Will the Chase be scrapped after this season?

MRM

MRM

Team Owner
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
5,690
Points
793
Location
Powell, TN
I doubt it. But will Jeff Gordon, his team, and his fans scream loud enough to go back to the old format?

I heard Jerry Punch on a local radio show saying that Gordon would have around a 200-point lead going into Sunday's race. And if he finishes Sunday in the top 10, he will have 7 poles, 6 wins, and 30 top 10 finishes and will not win the championship. In theory, that's 2 championships that Gordon did not win because of the Chase (some feel NASCAR favors Gordon, I do not agree).

TV ratings are way down. The Chase was created to keep TV ratings and fan interest up during football season. They would be down regardless of which system was being used.

Now, you have 2 out of 4 champions in the Chase era that would not have won it under the old system.

I doubt NASCAR will go back. But it will be interesting to see if they float any trial balloons out there during the winter months.
 
i think the drivers and teams have done a good job of distancing themselves from what the true fans are. The hard working blue collar Americans, these drivers and teams care more about selling the product that is on their car than actually racing.

Not to mention there really isnt that much of a difference between a chevy, ford, or dodge in cup now...all cars are the same. To call nascar "stock car racing" should be false advertisement.
 
Jeff Gordon actually has a 444 point lead, under the old Classic system, over Jimmy Johnson heading into the Homestead race.
 
muggle not said:
Jeff Gordon actually has a 444 point lead, under the old Classic system, over Jimmy Johnson heading into the Homestead race.
Click to expand...

I was quoting what Jerry Punch said. Regardless, he would be in the lead under the old system.

I saw this on Jayski this morning. I find it interesting the story is to the point and not a song and dance routine to attempt to spin a negative into a positive.

Overall TV Ratings down: NASCAR ends its season Sunday with ratings down again this year. And while it has fan interest beyond its Southern base, it's still an also-ran in big cities outside the South. This season's NASCAR Nextel Cup races — airing on Fox, TNT, ESPN and ABC — are averaging 4.2% of U.S. TV households — down 9% from last year's average and off 21% from 2005. ABC's Checker Auto Parts 500 on Sunday — when Jimmie Johnson virtually nailed down the season points title — showed interest still is largely regional. The race drew 10.5% of households in Greenville, S.C., 9.1% in Knoxville, Tenn. and 7.8% in Birmingham, Ala. But it drew just 1.3% in New York, 1.9% in Los Angeles and 2.4% in Chicago. Dick Glover, NASCAR vice president/broadcasting, notes the average NASCAR race ratings in New York (1.9%), Los Angeles (2.1%) and Chicago (2.9%) — which together constitute about 15% of TV households in the USA — are up slightly or even with last year. He concedes there's no silver bullet to win over more major-market eyeballs: "All you can do is expose your product and see if people like it." But Glenn Enoch, ESPN vice president/research, suggests NASCAR's viewer drop-off has an asterisk. Ratings this season among males age 18-34 — whom advertisers covet because they haven't always formed brand loyalties and are seen as more susceptible to advertising — are "virtually flat." The big losses came among viewers older than 55. Since NASCAR's biggest stars all appear in a single weekend race, its ratings are more indicative of overall viewer interest than ratings for sports such as football, basketball and baseball, where audiences get splintered across lots of time slots. And NASCAR's stand-alone race ratings make the sport's TV appeal seem pretty big — until you compare them to the cumulative appeal of other sports. Consider that weekend college football games just on Disney's ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 can produce total ratings about five times bigger than NASCAR's 4.2% race average. And NFL games each week typically produce total ratings well over 10 times bigger than the NASCAR race average.(USA Today)(11-14-2007)
 
MRM said:
I was quoting what Jerry Punch said. Regardless, he would be in the lead under the old system.

I saw this on Jayski this morning. I find it interesting the story is to the point and not a song and dance routine to attempt to spin a negative into a positive.

