Quote :

" www.nascar.com More, more, more -- that's the message from NASCAR vice president of corporate communications Jim Hunter. During a visit to USA Today's newsroom in McLean, Va., on Thursday, Hunter said NASCAR is "still running the models" but the 2007 Nextel Cup season will feature more points for victories and more drivers in the Chase for the Cup, the newspaper reported on its Web site. Hunter said an official announcement will be made during NASCAR's media tour Jan. 22-26 in Charlotte. NASCAR chairman Brian France hinted at changing the Chase last June. "What I have always said about the Chase was we needed a few years under our belt to see how it evolves, how it changes in strategy, see how the actual formula we have really works," France said. "Now in our third year ... it's the ideal time for us make adjustments." The Chase was devised by France when he took over as chairman in 2004. The format was designed to spice up a stale championship race in which winners were running away with the title and routinely clinching before the season finale. France wanted more excitement and a dramatic playoff system that could compete with the NFL for television ratings. The result was the Chase, which uses the first 26 races of the season as a qualifier to set up the title run. The top 10 drivers in the standings automatically make it in, and any drivers within 400 points of the leader are also eligible. They then compete during the final 10 events to decide the championship. "We'll be looking at nothing new -- everything that we'll be looking at has been brought up by various people the last couple of years," France said last year. "Just various things that we think will build what we're hoping for, which are big moments and a bigger stage for the drivers. "That's what the Chase has always been about. It's about showcasing their skills." "

Atleast they are doing something, because in my opinion Kasey Kahne kinda got screwed by wining by far the most races of the season and other strong finishes, but not even come in second in the championship standings.
I mean I am a Dale Jr. man myself but still the kid deserved better than what he ended up with.

[Edited on January 6, 2007 at 12:59 AM. Reason : link]

1/6/2007 12:57:12 AM

wrong section, NASCAR isnt a sport.

1/6/2007 1:53:46 AM

^

1/6/2007 1:55:53 AM

^^

The Daytona 500 isn't even here yet and we already get this shit again.

1/6/2007 2:07:14 AM

if you don't like it don't read it asshole

1/6/2007 2:08:46 AM

^I think you misunderstood me. I was referring to the "NASCAR is not a sport" bullshit.

1/6/2007 2:19:05 AM

Quote :

"if you don't like it don't read it asshole"

^^^^, ^^^^^

[Edited on January 6, 2007 at 3:39 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on January 6, 2007 at 3:40 AM. Reason : .]

1/6/2007 3:39:32 AM

1/6/2007 9:33:59 AM

The Chase has more than enough drivers already. 10 at the most and that's pushing it. Brian France is a dumb asshole that is just catering to try and keep sponsors and fans interested by watering down the product. If someone did not do good enough to challenge for a championship, you don't go all communist and bring the people that did down to his level.

1/6/2007 9:42:15 AM

i think the biggest problem they have is that they should give the same amount of points to everyone from, say, 25th on back. that would keep some of the junked cars from riding around after they have been in wrecks. the problem is that the points system we have now does not reward you for running a good race; it penalizes you for finishing badly--which can happen with engine failures and other things that are out of the driver's control.

1/6/2007 9:47:09 AM

Now THAT (^) is a good idea.

1/6/2007 10:06:16 AM

^^ agree

there's been a lot of talk over the past year or so on different forums about how rediculous the NASCAR points system is. how someone who finishes 2nd can have the same points as the winner is beyond me. 250 for a win, 200 for 2nd, 175 for 3rd, 160, 145, 130 for 6th and dropping 10 per through 10th, 80 for 11th and dropping 5 per through 25th, then 26th on back get 5 points. greater rewards for getting into the top 10, top 5, top 3, and win. keep the 5 leading the most laps and 5 for leading a lap. if you have to keep the lucky dog, limit it to 2 times per race per driver. limit past champions provisional to 5 times per season. First 40 spots determined by qualifying times only, if you are slow you don't make the show. final 3 (or 2 if past champ provisional is used) spots provisional based on drivers points if in top 25 in points. if all in top 25 in drivers points make the top 40 based on times then the other spots are filled based on qualifying times. This would allow someone like jr or gordon to have a problem in qualifying and still get in the show, but keep bad drivers from buying rides (m. waltrip) just to get sponsors names on tv. First 5 races of the year all 43 spots are based strictly on q. times.



why did I put so much throught into this?

