When Matt Kensethcaptured the 2003 (then) Winston Cup Championship, he pulled it off with just one win and a substantial point lead due to consistent finishes.
Commentators were flabbergasted at a one win Champ. Fans snoozed through the final races because the Champion was a foregone conclusion by mid-fall.
Kenseth ignored the criticism all the way to the bank, but Nascar Chairman Brian France responded with a new Championship format and title sponsor - the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
The Chase didn't change one thing: Consistency is the touchstone of Nascar success.
Winning is secondary to not screwing up. Case in point: Tony Stewart. In 2005, at Homestead, Stewart methodically but conservatively drove, as a wreck would dash his Championship dreams.
In contrast, as non-Chase driver in 2006, Stewart drove like a man possessed. Gambling on fuel at Kansas, Stewart remarked that he had nothing to lose but the race.
The current point system means most fans can't apply the points on the fly after a race. Realistically, under any formula, fans won't be able to easily calculate them. This isn't due to a lack of intelligence, rather, keeping tabs on 43+ teams through thirty-six races is less important, than, say, remembering e-mail account passwords and the spouse's and kids' birthdays.
Nascar can fix the snooze factor, inspire hard charging drives throughout the entire season, and simplify the math with a few easy changes.
During the First 26 Races:
1. "Current scheme" of earning points applies with two changes:
Winner receives 50 additional points., or a total of 235.
Pole sitter receives 10 points.
2. The day prior to the race at race time, qualify all cars, placing the fastest 43 cars in the field. No provisionals. Call it "Put-Up or Shut-Up."
3. Teams have two mulligans. Whether used for races where they failed qualify, for DNFs, for driver injuries or for vacations, the points (or lack thereof) would not count toward the season ending totals. In other words, each team's top 24 points-accumulating races count. The idea is to lessen the impact of not qualifying, mechanical failure or crashing out of the race. Gives Nascar room to penalize.
During the Chase:
1. Chase teams (the top 12 teams in points after the fall Richmond Race) have provisionals for the final 10 races. As the Chasers are racing each other and have arbitrarily elevated point totals to 5,000, the highest place finisher among the twelve receives 120 points. Ten points less for each finisher after that. Last place finisher among Chasers gets 10 points, whether he finishes dead last in the field or he finishes 12th.
2. Non-Chase teams accrue points under "current scheme."
3. Five bonus points each for leading a lap and most laps still apply.
4. A win is worth an extra 50 points.
While this system encourages teams to qualify well and race to the checkers, it still rewards consistency.
It is, after all, a season championship.
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