Overall TV Ratings down: NASCAR ends its season Sunday with ratings down again this year. And while it has fan interest beyond its Southern base, it's still an also-ran in big cities outside the South. This season's NASCAR Nextel Cup races — airing on Fox, TNT, ESPN and ABC — are averaging 4.2% of U.S. TV households — down 9% from last year's average and off 21% from 2005. ABC's Checker Auto Parts 500 on Sunday — when Jimmie Johnson virtually nailed down the season points title — showed interest still is largely regional. The race drew 10.5% of households in Greenville, S.C., 9.1% in Knoxville, Tenn. and 7.8% in Birmingham, Ala. But it drew just 1.3% in New York, 1.9% in Los Angeles and 2.4% in Chicago. Dick Glover, NASCAR vice president/broadcasting, notes the average NASCAR race ratings in New York (1.9%), Los Angeles (2.1%) and Chicago (2.9%) — which together constitute about 15% of TV households in the USA — are up slightly or even with last year. He concedes there's no silver bullet to win over more major-market eyeballs: "All you can do is expose your product and see if people like it." But Glenn Enoch, ESPN vice president/research, suggests NASCAR's viewer drop-off has an asterisk. Ratings this season among males age 18-34 — whom advertisers covet because they haven't always formed brand loyalties and are seen as more susceptible to advertising — are "virtually flat." The big losses came among viewers older than 55. Since NASCAR's biggest stars all appear in a single weekend race, its ratings are more indicative of overall viewer interest than ratings for sports such as football, basketball and baseball, where audiences get splintered across lots of time slots. And NASCAR's stand-alone race ratings make the sport's TV appeal seem pretty big — until you compare them to the cumulative appeal of other sports. Consider that weekend college football games just on Disney's ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 can produce total ratings about five times bigger than NASCAR's 4.2% race average. And NFL games each week typically produce total ratings well over 10 times bigger than the NASCAR race average.(USA Today)(11-14-2007)
Click to expand...

FOX's ratings decrease is, at worst, negligible. And, TNT's ratings (while down from last year) increased from the first race of the Summer Series to the last.

ESPN's ratings started way up with Richmond and have fallen in a big way from Richmond to now.

The rratings wouldn't be a major issue if more races were on FOX.
 
Have to agree about rating being down because if ESPN's broadcasts. They are absolutely horrible. It's gotten to the point where I can't even stand to hear Rusty Wallace's voice anymore. I end up listening on the radio with the tv on mute.
 
Yeah i cant stand to listen to ESPN. They make everything seem like its a bigger deal than it really is. They keep trying to merge it with stick and ball sports and they dont mix. Atleast with FOX and TNT for the most part they are focused on the racing not breaks for highlights from baseball or footballs games as much. I know NBC use to do that too but they wouldnt take such a chunk away from race coverage to talk about it.


And what about missing 90% of the restarts and by the time they come back another caution is back out.

They need to review what they are doing maybe watch some classic espn nascar coverage........I like the idea of K.I.S.S = Keep it simple stupid. To many bells and whistles takes away from whats really going on.
 
I gotta disagree with most of you. Espn has been poor this yesr, to say the least, however NBC lost many more viewers last year than ESPN has this year. Generally, Nascar will go with the network that pays the most money to them. However, maybe it is time for them to look at the total picture since they are losing so many fans.
 
muggle not said:
I gotta disagree with most of you. Espn has been poor this yesr, to say the least, however NBC lost many more viewers last year than ESPN has this year. Generally, Nascar will go with the network that pays the most money to them. However, maybe it is time for them to look at the total picture since they are losing so many fans.
Click to expand...

Yep, which is why NBC set a NASCAR all-time viewer record for the 2006 Daytona 500. :rolleyes:

But, TNT (on cable) had higher numbers last year for Dover than ABC this year at Dover.

The numbers haven't scared me. People weren't watching the Summer Series, because it's just that, Summer. Everybody is on vacation in the Northeast in June and July. Why take time away from the beach or (in my case) Central Park in NYC for a mediocre race (Pocono, Michigan, Loudon, Chicago) that is on a channel you won't get at most hotels we checked out in the NYC area.

