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Fun fact: Before starting the race today, Denny Hamlin was in 17th place in the non-Chase points standings.

This chase format is fucking joke, fuck this.

If Newman wins NASCAR will still crow about the "excitement" of the knockout rounds and spin the rating to support them saying it was a success.

However I've got the slight feeling NASCAR will penalise Newman for that last corner move just enough to knock him out and remove the chance of a 0 win champion. It's not like they haven't done it before, right?

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Guy with the most points can't win the championship but a guy who would only be 16th in points has a chance. That really does make a mockery of NASCAR's history.

I'll bet if no wins wins the championship they'll just make it so anyone who hasn't won, can't make the final four.

another fun fact: Larson can't finish better than 17th in the current chase but he would be tied for 8th in the non-chase standings.

it would be cool if Newman won it without finishing in the top 10. Then he'd be the champion with only 4 top 5s and 15 top 10s in the entire season lmao

Quoting yourself for truth?

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No just editing something and not realising I'd clicked quote instead of edit

Don't forget Denny missed Fontana

moonman taking the title would also own because no previous champion has had this low amount of top 10s since 1950 (Bill Rexford 11 top 10s in 17 races). gj

So in the old chase format, where would Newman be?

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STORM ASSIST

Why do you guys even bother watching anymore?

Everyone glorifies the past. If it was LIKE IT WAS 20-30 years ago nobody would be watching right now and the sport would have been dead 10 years ago. NASCAR was popular in the early days because it was something NEW. The cars changed every 5 years, the drivers changed. Just like the sport has changed now, this sport isn't something that lives off the lack of change.

I'm not going to say Newman's move was clean or fair because it wasn't. But he adapted to the new format and it's going to be like that every year. I would say everyone here would have made that move if it was your whole season on the line.

I'm actually Brian France so shoot me now. *runs*

As cartman said in another thread, 'train wreck' mentality.

I'll speak for myself in response to zippy's question: there are plenty of people on this forum that came to follow NASCAR and other motorsport at different points in their lives. I've literally been a fan since I was a toddler, so I think the biggest issue for me is just that it's a really hard habit to break (I'm 29 now). But also, I think I have to admit there's always this tiny glimmer of hope that things will somehow be decent every time I sit down to watch a race. I wouldn't call if faith, because I'm still connected to reality and there is no expectation that things will definitely be good.

Look, as much as I bitch about the shittiness of it, I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong. The Chase aside (as it's an ideological abomination), I'm generally willing to give things a shot. Despite all the technical changes that NASCAR makes (that even on paper are stupid and counter-intuitive) I'm willing to watch and see how things play out on the off chance that some unforeseen factors somehow interact to improve the racing. But most of the time things work out exactly like one would expect, and the frustration is that NASCAR damn near never accepts these realities anymore. All they have to do is at least try something that makes sense and is pleasing to fans with more than a passing, surface interest in the sport. Even if things don't work well I truly believe a lot of us (and myself certainly) would be considerably less critical of the series. At this point the frustration is well beyond the racing product itself, it's the ideology (or lack of a coherent, legitimate one) that is wildly frustrating and unacceptable.

For example, the driver's pleading for changes to the car to make it easier to pass and drive more like a racecar (lower downforce, softer tires, etc.) and NASCAR doing squat to go in that direction.

Ryan Newman has led 41 laps this season.

Tweet of the day, from Josh Wise:

"@Josh_Wise: “@tydillon: Not the finish but man I learned so much..."

Turn left entering turn 3"

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-Joe.
Atlanta United FC | Cincinnati Reds | Atlanta Falcons | Tennessee Titans

I just had a thought.

Running the season without any Chase formats, points resets, or lock-ins for the first 35 races, THEN cutting the field down to, i dunno, five drivers (give it a marketable name like "Fast Five" or some shit) and resetting the points for Homestead would actually be a BETTER way to determine a champion*. At least in that situation the very best drivers during 99% of the whole season would get to "rightfully" compete for the champion, yet still be gimmicked enough to make Bonehead Brian happy.

* Besides not having the Chase at all. But I'm not starting that fucking argument again.

How about a 0 race regular season and 36 race Chase?

I bother watching because I enjoy stock car racing. While there's room for improvement, I like the way the cars look, and I've liked quite a few of the races this season (there's always dull races, there always was "back in the day" but if that happened they would play up the personalities of the drivers, but this is beside the point).

But the new championship format is a very poor idea. I cannot see any counter argument to that. They actually had one good idea, revising the amount of points per race, but it's rendered useless by this stupid, confusing, illogical, counterproductive and frankly silly format for a supposedly season-long system to decide who was the best driver of the year.

Indycar has a distinct lack of bullshit, and it is not just surviving at the moment, but rising in popularity.

So fuck anyone who tries to spin the "change is good" bullshit about this goddamn circus.