Will the "playoff " alter historic perspective?

4

4xchampncountin

Guest
A different twist on the topic of the day.

If Jeff Gordon wins his record 8th Cup Championship will people view it differently than they would have if half of those were not the result of a "playoff system"?

What is someone other than Jeff wins 8?

There will be those who will always disrespect Jeff's achievements even if he won 10 championships, but I am not talking about those people.

Certain people will always believe that Dale Earhardt Sr was the greatest driver of all time. I, as well as a lot of other people, still think Richard Petty was the best of all time as supported by 200 wins. But, could people change their minds if he does win 8?

Oh and please save the obligatory "it don't matter cause he ain't gonna win any more". I am not saying he will win 8. I would have to say the odds are greatly against it.

I am just saying "what if?"
 
Doesn't change it at all in my mind. Richard Petty won championship under a point system so complicated that almost no one understood it. It doesn't change it one bit.

The driver competes under the rules that are place at the time. The driver and the team adopt a startegy to win under that system. If the system is different, the startegies will be different.

If at the end of the year NASCAR says you are the champ, then you are the champ.
 
U mentioned Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon's Championships,as We all know Dale Sr. had 7 Cups while Jeff has 4 Cups currently?Not so fast,if the play-off system had been in use since 1980,Dale Sr. would only have 4 Cups,Jeff Gordon would only have 2 Cups :eek: btw,Terry Labonte would have 0 Cups,instead of two :eek:

I'd still say that there will be a stigma attached to every future Champion,if that Champion would've been a different driver under the old points system,JMHO ;)
 
of course there is always going to be comparison's between different era's. Of course, if Dale sr hadnt died in '01, i really beleive he would have won at least one more championship but its really all speculation until it actually happens.

When Winston entered the sport 33 years ago, they changed lots of things and there was probably talk back then of records being different, that is why we refere to the last 33 years as the modern eara.
Now that Nextel has entered the sport, its going to be different with the new points system. In the future, i belive this will be known as the third, or new era of nascar.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I figure people see things they want to see things. But it nice to hear how you guys view this. :)
 
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