ESPN's ratings are down because of ESPN. I can tell you I know 6 people (from work alone) that don't watch the races anymore on TV until FOX comes back. They all watch the football games and listen to the race on MRN. They're coverage is awful, nobody likes it.

NBC was great, I thought. I didn't mind Bill Weber. I still don't mind Bill Weber, and I'll take listening to him over Jerry Punch anytime.
 
By the way, the people in New York were actually really nice. Much better area than Washington, D.C. :eek:
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
Yep, which is why NBC set a NASCAR all-time viewer record for the 2006 Daytona 500. :rolleyes:

But, TNT (on cable) had higher numbers last year for Dover than ABC this year at Dover.

The numbers haven't scared me. People weren't watching the Summer Series, because it's just that, Summer. Everybody is on vacation in the Northeast in June and July. Why take time away from the beach or (in my case) Central Park in NYC for a mediocre race (Pocono, Michigan, Loudon, Chicago) that is on a channel you won't get at most hotels we checked out in the NYC area.

ESPN's ratings are down because of ESPN. I can tell you I know 6 people (from work alone) that don't watch the races anymore on TV until FOX comes back. They all watch the football games and listen to the race on MRN. They're coverage is awful, nobody likes it.

NBC was great, I thought. I didn't mind Bill Weber. I still don't mind Bill Weber, and I'll take listening to him over Jerry Punch anytime.
Click to expand...

or could the numbers be because people have found other things to watch....like football?

Id rather watch a race on ESPN than have to listen to DW, Larry Mac, and Jeff Hammond....if you want the world to think nascar is redneck...then keep these guys in the booth.
 
Could it be that all the hopping around between networks has something to do with the decline? Pick a network, pick an announcing crew and stick with them. Let them grow in the booth and on the viewers. How much of our discontent is because we can compare what X does that Y does differently, whether it be the broadcast or the announcing?

They're not going to beat out the NFL. Not any time soon anyway. And, going up against college football that's a loser also. Try and find a time slot people can get used to and stay there. Let the night race be an occasional event because you know the "really really big" football games are going to be on at night. So go for a 1pm or 2 pm start. The noon games on Saturday and the 1pm games on Sunday are usually the crappy games anyway. Let the viewer start watching those and when they lose interest in the game after an hour be there as a choice for them to turn to. Don't go head to head, You're going to lose everytime.

How many times have we heard the ticket prices are too high? The concession prices are too high? The hotel and other support services too high? A $4 hotdog. A $39.95 Day's Inn room for $150.

Those are just some of the surface problems.
 
Yeah they have been thinking they could beat football for years. Its no secret that there are WAY more football fans than Nascar fans out there. Your not gonna beat them, so like it was said above that you need to work around them during the downtime in the football games for people to catch the best parts of the race.

How many times are they gonna get burned on a race going past dark with a track that had no lights, before they figure out that they need to go back to earlier start times so they can fit a race in an afternoon.
 
basscatcher89 said:
Yeah they have been thinking they could beat football for years. Its no secret that there are WAY more football fans than Nascar fans out there. Your not gonna beat them, so like it was said above that you need to work around them during the downtime in the football games for people to catch the best parts of the race.

How many times are they gonna get burned on a race going past dark with a track that had no lights, before they figure out that they need to go back to earlier start times so they can fit a race in an afternoon.
Click to expand...

Here's one thing....start the races at 1 or 12:30 like they all did at one point...I remember coming home from church eating lunch and watching the race...now we come home from church and end up doing something else because we are bored after lunch.

