There has been quite a bit of banter over the last two or three weeks about the championship/playoff format in NASCAR. Mark Martin has been quite vocal about the fact that the sport should go back to a full season championship points chase. Fans have been screaming this for years but there are now some industry insiders who are visibly beating the drum for a change.
While there is plenty of sentiment to see the series return to a season-long format, there are some very large partners of the sport who, thanks to their large checks that they sent to Daytona, have more influence on this subject than anyone else.
The series champion has been decided by numerous different point systems over the years. Many people don’t realize it but Richard Petty won his seven championships via four different point systems. All of them were season-long battles but they were all different.
The uproar over the points format really began when Matt Kenseth, in 2003, won the championship while only winning one race during the season. Ryan Newman won eight races that season and wasn’t even the runner-up. He finished in sixth place in the points. He did have seven DNFs that year while Kenseth only had two, and one of those was in the final race.
After that season, there was enough uproar from the fans that the sanctioning body decided to change things up. It was perfect timing as Nextel was moving in to replace Winston as the title sponsor of the sport. Brian France introduced the Chase format for deciding the season champion. Ten drivers had their points reset at the end of the 26th race of the season and they battled it out for the season championship over the final 10 races. Kurt Busch ultimately claimed the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It was also the first glimpse that we all had at what Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson would do with the Chase format. Win a few early, experiment in the summer time, and then turn it on in the final 10 races. Unfortunately for them, two DNFs in the final 10 cost them just enough points to relegate them to second place.
Since that time there have been tweaks and changes. Playoff points and stage points have come into play. Driver eliminations have also become the norm in the final 10 races. The fans have never really embraced the playoff format but last year was the season that really seemed to put the nail in the coffin. Joey Logano won the season championship with an average finishing position of just over 17th place. It was the worst average in the history of the sport. With that backdrop, fans have been screaming for a return to the season-long points, and they are getting support from the likes of Martin and Brad Keselowski, among others.
The interesting fact that seems to escape many of the detractors is that the drivers do not really seem to care what the format is. They almost all espouse that they know the rules when the season starts and they play by those rules until the end of the season. That mentality has been present in all sports as the times have advanced in the last few decades. The NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB have all made changes to their playoffs over the years, and the teams simply adjust their strategy to what the rules are as they are set out at the beginning of the season.
The NHL used to have its playoffs by division. Teams in the division would play and then one team from each division would advance onto the subsequent rounds. The NBA has implemented reseeding for its playoffs. If the number 16 playoff team beats the number one seed, they don’t get to play the winning of eight and nine. They go against the number two seed, assuming they advanced from the previous round.
MLB added a wild card. It used to be that the division winners were the only ones to advance. Heck, for decades the league champions were the only two who made the playoffs. NFL also added wild cards to the system of determining a champion. Now they’re even talking about giving the teams with the best records the highest seeds, regardless of whether they win their division or not.
The bottom line is that the rules are the rules and the teams involved in the sport will play by those rules to determine a champion. The talking heads will banter about, dissecting the validity of any given champion depending on the format, but the record book will always show the team who won the trophy as the champion of the sport. At this point in time, NASCAR is no different.
There very well may be some tweaks to the system next year. We may see the final 16 have their own points system during the final races so that bad races don’t destroy a team’s chances right out of the gate. If Josh Berry had received one point each for his two DNFs to start the playoffs but the winners had only received a maximum of 36 possible points instead of over 60, the deficit for a bad race could potentially be overcome.
Unfortunately you are not going to see the season-long championship return. The bottom line is that the television partner(s) want the perceived excitement of a playoff. They do not want a scenario where the champion of the sport has clinched the big trophy before the season reaches the final race on the schedule. They pay too much money, and the sponsors of the championship weekend drop way too much cash on those races for them to be basically meaningless at the end of the year. They will probably keep making changes to chase the elusive game seven moments that they so desperately want, but a season long run is not going to happen.
Everyone will play by the rules, however they are written to start the year. Embrace them and celebrate the champion.
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
I like the playoffs, but win and you’re in probably needs changed. I agree with rewarding drivers for a win but win the first race of the season and you’re locked in to the playoffs? Kind of anti-climatic. Instead of being locked in, why not a disproportionately large amount of points to the winner instead? In other words a huge advantage for the win without ‘locking’ you in. That way if you’re an underperforming team most of the time, a win may gain you a few spots in the points, but you’re likely not going to make the playoffs. If you win a lot, you’re going to be up front in the points. I also like stage points as it creates a race within the race. Going into the playoffs, the teams with the most points should have a big advantage, but each round after the first should be based on your performance in the prior round. In the championship round, it’s kind of unfair having the final four equal. Probably should be tiered even though it wouldn’t guarantee the winner being the champion, but under the original points systems, that’s the way it was anyway.
