William Byron is the best driver in NASCAR

This is the 20th season of NASCAR having a “postseason,” can anyone actually name an undeserving champion? Outside of Kyle Busch in 2015 and maybe Jimmie’s 7th, it seems all of our champions have put together a strong 36 race season.

I have been hearing the “Chase/Playoffs will result in an undeserving champion” drum for 20 years but it doesn’t seem to bear fruit as often as the doomsayers say it will.
 
The Nature Boy said:
This is a fair critique. I would do a final round of three races and let playoff points carry over as they do for other rounds.

The current playoff system is fine for rewarding full season performance. If you have to shoehorn a postseason format into auto racing, the current system (sans the winner take all finale) isn’t terrible.

The ability to accumulate playoff points helps ensure that teams that are consistent have a leg up over everyone else. If you win one race and suck otherwise or squeak in on points, you’re going to have a tough time because the dominant teams will have a virtually insurmountable playoff point advantage. If you dominate the regular season, you almost need a Harvick in 2020 style meltdown to avoid getting to the final four.

My biggest problem is the overemphasis on winning. A win shouldn’t guarantee you a spot in the playoffs and shouldn’t automatically advance you to the next round.

But the current format is internally consistent. It does reward consistency on the track. I have no issue with recognizing whoever wins it as a true Cup Series Champion.
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I think you should have to finish in the top-20 in points to make the playoffs, and the field should be shortened to 12.

On top of all my gripes about the format, the finale being at ****** Phoenix has exacerbated my loathing and disdain for the playoffs. Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Miami would all be better markets for the finale. Though Atlanta and Texas have sucky tracks which are SMI owned anyway, Nashville, Charlotte and Vegas are all NASCAR owned, the ship has sailed on Miami, and there isn't a permanent venue in Los Angeles.
 
The Nature Boy said:
I would just take the top 12 in points. The guys who luck in with a win are almost always eliminated in the first round anyway. They’re the equivalent of postseason field fillers.
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Honestly, I think there should be a "Wild Card" type of race to either determine the last two spots in the playoff, or to eliminate the first four.
 
LibertyU24 said:
How many Championships will he win is the question. Smart kid, he gets what he can. he don't drive over his head and he don't make to many enemies .
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How many? I still think "will he win one?" Is the question.

He still has not shown me he's taken that leap yet..he's been consistent, and has been more opportunitiatic than go getting, imo.

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Yeah I see Byron as knocking on the door. He and Rudy are a good team and they continue to get better. But there are a lot of teams that are doing the same thing. The competition is better than it has ever been in the sport.
 
Revman said:
bull****. CBell and his two walk offs was epic. Ya know, the other side of the coin? NASCAR's championship format is the greatest change in this sport ever IMO. We have a playoff season....the championship race is epic.....Name one underserving champion. Being great at exactly the right time is what sport--any sport--is all about.
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While I think the champ is deserving in any format, this one is my least favorite and a bit cheap.

Variations of 2004-2013 is the best we've ever had, imo.

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StandOnIt said:
Yeah I see Byron as knocking on the door. He and Rudy are a good team and they continue to get better. But there are a lot of teams that are doing the same thing. The competition is better than it has ever been in the sport.
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I'm not so sure I'd put him over Bell as a contender right now, either.

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Formerjackman said:
Except in auto racing, there are simply too many factors out of the competing driver and team's control to base a whole season on one or two small moments of that season. Racing championships since the beginning of the sport have been built on a body of work over a season, and I have never seen the slightest reason to change it just so a bunch of undeserving teams can get a chance to steal a title and so their fans with attention span of a goldfish will stay engaged because their driver has a mathematical chance of winning, whether they have done anything to justify it or not. It's the same reason MLB juices baseballs, the NFL hamstrings defenses, and the NBA allows 9000 clock stoppages and why the NBA, NFL and the NHL allow two thirds of the teams into the playoffs. They are all catering to the lowest common denominator, and it makes me sad. I've gone from someone totally obsessed with sports to ONLY watching auto racing, and I'm REAL CLOSE to chucking that too. It wouldn't take much to make me turn off the TV and go do something productive on Sunday afternoons.
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Well, auto racing has been many things over the years, and not all of them good. Seasons were decided early. Can you imagine how stupid that would be now? Who has stolen the championship? Nobody.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I think you should have to finish in the top-20 in points to make the playoffs, and the field should be shortened to 12.

