Cherry Picking?

H

HardScrabble

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There is some speculation here and there that perhaps Bill Elliott will run a selective schedule next season. This has been done often in the past and I see it being referred to as "cherry picking" again. Not a term I associate with the practice because so many seem to feel that mean the team is only going to tracks where they think they have an advantage. In teh past I have heard this as reason to discount some drivers like David Pearson. Near as I can tell most of the time the "cherry picking" involved going where the money was, rather than running for the championship. Hard as may to understand now, back in the days of yore wining races paid far more than winning championships.

Anyways, it is a practice whose time may well have come again, and for at least one person, me, it would be a welcome sight. Too bad really that there is virtually no chance whatsoever that the money will move back to the races and away from the crown. That would result in better racing right away IMO. The thing is that with teams struggling to find sponsors willing to pony up the big money to run the full season, some excellent drivers reaching a point in their career where they like to cut back on their schedule, multi car teams with at least one unit which seems not up to snuff running the full schedule, and the advantages to both sponsor and team that running very well 15 times per year versus running only so-so 30 something times per year presents it seems a very workable scheme.

In this specific case Bill has never seemed to really enjoy running the short tracks or road courses and has truthfully been much much better on the big tracks.

There are probably a nice handful of teams who could take the same approach and come out ahead in the long run.
 
I think it could be made to work as an additional car on an established team.

I don't think a single car operation can come out ahead doing it.

I think the key is personnel. To win at the Cup level, you have to have top notch personnel at every stage of the way. From fabricators to pit crew, top notch is required. Not too many folks will turn down full-time money for a part-time job.
 
Do the part timers get the same number of tests as the full timers? If so this would be an advantage for a organization to have a part timer just for the 7 more tests and have less expence since the team does not run every race. I guess that makes sense.

Lee
 
Some of the greatest drivers in Nascar history have done this..........I don't see why Good Old Bill can't! David Pearson and Cale Yarborough only ran select races at times during their careers!

Good Old Bill's first win was at the old "Riverside" Speedway.........so I don't think he hates or dislikes the roadies!
 
"back in the days of yore wining races paid far more than winning championships."

A subject of confusion among some younger fans may be just this point. Pearson's 105 race wins did come as a result of running selective tracks and schedules. I have heard this refered to as being due to the fact that titles simply were emphasized less in those days than in the current era. A critisism of the current nascar-point system is the manner in which it rewards consistency over accomplishment. An arguable point but one to consider. Take Martin's recent Busch series career as a more modern example of 'selective' racing.

Possibly(speculating here) David would have/could have been a 4-5 time champion had he simply run more races and been less selective about the tracks he raced on.

Food for thought for sure.
 
Good ol Bill's first win may have come at Riverside...............so what?

Bill has run road couses some 43 times, and that is the one and only win he has to show for it. That means when he was kicking butt with the #9 T-Bird and then running with Junior Johnson, when he won his championship he never won a single race on a road course................

I don't think he likes them much better than short tracks..........so if he is gonna cut his schedule he only has two short tracks to cut, (4 races) and only two road races (at tracks where he has never won) so I would bet they get the boot.
 
To answer a question from above...part-time teams get the same number of test as full-time teams.

I think you already see some "cherry picking" to some extent. When mutli-car teams field extra teams, they do it at the high dollar events. Check the entry lists for Indy, Daytona, and Talladega and compare them to some of the lower dollar events.

A multi-car team that has the resource can do this and be sucessful at it.

A truely part-time team isn't going to have much success.

I think Bill Elliott running a 3rd Evernham car at only races like Indy, Pocno, Michigan, Darling, Daytona, and Talladega would be very successful.

Would you believe that Bill actually has a better average finish at BOTH Sears Point and Watkins Glen than Pocono? I would haven't beleived it is I hadn't looked it up.

Bill Elliott's Track-By-Track Avergaes
 
You will also note that Bill has a better average finish at Riverside than he does at Pocono..............but

To carry the Pocono vs road course comparison further. Bill has finished in the top 10 at Pocono 50% of the time compared to 36% at Sonoma and 29% at the Glen. He has won 5 poles at Pocono compared to none at any of the road courses. He has won 5 times at Pocono compared to one time for all road course combined and none at Sonoma or Watkins Glen. He has 10 top five finishes in 43 races at all the road courses combined, he has 14 top fives in 44 races at Pocono.

You get return for your sponsors by winning, running in the top five, sitting on the pole and marginally by running in the top 10. You can of course get exposure by leaving the race in a spectacular manner........again I would give the nod to Pocono, in all the road races Bill has DNF'd only 3 times.
 
Regardless of anything>> Good Old Bill from Dawsonville will go down in History as one of the greats in the sport! And he is and will be the fastest man in Nascar for many many years to come. 210 MPH at Daytona and 212 MPH at Talledega; records will not be beat for a long time. On top of that, good old BILL has had more fans than even Mr. Dale Earnhardt over the years!!!!!

And Bill Elliott won his races clean!! One heck of a driver in my book!
 
I really think Bill will bow out this year,he is very competitive, i can't really see him racing selectively....just my opinion. I bought a T-Bird Turbo Coupe because he was kicking butt in one, it was a great car and he is still a great driver. I'm going to have a hard time picking another favorite when he retires.
 
Pick Tony Stewart "Smoke" as your next favorite driver! He is the best out there and he doesn't take anything from nascar or its sponsors! Have to appreciate his desire to win and his honesty!
 
Is cherry picking anything like Buschwhacking or Pursesnatching?
 
I have no problem with the idea, in fact I think it's actually pretty cool.

For Bill Elliot fans it's a chance to root for him again and more importantly gives him a better chance performing well.

If you only have a couple of races a year you can really dial the car in for the track with a couple weeks/months lead time. You'd be more rested for the race, and most importantly you could race your little butt off knowing that if you wreck, you'll have a couple weeks to recover (both the driver and the car!)

I'd love to see Bill post a win or 2 next year and just sit back and enjoy them. Winning for winning's sake. Sounds like the good life to me.
 
Originally posted by 71Fan@Oct 21 2003, 07:27 PM
Is cherry picking anything like Buschwhacking or Pursesnatching?
Click to expand...
I really don't see how its any different.
 
Well, consider that one is kinda like guys having fun and the other is like the Florida Marlins whoopin up on Podunk High 83 to 1 in the top of the third.
 
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