If anybody's gonna be in the cheap seats in the Lund section on the backstretch or for that matter at the Larry The Cable Guy show at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater the next night, well, see y'all there.
Time for me and Mrs. Jones to expand our cultural horizons. Wonderful two day opportunity to do so. Can't wait. Git er done.
Time for me and Mrs. Jones to expand our cultural horizons. Wonderful two day opportunity to do so. Can't wait. Git er done.
LOL
I think I will show some more support by drinking a Busch beer.
NASCAR will use playoff-style points system
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The speculation is over.
NASCAR indeed is changing the way it crowns a champion in the Nextel Cup Series in 2004, switching to a season-long points race to a 10-race "playoff," vice president of corporate communications Jim Hunter confirmed to NASCAR.com Thursday afternoon.
While Hunter didn't disclose the exact nature of the playoffs -- because NASCAR hasn't nailed down the details -- a system will be used in the final 10 races to determine the champion.
"Yes, we are committed to changing the format we use to determine the champion," Hunter said in an exclusive interview with NASCAR.com. "We're looking at 26, 10. We're looking at a number to make sure we don't exclude anybody in the 10 who would have a chance to win the championship."
The numbers of drivers eligible for the championship could be more than 10, and any driver in the playoffs will be seeded. NASCAR will not reset the points back to zero, but instead start each driver with a certain number, with the driver leading the standings getting the most points with 10 races to go.
"A small lead, but it's a brand-new chase to the championship," Hunter said. "Nobody will go back to zero."
Any driver within a certain number of points of the leader will be eligible for the playoffs. Hunter said NASCAR is trying to determine that number based on models from the previous 28 years of using the current system, but that number is between 300 and 600.
For example, if a driver is in 14th place but 300 points behind the leader, he would still be eligible for the playoffs -- and the championship.
"We'll start them off with x number of points, and the leader will have more than second, third, fourth, fifth, on down the line," Hunter said. "Then we still use our same points system the rest of the year for them."
That's to make sure drivers out of the playoffs won't end up with more points with drivers in the playoffs. That starting-point number for playoff drivers has been established, but Hunter wasn't ready to announce them
Hunter said NASCAR will award more points to the winner of each race, but it won't be a large number.
"Somebody said, '25,' and I said, 'Not that big,'" Hunter said. "We don't know what the number is yet. But the winner will receive more points than second place, no matter what."
NASCAR will not alter the points for lower finishers of a race as previously speculated, but the minimum speed at each track will be raised, reducing the number of slower cars allowed on the track (like cars returning from a crash).
Qualifying will continue to pay no points.
As an added incentive for the drivers not in the playoffs over the final 10 races -- if winning a race weren't enough -- NASCAR will create an award for the highest finishing driver out of the playoffs and will recognize him at the Awards Banquet in New York.
"You're racing to win races," Hunter said. "That's what you're supposed to be here for -- not running for points. We're toying with the idea of putting special point fund money to that position."
As for why NASCAR has decided to change the points system, Hunter said it was simple: After Labor Day, when college and pro football are beginning and competing for fans and television viewers, things go flat for NASCAR.
NASCAR wants to add drama to the fall schedule, for TV and the fans. Some races late in the year are not selling out, Hunter said.
"There's just so much more for NASCAR to compete with in that last third of the season that we don't have the rest of the year," Hunter said. "We're doing this to draw additional attention to our sport. That's the bottom line."
Hunter also pointed out that the championship should not be based solely on consistency. Matt Kenseth, for example, won only one race in 2003 but ran away with the championship. Meanwhile, Ryan Newman won eight races but finished sixth in the points.
"The balance of winning and consistency has sort of gotten out of whack," Hunter said. "It seems that the consistency factor plays more of a role than winning races. We need to change the format.
"It's a new day, so we want to try this. We think it'll work. In the end, if it doesn't work, we'll change it back."
Drivers have generally reacted negatively to the proposal, and fans have been against it from the start. In a NASCAR.com poll in December, fans were overwhelmingly against the playoff system. But Hunter said it was up to NASCAR to educate the fans as to the positives of the plan.
"Fans that I talked to, when I explained to them why we're doing this and what we hope to accomplish, they may not swing all the way over, but they say, 'Oh, OK, I get that,'" Hunter said.
One argument against the playoff system was the inability to break into the top 10 for drivers out of the playoffs. Figuring out the cutoff -- x number of points behind the leader -- was the "last piece of the puzzle," Hunter said.