On top of all my gripes about the format, the finale being at ****** Phoenix has exacerbated my loathing and disdain for the playoffs. Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Miami would all be better markets for the finale. Though Atlanta and Texas have sucky tracks which are SMI owned anyway, Nashville, Charlotte and Vegas are all NASCAR owned, the ship has sailed on Miami, and there isn't a permanent venue in Los Angeles.
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still would like them to race at long beach or a road course in side of calif speedway.mainly because i live in so calif. and iam not going to that dumbass race in down town la.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I've detailed the many, many problems I have with the playoff format and why it dramatically cheapens the legitimacy of a championship.

The Chase was fine. I hated it too because I prefer a 36 race season, but the Chase was significantly better than what we've got now.

My biggest fundamental problem comes down to having a single winner-take-all race decide the championship.

All the waiver BS and the size of the playoff grid are two more issues I have. It should be harder to make the playoffs. But again, NASCAR WANTS someone to punch a playoff ticket with a fluke race at Daytona, Talladega, or Atlanta Superspeedway.
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Depends on the metric you use to determine a champion, really.

The winner take all piece is polarizing, and I get that. Having said that, being at that race (and looking forward to another)....the atmosphere is as it should be. Traditionalists will never be there or care, but NASCAR manufactured the atmosphere that they had targeted. It's fun, and exciting as hell. I have never viewed the winner take all Champion as anything other than a worthy champion.

Who gets in and waivers....eh, who cares? Those just barely making it aren't factors. I get the waiver thing, but like that NASCAR is erring on the letting them in side. I do think they have to look into whether or not a waiver should be granted to a driver that was an a**hole and got suspended.
 
jaqua19 said:
He still has not shown me he's taken that leap yet..he's been consistent, and has been more opportunitiatic than go getting, imo.

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How so? Tied for most wins and top 10s, stands alone with most top 5s, far and away the most laps led, best average starting position. He has both immense speed and consistency, and anyway, modern NASCAR is largely about putting yourself in position at the right time, and he’s been great at that.
 
I would prefer a full-season championship but you have to make compromises for the networks and the modern sports fan these days. Stage points + playoff points + 10-race playoff sprint w/o knockouts or eliminations would make for a very good system I think. The playoff systems used from 2004-2016 didn’t reward the regular season performance enough. A 10-race accumulation requires more consistency and allows for head-to-head title battles to develop.

It’s not the last sport to fall victim to playoff fever and with some slight tweaks it could be better than many of the others out there.
 
Revman said:
Well, auto racing has been many things over the years, and not all of them good. Seasons were decided early. Can you imagine how stupid that would be now? Who has stolen the championship? Nobody.
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You seem to be about the purity of the sport, but you LIKE the playoffs? So the what the hell if somebody locked up a championship early? If you earn it, you earn it. If you need a contrived "Game 7 moment" to keep you interested, you aren't much of a fan. NASCAR has been VERY lucky that they haven't gotten a farce of a champion with this farce of a system, but their luck won't last forever. I'll even shock you with a couple of surprise takes right now. It's a HORRIBLE time to bring it up, and I mean no disrespect, but Jimmie's 7th title was kind of a fluke. He wasn't even the second best car in the finale. AND, Jeff Gordon could have very easily won the title in a year that wasn't even REMOTELY close to Championship caliber. If Kenseth doesn't put Logano in the fence at Martinsville, Jeff isn't even in the conversation or the final four.
 
Formerjackman said:
You seem to be about the purity of the sport, but you LIKE the playoffs? So the what the hell if somebody locked up a championship early? If you earn it, you earn it. If you need a contrived "Game 7 moment" to keep you interested, you aren't much of a fan. NASCAR has been VERY lucky that they haven't gotten a farce of a champion with this farce of a system, but their luck won't last forever. I'll even shock you with a couple of surprise takes right now. It's a HORRIBLE time to bring it up, and I mean no disrespect, but Jimmie's 7th title was kind of a fluke. He wasn't even the second best car in the finale. AND, Jeff Gordon could have very easily won the title in a year that wasn't even REMOTELY close to Championship caliber. If Kenseth doesn't put Logano in the fence at Martinsville, Jeff isn't even in the conversation or the final four.
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I for one loved the old points system. It used to be more about the individual race than the playoffs. I don't care much for GWCs over and over. Nascars always talking about drivers safety but we have more carnage in 5-10 laps of OT than 200-400 laps of a race.
 