I don’t really have a problem with stage points either. It can be a carrot for some teams. What I would like to see is running the stages without a caution to end them. It removes much of the strategy that smarter teams once employed. This is especially true for road courses.
I’m OK with a “playoff” system. Changes I like to see: 1) like RB says above: huge amount of points for winning. In fact, I’ve always felt the race winner should earn the MOST amount of points, even if he leads 1 inch of the race at the checkered flag. Winner should get more points than if 2nd place wins both stages. That is the point of the race –> WINNING!! MORE POINTS!!! …lol. 2) As Daytight says, I’m ok with stages, but no cautions at stage end. 3) Instead of 4 drivers competing for the championship for one race, maybe have the Round of 16 (3 races), Round of 12 (races), then the final Round of 8 battle it out in the final 4 races.
I agree it’s all but a given the playoffs won’t be going away, and people are likely wasting their time railing about it. Adjustments and improvements may happen, but NASCAR is a business, and will conduct themselves as such, which means money will mostly inform any changes. From my perspective, I’d start with making the final four a three race grouping to determine the winner. It’s highly unlikely this would result in a champion being crowned before the final race, and adds a little validity to the eventual champion.
“Embrace them and celebrate the champion” doesn’t compute for me. I can enjoy the racing without thinking NASCAR is awarding a worthy champion every year. The nature of auto racing has too much variability within one race for this to reliably result in the best team winning. And this is unique to auto racing vs. the stick and ball sports which have one game eliminations.
Comparing stick and ball eliminations to auto racing is a false equivalency. The most extreme variable I can come up with for stick and ball sports would be a QB injury. Even then, the team who lost their starting QB has a chance to win with their backup at the helm, and has full control over who the backup is, as well as their preparation for the game. In auto racing, a five cent bolt can fail, may even be a mandated part, and in a single elimination format this likely takes any chance of winning away from the team. This is too high a variability to crown a deserving champion.
I recognize Joey Logano as champion last year. He won based upon the rules. As have other NASCAR champions who won due to a flawed system, not due to superior equipment or performance overall. This doesn’t mean I have any need or obligation to embrace or celebrate this fact. This isn’t an indictment of any champion…thus far I’ve yet to see anyone with the title who wasn’t an elite driver at the time. That doesn’t mean they were the best driver, or had the best team that year.
I just don’t get it. Do the networks really think they are making more money with the playoffs than without? I’d like them to explain to me how Nascar at its peak, with full grandstands and wait lists at tracks, focused more on the individual races and less on the championship attracted more interest. They also ended up with a deserving champion.
With this format, grandstands have large signs over where fans used to be. How many people really think the champions from this format over the years are legitimate champions? I can’t. Can anyone remember who won the championship 2 years ago? 3 years ago? I would have to look it up. They can’t be that memorable if I have to do that.
So when Corey Heim or Connor Zilich don’t win the championship this year, will it then sink in that this format is garbage?
But lets ensure that after a long caution period we go back to green with one lap to go in the stage. That way we can throw another caution 1 lap later just to hand out some playoff points. I’m sure that will keep fans glued to their seats.
Playoffs stink, period. The season points leader is my champ.
You can reward wins by giving the winner more points for winning than for second place. The error Nascar is making is that they don’t make every race and event. Its treated only like an insignificant thing that creates the Playoffs field. And each Playoffs race is minimized on its own merits and played up only for its value to the Championship and its story lines. I have heard arguments by paid Nascar people saying that the Playoffs are good because they create story lines that they can talk about. How (blank) is that???
Conceptually you are writing the story and then concocting a plan that leads to the exciting conclusion.
Look over your shoulder, Nascar, because Formula 1 is what you used to be. And its about to kick your butt for ratings in the US where they only run 3 races!!!! I have no idea why you keep adding headcount and consultants that produce nothing and you never fire the inept who didn’t produce.
in the last 25 races only 3 have had an increase in viewership. Of the 22 losers, 18 of them are double digit percentage losses of viewers.
I have sent constructive correspondence to Elton Sawyer and he has acknowledged receipt.
I’ve done my job as a race fan…and that is all I can do.
Your first sentence should be read by everyone in Nascar who makes the decision on this. It should have been the only tweak made years ago. People were not clamoring for a playoff, but more points for the winner so you get wins and consistency to determine your champion.
I just read this at jayski.com from Jeff Gluck The Athletic.
“NASCAR is now seriously weighing the possibility of drastically overhauling the playoffs or doing away with them altogether. A modified playoff system, in which the most criticized elements of the current format are tweaked, may still win out. Yet the mere chance of going back to a 36-race schedule determining the series champion — a scenario which seemed borderline impossible seven months ago — marks a dizzying turnaround that speaks to a crossroads for stock car racing.”
Stay tuned.
We can only hope!