Does the champion win at Phoenix this year?

wi_racefan

wi_racefan

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Or is this the year it finally ends? I'm sorry it just seems way to convenient in all the years of this poor format that out of all the cars out there one of the final four guys always wins the race.

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Nope

Ever since this "playoff" format was implemented if a non final 4 driver is leading in the closing laps Nascar will throw a "debris" caution to insure at least one of the final four is position to win it all.
 
To be fair the other 36 guys out there stay 6 car lengths away from the final four guys the whole race....

NASCAR makes it clear in the driver's meeting stay away from the final four. If you don't get roughed up or have to work the tires hard because other people are letting you by you're gonna have the fastest car by the end of the race.
 
I want to see the cup champ finish 25th one lap down

this will mean we had one heck of a race
 
harvick wins by punting a 4-tard, then proclaims himself the real champion, since the regular season has more races.
 
I can only imagine Harvick turning the leader who'd just so happen to be a final 4 driver on the final lap, costing that driver the race and the championship and giving Harvick the race win. I'm sure NASCAR would penalize Harvick just because. I just don't see Harvick not running 100%. Shoot, even Kyle Busch never wants to finish any worse than 1st, so if he has a winning car, he'll go for it.
 
StandOnIt said:
And he dead pans it in victory lane..ah, we had a good year, 10 wins, I want to thank..yada yada. :laugh:
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Hard time deciding between what will be a better interview between a deadpanning "should-be-champ" Harvick and perhaps a drunk champion Keselowski. :D
 
What happens if Chase/Logano/Hamlin feud starts back up and they end up taking out all four
 
aunty dive said:
Kevin or Kyle.

Either would be fine with me.
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As big as Kyle's yearly win streak is/was with his win at Texas, he actually had another streak going. If he wins on Sunday, this will make 6 years in a row with two or more cup wins for him (he actually has 4+ in the last 5 years in a row, and 5+ in all but one of those). Could be some motivation.
 
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Churchkey said:
The probability of a Matt Crafton style 2019 truck championship looms large.

IMHO NASCAR wants Clyde to hoist the hardware.
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As cynical as I am about NASCAR at times, if they really tried to influence who wins the championship, we would have seen differnent results over the years. Does ANYBODY think that NASCAR actually wanted JJ to win five in a row? Do you REALLY think they didn't want Jeff Gordon to win another one before he retired? Does ANYBODY think they wanted Jeff to so handily whip Dale SR in the late 90's when their "rivalry" was the biggest thing the sport ever had going for it? Does ANYBODY think they wouldn't have found a way for Dale Jr. to win at least one, or Mark Martin for that matter? As much as I don't want it to end this way, I am just going to flat out predict that Chase finishes fourth of the four on Sunday. I see him having a top 6-8 run and still getting beat by the other three.
 
Formerjackman said:
As cynical as I am about NASCAR at times, if they really tried to influence who wins the championship, we would have seen differnent results over the years. Does ANYBODY think that NASCAR actually wanted JJ to win five in a row? Do you REALLY think they didn't want Jeff Gordon to win another one before he retired? Does ANYBODY think they wanted Jeff to so handily whip Dale SR in the late 90's when their "rivalry" was the biggest thing the sport ever had going for it? Does ANYBODY think they wouldn't have found a way for Dale Jr. to win at least one, or Mark Martin for that matter? As much as I don't want it to end this way, I am just going to flat out predict that Chase finishes fourth of the four on Sunday. I see him having a top 6-8 run and still getting beat by the other three.
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If no others, I definitely agree that they would have liked to find a way to make sure Dale JR won on, and probably multiple championships if they were indeed "fixed." This is coming from a HUGE lifelong Dale Jr fan, who has even met him (and Chase Eliott) multiple times at Bristol.
 
Even if a one of the other 36 drivers leads the whole race and wins, the question really is... ‘how much TV coverage will they really get?’

The focus will be on the championship 4, just as it was when we watched the 4 car race in mid pack most last week lol
 
I think nascar will try it's best to make sure one of the 4 win, even if that takes throwing a "debris" caution with 10 to go.

It doesn't make for a good "show" when someone else wins. Ok you won, now get that damn car out of victory lane so we can get the champion in here! It doesn't look good after the race when the 3rd place car is doing burn outs

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wi_racefan said:
I think nascar will try it's best to make sure one of the 4 win, even if that takes throwing a "debris" caution with 10 to go.

It doesn't make for a good "show" when someone else wins. Ok you won, now get that damn car out of victory lane so we can get the champion in here! It doesn't look good after the race when the 3rd place car is doing burn outs

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OK, and how successful has NASCAR been since they started catering to these kinds of petty (non pun intended) concerns? Manufactured outcomes NEVER hold a candle to that those that happen organically. The simple way to insure a "Game 7 moment" is to eliminate the first 6 games, but is that what ANYBODY really wants?
 
Formerjackman said:
OK, and how successful has NASCAR been since they started catering to these kinds of petty (non pun intended) concerns? Manufactured outcomes NEVER hold a candle to that those that happen organically. The simple way to insure a "Game 7 moment" is to eliminate the first 6 games, but is that what ANYBODY really wants?
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That caution that was thrown last year to allow MTJ to get back in it seemed very suspicious to me, but not as suspicious as allowing the team to come into the pits and take a grinder to the splitter.

Remember when the Penske cars got busted a couple years ago for supposedly manipulating the shape of the splitter? Big deal to nascar then. But if you're in the final four....sure come on down and take a grinder to that baby!

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You can probably eliminate any teammate or affiliate teammate of the final four from winning. This year that leaves SHR and Harvick has the best chance ever to pull this off.
 
DIDIT said:
You can probably eliminate any teammate or affiliate teammate of the final four from winning. This year that leaves SHR and Harvick has the best chance ever to pull this off.
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I just want my guy to be the highest finisher of the final four. I could care less if that is 1st or 36th. In my case, if Johnson, Bowman or Byron has a chance to win the race, that doesn't change one single thing as far as what Elliott must do. he just has to be ahead of the three guys he's racing.
 
Well not only did he win, but the final four finished 1-4. I'm sorry but this drama feels so manufactured

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wi_racefan said:
Well not only did he win, but the final four finished 1-4. I'm sorry but this drama feels so manufactured

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Nah, heck Chase failed inspection and had to start from the rear.

We see this in the WoO and really most racing series anymore, once the champ is decided or a team is out, it seems to calm down a lot. Saw this last night in Charlotte, no one wanted to race Schuchart, Sweet and Gravel hard

Winning a series championship is so much larger than winning races at this point, it’s almost why NASCAR is forced into this format.
 
They must have been manufacturing this drama all year. The top 5 drivers won all but 8 races. It's rigged I tell ya. :laugh:

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I can't believe Team Penske won only 7 races between two drivers, that Kid Ryan only won 1 ( each year) and didn't make the top 4, and the #21 never won a race.
:sarcasm:
 
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