will winning at each stage give you enough points that you could crash out and still advance?
There would be three 3-race stages in the Chase.
Does each stage have the same "wins count before points" rules? So you could crash out in race 1 and 2 of the Chase, but win race #3 and still advance?
 
Brian France did at NASCAR needed more "game seven" moments a few years back. I guess he's working to manufacture that. I give up, quit, done, finished.
 
wilson89 said:
So basically last season Clint Bowyer and Dale Jr. should not have been in the chase because they didn't win a race but David Ragan who is only competitive at restrictor plate races would of have a spot reserved.
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4 of the 13 drivers in last year's chase didn't have a win coming into it.
 
reck said:
4 of the 13 drivers in last year's chase didn't have a win coming into it.
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This sounds like a horrible rule change if it goes into effect. I do have to wonder what would they do if a driver like Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 and then only raced a handful of other races leading up to the chase. Would the win mean they qualified for the Chase even though they didn't compete in every race?
 
They do need to reward winning more and create a sensible points structure (hint: they've never had one). But this isn't it. This is stupid beyond belief.

I don't think all of it will happen as described. It's being thrown out there as a trial balloon to gauge reaction. Major changes are on the way for '15, and I buy some of it: 16 Chase teams and more elimination races sound inevitable. But I don't think we'll end up in a situation in which points are completely reset at each cutoff. At least not yet, until ratings erode further and they get even more desperate.

FWIW, I also don't believe the season finale will be at Homestead for much longer.
 
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Another reason to float all of this now: when the real changes are announced and don't go this far, 'traditional' fans will be relieved, knowing it could have been worse.
 
While I'll never give up on this sport, I'll never get used to all of the changes that continue to happen. It's said that 'change is good'. Is it? Is it when the change is constant?

The sport has declined in almost every way since the implementation of Brian's Chase format. Apparently it's now ready to morph into yet another version. It's fifth version over the past 10 years. I've heard Brian say in past media interviews that we are not a stick & ball sport yet everything that is happening and more than likely to happen is heading in that direction. A pseudo bracket type playoff system. Changes to the qualifying procedure. Probably time based race events are in the future of this sport as well as television timeouts. Are all of these things that they are doing to the sport really doing anything at all to gain more fans? I don't think so. I sure hope I'm proven wrong.

NASCAR hints at these ideas just enough to create discussion in order to gauge fan reaction. NASCAR Radio has become almost unbearable over the past two weeks with proposed changes being pushed by their morning and mid day hosts. It ends up creating constant calls of how we need to change this sport. Why is there always a cry in NASCAR to change? That's all you hear and read. I listen to the NFL channel and occasionally the MLB & NHL channels. I don't hear people calling in to change the sport. Why in NASCAR?

I'm sure that there will be many that embrace the proposed new playoff system. I hope it's enough to offset those that may leave because of it. I'll be sticking around to root for my driver(s) on Sunday but will everyone?
 
*sigh*

Anyone want to create a new racing series to compete with NASCAR?
 
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