"On the average, that happens about one out of three years," Hunter said about drivers moving into the top 10 in the final 10 races.
www.nascar.com
I think I will show some more support by drinking a Busch beer.
NASCAR will use playoff-style points system
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The speculation is over.
NASCAR indeed is changing the way it crowns a champion in the Nextel Cup Series in 2004, switching to a season-long points race to a 10-race "playoff," vice president of corporate communications Jim Hunter confirmed to NASCAR.com Thursday afternoon.
While Hunter didn't disclose the exact nature of the playoffs -- because NASCAR hasn't nailed down the details -- a system will be used in the final 10 races to determine the champion.
"Yes, we are committed to changing the format we use to determine the champion," Hunter said in an exclusive interview with NASCAR.com. "We're looking at 26, 10. We're looking at a number to make sure we don't exclude anybody in the 10 who would have a chance to win the championship."
The numbers of drivers eligible for the championship could be more than 10, and any driver in the playoffs will be seeded. NASCAR will not reset the points back to zero, but instead start each driver with a certain number, with the driver leading the standings getting the most points with 10 races to go.
"A small lead, but it's a brand-new chase to the championship," Hunter said. "Nobody will go back to zero."
Any driver within a certain number of points of the leader will be eligible for the playoffs. Hunter said NASCAR is trying to determine that number based on models from the previous 28 years of using the current system, but that number is between 300 and 600.
For example, if a driver is in 14th place but 300 points behind the leader, he would still be eligible for the playoffs -- and the championship.
"We'll start them off with x number of points, and the leader will have more than second, third, fourth, fifth, on down the line," Hunter said. "Then we still use our same points system the rest of the year for them."
That's to make sure drivers out of the playoffs won't end up with more points with drivers in the playoffs. That starting-point number for playoff drivers has been established, but Hunter wasn't ready to announce them
Hunter said NASCAR will award more points to the winner of each race, but it won't be a large number.
"Somebody said, '25,' and I said, 'Not that big,'" Hunter said. "We don't know what the number is yet. But the winner will receive more points than second place, no matter what."
NASCAR will not alter the points for lower finishers of a race as previously speculated, but the minimum speed at each track will be raised, reducing the number of slower cars allowed on the track (like cars returning from a crash).
Qualifying will continue to pay no points.
As an added incentive for the drivers not in the playoffs over the final 10 races -- if winning a race weren't enough -- NASCAR will create an award for the highest finishing driver out of the playoffs and will recognize him at the Awards Banquet in New York.
"You're racing to win races," Hunter said. "That's what you're supposed to be here for -- not running for points. We're toying with the idea of putting special point fund money to that position."
As for why NASCAR has decided to change the points system, Hunter said it was simple: After Labor Day, when college and pro football are beginning and competing for fans and television viewers, things go flat for NASCAR.
NASCAR wants to add drama to the fall schedule, for TV and the fans. Some races late in the year are not selling out, Hunter said.
"There's just so much more for NASCAR to compete with in that last third of the season that we don't have the rest of the year," Hunter said. "We're doing this to draw additional attention to our sport. That's the bottom line."
Hunter also pointed out that the championship should not be based solely on consistency. Matt Kenseth, for example, won only one race in 2003 but ran away with the championship. Meanwhile, Ryan Newman won eight races but finished sixth in the points.
"The balance of winning and consistency has sort of gotten out of whack," Hunter said. "It seems that the consistency factor plays more of a role than winning races. We need to change the format.
"It's a new day, so we want to try this. We think it'll work. In the end, if it doesn't work, we'll change it back."
Drivers have generally reacted negatively to the proposal, and fans have been against it from the start. In a NASCAR.com poll in December, fans were overwhelmingly against the playoff system. But Hunter said it was up to NASCAR to educate the fans as to the positives of the plan.
"Fans that I talked to, when I explained to them why we're doing this and what we hope to accomplish, they may not swing all the way over, but they say, 'Oh, OK, I get that,'" Hunter said.
One argument against the playoff system was the inability to break into the top 10 for drivers out of the playoffs. Figuring out the cutoff -- x number of points behind the leader -- was the "last piece of the puzzle," Hunter said.
"On the average, that happens about one out of three years," Hunter said about drivers moving into the top 10 in the final 10 races.
www.nascar.com