The Nature Boy said:
This is the 20th season of NASCAR having a “postseason,” can anyone actually name an undeserving champion? Outside of Kyle Busch in 2015 and maybe Jimmie’s 7th, it seems all of our champions have put together a strong 36 race season.
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Are you asking me if they had an OK season and thus it was alright if they won the title, or if someone stole a title from someone who was clearly the superior driver/car combination all year? Because the latter gives you answers like Kevin Harvick losing the title in 2020 and 2018 (as well as Kyle Busch, his actual competition, also losing in 2018). There's actually been a real increase in the number of champions who I consider devaluing the Cup Champion title since going to the winner-at-finale-takes-all format and I don't care about whether or not anyone has won a title over that time frame. I only look at their average finishing and qualifying positions these days. Being able to win the title by winning nothing but Phoenix when 32-36 of the cars there lay back to not get involved is a joke IMO.
 
Formerjackman said:
You seem to be about the purity of the sport, but you LIKE the playoffs? So the what the hell if somebody locked up a championship early? If you earn it, you earn it. If you need a contrived "Game 7 moment" to keep you interested, you aren't much of a fan. NASCAR has been VERY lucky that they haven't gotten a farce of a champion with this farce of a system, but their luck won't last forever. I'll even shock you with a couple of surprise takes right now. It's a HORRIBLE time to bring it up, and I mean no disrespect, but Jimmie's 7th title was kind of a fluke. He wasn't even the second best car in the finale. AND, Jeff Gordon could have very easily won the title in a year that wasn't even REMOTELY close to Championship caliber. If Kenseth doesn't put Logano in the fence at Martinsville, Jeff isn't even in the conversation or the final four.
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Fair points, but I think this system puts the drivers in a "must deliver" situation. I think a champion delivers. I also am not sure that it is accurate to call the final a winner take all type of situation. Consistency matters getting to that place. When looking at the final in isolation, I get it, one race....one track, etc. However, when looking at the system in totality, I think it is relatively fair.
 
Revman said:
Fair points, but I think this system puts the drivers in a "must deliver" situation. I think a champion delivers.
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Is it theoretically possible for a player from an eliminated NBA team to run on the court and chop the knees out of a superstar player in the Finals/Conference Finals? Sure. Would it be extremely newsworthy if it happened? Absolutely. The social media interactions and views would be through the roof. Would people watching that Finals just ascribe the team he plays for losing after being injured in an attack as "part of basketball"? No. Would they devalue the title won? Probably, just as everyone pretty much treats Tonya Harding's win at the 1991 US Championships as a fraud. Would the NBA be more popular if that sort of thing happened every other year? Probably not.
 
virtualbalboa said:
if someone stole a title from someone who was clearly the superior driver/car combination all year
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This is probably the weakest argument against the Chase. The strongest regular season team doesn’t always win the championship in other sports. I watched my Patriots lose an undefeated season to a wild card team (the Giants). Despite the Pats never losing in the regular season, I would like a blithering idiot if I ever tried to say that the New York Giants weren’t legitimate champions. See also: 2001 Seattle Mariners.

You have to perform to get to the playoffs and then perform well in the playoffs to win it all. Everyone signs up to compete under the same rules and incentives. It has been 20 years at this point. The doomsayers have yet to be proven correct.
 
The Nature Boy said:
This is probably the weakest argument against the Chase. The strongest regular season team doesn’t always win the championship in other sports. I watched my Patriots lose an undefeated season to a wild card team (the Giants). Despite the Pats never losing in the regular season, I would like a blithering idiot if I ever tried to say that the New York Giants weren’t legitimate champions. See also: 2001 Seattle Mariners.