Dont buy food or drinks at the track.....you get screwed everytime....take a bag full food and a cooler of drinks with you.
 
can you even bring in food and drinks anymore? I remember just a couple years ago tracks being awesome about letting you bring coolers and food into the track. But in the last couple years ive noticed tracks not allowing people to do this anymore. Im sure its a security thing anymore, or that is the excuse. Would be awesome if that opened back up again.
 
basscatcher89 said:
can you even bring in food and drinks anymore? I remember just a couple years ago tracks being awesome about letting you bring coolers and food into the track. But in the last couple years ive noticed tracks not allowing people to do this anymore. Im sure its a security thing anymore, or that is the excuse. Would be awesome if that opened back up again.
Click to expand...

Not at Homestead!:mad:

You can at Richmond and Dover! :D
 
Go Panthers said:
or could the numbers be because people have found other things to watch....like football?

Id rather watch a race on ESPN than have to listen to DW, Larry Mac, and Jeff Hammond....if you want the world to think nascar is redneck...then keep these guys in the booth.
Click to expand...

Maybe I am a redneck but I like the ol' boys in the booth.
 
basscatcher89 said:
can you even bring in food and drinks anymore? I remember just a couple years ago tracks being awesome about letting you bring coolers and food into the track. But in the last couple years ive noticed tracks not allowing people to do this anymore. Im sure its a security thing anymore, or that is the excuse. Would be awesome if that opened back up again.
Click to expand...

You can at Texas. :D
 
well i knew chicagoland sucks but now i know another area it sucks in you cant take stuff in at chicagoland as far as i know. Thats my closest track ive went there twice and was bored both times i learned to stick with the dirt tracks lol.
 
You can at Watkins Glen. Too many campers to keep the food out, esp. when people can watch from other places than their seats, if they even purchase them. There's the usual size restriction for coolers in the stands, but everyone is packed in like sardines like most places, so that's not a problem. I say lower ticket prices. Too bad we don't live closer to Dega... free camping... lower ticket prices. No wonder they get such big crowds... even the non-rednecks go down for it. :) The prices for camping at The Glen have gotten ridiculous for sub-par facilities. You can go down the road to the state park and get far superior facilities for a lot less money. (And fewer crazies... if you have kids or like a less rowdy place.)
 
The real question is, "SHOULD the Chase be scrapped after this season?"
The only obvious answer is yes.
NASCAR needs to stop giving Championship trophys away.
 
BobbyFord said:
The real question is, "SHOULD the Chase be scrapped after this season?"
The only obvious answer is yes.
NASCAR needs to stop giving Championship trophys away.
Click to expand...
Yes, it should be scrapped but it would be next to impossible to scrap it now and admit it was a big mistake. Besides, how would it look to the drivers that "would have" won the championship under the old Classic system if they scrap it after such a short period.
 
IMO, ratings are down becuase #8 isn't in the chase.

Nascar knows this and with Earnhardt going to the dominate team, they're licking their chops!

Scrap the chase with a possible Gordon/Earnhardt battle for the cup looming in the future - not likely.
 
Patrick9999 said:
IMO, ratings are down becuase #8 isn't in the chase.

Nascar knows this and with Earnhardt going to the dominate team, they're licking their chops!

Scrap the chase with a possible Gordon/Earnhardt battle for the cup looming in the future - not likely.
Click to expand...



The Chase format would be the ONLY chance Jr. would have to challenge Gordon; Jr. couldn't beat Gordon without help.
 
BobbyFord said:
The Chase format would be the ONLY chance Jr. would have to challenge Gordon; Jr. couldn't beat Gordon without help.
Click to expand...


100% agreement on that.

In fact, it looks to me like the chase is the only way Gordon can be challenged by anyone.
 
What does it matter now. Gordon already lost 2 championships because of it.
 
Patrick9999 said:
IMO, ratings are down becuase #8 isn't in the chase.

Nascar knows this and with Earnhardt going to the dominate team, they're licking their chops!

Scrap the chase with a possible Gordon/Earnhardt battle for the cup looming in the future - not likely.
Click to expand...

Earnhardt won't win a championship.
 
My husband said they'll keep adding more drivers to the Chase just to make sure Jr. gets in. uggh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom