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chairman of NASCAR, Brian France |
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NASCAR's Le Grande Experiment |
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| Edmonton - Thursday, January 15, 2004 - by: Ron Thornton Marriage, Be It Same Sex, Same Family, Same Harem | |||||||
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escapist |
Sometimes there are things that are more important than mere politics, such as those things that entertain us and allow us some escape from the real world. One such passionate refuge into the trivial for folks such as myself are the colourful cars, even more colourful drivers, and the high speeds of NASCAR. The premier stock car circuit is seeking to discover a formula that would provide an even larger television audience in the fall. Its brain trust figures having a playoff consisting of the final ten races of the season might do the trick. | ||||||
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unpopular |
The new man at the helm of the family run National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, the third generation Brian France, begins his first full year with a new title sponsor in Nextel Communications and no doubt wants to put his own personal stamp on the organisation. Yet, while I support the 41-year old's goals, I am afraid that his implementation will prove to be amateurish at best and draconian at its worst. The fans don't like it the proposed changes and most drivers don't seem to care for them either. It would appear that Mr. France could not care less, and that alone would concern me. CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) once had that same attitude and that organization is now history while the IRL (Indy Racing League) and its signature Indianapolis 500 race has taken over as the premier North American open wheeled circuit. One would think there was a lesson to be learned there somewhere. | ||||||
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split |
Rather than having the champion declared from the points earned over a 36-race season, as has been done since NASCAR's inception in 1949, the organization now seems intent on something of a split season. The first 26 races would determine the top ten drivers, with the last ten races of the schedule would now be a playoff featuring the ten contenders as well as 33 non-championship contending drivers in each of these competitions. | ||||||
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beef up |
There are some changes one might have gotten excited about. Keeping true to the traditions of the sport, Mr. France could have boosted points awarded for victory to a degree that a string of last season wins, such as those enjoyed by Ryan Newman last year, could have changed the complexion of the title race. If Mr. France wanted to make the final 9 or 10 races more important, as he seems to desire with this playoff scheme, he could have simply doubled the points awarded over the course of the final quarter of the season. That would also have changed the face of the 2003 season if it had been implemented. It could have also opened the door to a number of teams outside the top 10 to make a run for the top, such as veteran Bill Elliot's late season performance. There are a number of intelligent, thoughtful adjustments that could have been made to make the final leg of the season more exciting, to prevent a season leader from moving further ahead of the pack More points for wins, more points for finishing in the top 5, top 10, or top 25, while providing less incentive for damaged cars many laps down from returning to the track, could have delivered the desired late season excitement. Even a format such as the one NASCAR appears to be presenting that would conclude with representative races on the super speedways, the short tracks, and the road courses, might at least have lent this scheme some credibility. But they did not, and it does not. | ||||||
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