You have to perform to get to the playoffs and then perform well in the playoffs to win it all. Everyone signs up to compete under the same rules and incentives. It has been 20 years at this point. The doomsayers have yet to be proven correct.
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And that's fine if what you want to get from NASCAR is a championship decided like other (American) sports. That's not what it was when I got into the sport and it isn't what I want nor get from any other motorsports sans NHRA. I'm not telling you that you're wrong. I'm just telling you what I want to see and what I value in a season championship for NASCAR. If you want to know why other people think the championship is devalued, that's why.
 
acmerocket said:
still would like them to race at long beach or a road course in side of calif speedway.mainly because i live in so calif. and iam not going to that dumbass race in down town la.
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Me too. I love SoCal....and have looked forward to my early spring trips there for 15 years. I am going to miss that place...I don't think it is coming back at all. As much as I want a Cup event in Portland, I have to admit.....I would love Long Beach better.
 
The Nature Boy said:
This is the 20th season of NASCAR having a “postseason,” can anyone actually name an undeserving champion? Outside of Kyle Busch in 2015 and maybe Jimmie’s 7th, it seems all of our champions have put together a strong 36 race season.

I have been hearing the “Chase/Playoffs will result in an undeserving champion” drum for 20 years but it doesn’t seem to bear fruit as often as the doomsayers say it will.
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Chase Elliott 2020.
 
Chase was in the top 5 in points nearly all of 2020, was arguably the fastest car the first half of the year and picked back up when the playoffs started. Led the 2nd most laps to Harvick all season, 3rd in wins and I believe he was the only driver with an average finish in the single digits those playoffs. Won 3 of the 10 races, all 3 were elimination races including the championship race.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
Chase was in the top 5 in points nearly all of 2020, was arguably the fastest car the first half of the year and picked back up when the playoffs started. Led the 2nd most laps to Harvick all season, 3rd in wins and I believe he was the only driver with an average finish in the single digits those playoffs. Won 3 of the 10 races, all 3 were elimination races including the championship race.
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Kevin Harvick and Denny were more deserving.
 
"William Byron is the best driver in NASCAR"

A case could be made for all 3 of his teammates being better than him, except maybe Bowman.
 
The Nature Boy said:
This is the 20th season of NASCAR having a “postseason,” can anyone actually name an undeserving champion? Outside of Kyle Busch in 2015 and maybe Jimmie’s 7th, it seems all of our champions have put together a strong 36 race season.

I have been hearing the “Chase/Playoffs will result in an undeserving champion” drum for 20 years but it doesn’t seem to bear fruit as often as the doomsayers say it will.
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Kyle had 7 top 5s, 5 wins in 2015. Just imagine if he ran a full season that year.
 
TheJester said:
I really think he can get to 4+ wins this season. He’s been up front and leading laps pretty much every week
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Byron has 4 wins at the halfway mark of the season. He's definitely one of the best the sport has to offer right now. Truex might be the only guy that can challenge him for the title this year.
 
Byron isn't winning a championship this season, and he absolutely is not the best driver in the series.

Not when we have 3 actual champions in the prime of their careers.

Best season so far? Sure. Best driver in the series?

LOL

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I think William is having a fine season thus far, even a championship caliber season. Probably one of the main contenders for the Cup and I would not be surprised to see him make it to the Championship Race in Phoenix. I think he’s got to continue to pile up the playoff points, maintain consistency and just continue to do what he’s doing, the pit crew has been great this year too. The main roadblock over the horizon is the playoffs, and once you navigate that is the winner take all race, but he’s doing great at handling what he can control at this moment. To say he hasn’t taken THE Step this year and deny that, it’s kind of a head in the sand situation. He has really been the #1 entry for HMS in 2023.
 
I’m not a Byron fan and do not think he’s the best driver in NASCAR. But he is a damn good one and is clearly having the best year. Sometimes it all comes together and for him it has been a hella combination year of factors. Still think Larson and Busch and possibly (cringe) Chastain are long term better. But Byron is getting it done and having a dream year. Not rooting for him but won’t be surprised if he wins the Cup. He’s just not GOAT. He gets a couple more years like this under his belt and I’ll revisit (even if I still don’t like him).
 
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