T
TonyB
Guest
Full Stroy At FoxSports.com
Last week in New York, NASCAR discussed a couple of changes that haven't been totally finalized for 2004. Sometimes it takes NASCAR a while to respond, but they have addressed one situation that the NASCAR on FOX crew raised last year. Plus they plan to adjust the provisional process.
When a car is held on pit road, the team, the fans and the media all want to know why immediately. There was just no clear-cut way of doing it though. An official could scream at a crew chief with 43 cars running around and making noise, but the message didn't always get across. Eventually the television and radio people got the message, but sometimes it took several laps. Could you imagine going to a football game and watching a team get penalized 15 yards but not knowing why?
For four or five of the major rule infractions, NASCAR will come up with hand signals, just like a referee in football. It's neat because the crew chief, the fans who can see that pit box and the media will know right away.
Fewer free passes
NASCAR is looking at changing the provisional system, and while these changes aren't completely set in stone, I think I can safely say there won't be seven provisional positions for next year's races. We've reached a point where provisionals need to be scaled back so we probably will see three to five provisionals per race. You've got to protect the top guys in points because with one round of qualifying, you do stand the chance of someone losing an engine or wrecking. Could you imagine going to Rockingham and the reigning Winston Cup champion Matt Kenseth missing the field because he lost an engine? While NASCAR has to protect those top guys, seven provisionals might have been a big number. Next year, the fastest 38 or 40 cars will get in the field with three to five on provisionals.
In the past, if you were in the top 25 in points, you weren't charged a provisional. Now if you use it, you lose it -- no matter where you are. People who are usually up in the points can run out of provisionals. If you were in the top 35 in Winston Cup points in 2003, you get four when the season starts. After six races, you get another one. After six more races, you get another one. In 2001, Elliott Sadler and the 21 car used 15 provisional starts, but since he was high enough in the points, he wasn't charged for any of them. Now those opportunities will go away, and it will put a little more pressure on some teams that are decent in points but end up using a lot of provisionals.
Points may discourage wrecked cars from returning
There has been a lot of talk about the final 10 races being a playoff. I don't look for that kind of change. I tend to believe that our people at FOX would not let that happen because that would not be very good for us since we broadcast the first half.
NASCAR did not address the points situation in New York, but I do think a change will be made. It will be something like a few more bonus points for winning, whether it be 25 or another number. I also have heard that NASCAR might look for a system that discourages teams from going in the garage area and repairing a wreck or making a major repair when they are 50, 75 or 100 laps down. I'm speculating, but to discourage cars from returning to the race, NASCAR could pay the same points from 30th through 43rd. That might not be a bad solution.
We've talked and talked about the points system for a long time. Does our system need a little adjustment? Maybe so. But it's not broken because it is the same system the Busch and Truck Series use, and how does it get any better than those two series headed to Homestead? If you gave everybody who won a race 25 extra points for their 2003 wins, it wouldn't change the outcome of the championship.
The one reason I don't like this final eight- or 10-race dash -- and maybe I'm a little partial because I work for FOX -- is a racing championship is about what you do from the time the green flag falls at Daytona in February to the time the checkered flag falls in Homestead. It's not about what you do the final eight or 10 races.
Last week in New York, NASCAR discussed a couple of changes that haven't been totally finalized for 2004. Sometimes it takes NASCAR a while to respond, but they have addressed one situation that the NASCAR on FOX crew raised last year. Plus they plan to adjust the provisional process.
When a car is held on pit road, the team, the fans and the media all want to know why immediately. There was just no clear-cut way of doing it though. An official could scream at a crew chief with 43 cars running around and making noise, but the message didn't always get across. Eventually the television and radio people got the message, but sometimes it took several laps. Could you imagine going to a football game and watching a team get penalized 15 yards but not knowing why?
For four or five of the major rule infractions, NASCAR will come up with hand signals, just like a referee in football. It's neat because the crew chief, the fans who can see that pit box and the media will know right away.
Fewer free passes
NASCAR is looking at changing the provisional system, and while these changes aren't completely set in stone, I think I can safely say there won't be seven provisional positions for next year's races. We've reached a point where provisionals need to be scaled back so we probably will see three to five provisionals per race. You've got to protect the top guys in points because with one round of qualifying, you do stand the chance of someone losing an engine or wrecking. Could you imagine going to Rockingham and the reigning Winston Cup champion Matt Kenseth missing the field because he lost an engine? While NASCAR has to protect those top guys, seven provisionals might have been a big number. Next year, the fastest 38 or 40 cars will get in the field with three to five on provisionals.
In the past, if you were in the top 25 in points, you weren't charged a provisional. Now if you use it, you lose it -- no matter where you are. People who are usually up in the points can run out of provisionals. If you were in the top 35 in Winston Cup points in 2003, you get four when the season starts. After six races, you get another one. After six more races, you get another one. In 2001, Elliott Sadler and the 21 car used 15 provisional starts, but since he was high enough in the points, he wasn't charged for any of them. Now those opportunities will go away, and it will put a little more pressure on some teams that are decent in points but end up using a lot of provisionals.
Points may discourage wrecked cars from returning
There has been a lot of talk about the final 10 races being a playoff. I don't look for that kind of change. I tend to believe that our people at FOX would not let that happen because that would not be very good for us since we broadcast the first half.
NASCAR did not address the points situation in New York, but I do think a change will be made. It will be something like a few more bonus points for winning, whether it be 25 or another number. I also have heard that NASCAR might look for a system that discourages teams from going in the garage area and repairing a wreck or making a major repair when they are 50, 75 or 100 laps down. I'm speculating, but to discourage cars from returning to the race, NASCAR could pay the same points from 30th through 43rd. That might not be a bad solution.
We've talked and talked about the points system for a long time. Does our system need a little adjustment? Maybe so. But it's not broken because it is the same system the Busch and Truck Series use, and how does it get any better than those two series headed to Homestead? If you gave everybody who won a race 25 extra points for their 2003 wins, it wouldn't change the outcome of the championship.
The one reason I don't like this final eight- or 10-race dash -- and maybe I'm a little partial because I work for FOX -- is a racing championship is about what you do from the time the green flag falls at Daytona in February to the time the checkered flag falls in Homestead. It's not about what you do the final eight or 10 races.