1/6/2007 10:30:33 AM

I say they just switch to the FIA points system and be done with it.

1/6/2007 10:39:52 AM

I suggest that for the 10 chase contenders at the end of the year, they adjust the points for them based upon a ratio of how far they were ahead of the next driver in the standings. Rather than putting everyone 5 points behind one another, take the leader (Who might be 200 points ahead of 2nd place), and give him a 50 point cushion or so. I just feel like being a dominant team all year does nothing for you if you can't be more dominant than the 9 others in the last 10 races, and this could be an easy way to help compensate for it.

1/6/2007 11:21:10 AM

I think the only change that needs to be made is that the final 10 races the Chase contenders get put on their own point system. If you finished dead last because of a wreck or something, you still got 10th place points. Also, if the top chase guy is 5th, he still gets 1st place points.

1/6/2007 11:33:49 AM

^^^ The old CART point system wouldn't be a bad idea either.

20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1

1/6/2007 12:39:36 PM

they should just base it on finish. In any other sport, you could lead through 2 periods, 3 quarters, etc... but if you dont win, you don't get the point for it. tough shit.

1/6/2007 4:54:33 PM

but seriously... wouldnt it make more sense to post nascar shit in the garage... THEY ARE CARS AFTER ALL

1/7/2007 2:38:51 AM

not exactly chase related ... but bobby hamilton sr. died today. his cancer was too much.

1/7/2007 10:09:38 PM

Quote :

"Updated: Jan. 7, 2007, 9:01 PM ET Hamilton, longtime NASCAR driver, dies at 49Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Bobby Hamilton, the longtime NASCAR driver who won the 2001 Talladega 500 and was the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series champion, died Sunday of cancer, said Liz Allison, a family friend who co-hosted a radio show with Hamilton. He was 49. Hamilton's Career Stats HamiltonBobby Hamilton, born in Nashville in 1957, drove in all of NASCAR's top three divisions, making 371 starts and winning four times in what is now the Nextel Cup series. Cup Busch Truck Starts 371 86 102 Wins 4 1 10 Top-5s 20 11 33 Top-10s 67 22 54 Poles 5 0 5 Avg. start 23.7 20.7 12.4 Avg. finish 21.3 19.1 12.9 Source: NASCAR.com Hamilton was at home with his family when he died, said Allison, the widow of former NASCAR star Davey Allison. "The thing I loved about Bobby Sr. so much is that he treated everybody the same," Allison said. "It didn't matter if you were one of the drivers he competed against or a fan he'd never laid eyes on before. "He didn't have a pretentious bone in his body. I think that's why people were drawn to him. He was just very real and had a way of relating to everyone." Hamilton was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in February. A malignant growth was found when swelling from dental surgery did not go down. "NASCAR is saddened by the passing of Bobby Hamilton," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of communications. "Bobby was a great competitor, dedicated team owner and friend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the Hamilton family." Hamilton raced in the first three truck races of the season, with a best finish of 14th at Atlanta Motor Speedway, before turning over the wheel to his son, Bobby Hamilton Jr. The senior Hamilton then started chemotherapy and radiation treatment. By August, he had returned to work at Bobby Hamilton Racing in Mount Juliet, about 20 miles east of Nashville, and doctors indicated his CAT scans looked good. But microscopic cancer cells remained on the right side of his neck. "Cancer is an ongoing battle, and once you are diagnosed you always live with the thought of the disease in your body," Hamilton said in an article posted on NASCAR's Web site last month. "It is the worst thing you could ever imagine." Hamilton, born in Nashville in 1957, drove in all of NASCAR's top three divisions, making 371 starts and winning four times in what is now the Nextel Cup series. He won 10 truck races and one Busch Series race. "I love what I do; I love this business," he said in March 2006 when he disclosed that he had cancer. "NASCAR has been good to me, and I just don't feel comfortable when I am not around it." Hamilton's Nextel Cup wins, in addition to Talladega, came at Phoenix, Rockingham and Martinsville. His best season was in 1996 when he finished ninth in the points standings. He won his first Cup race that year, at Phoenix. Hamilton drove in the top-level NASCAR series from 1989-05, earning $14.3 million and racing to 20 top-five finishes. He became a full-time driver-owner in the truck series in 2003. Another NASCAR favorite, 1973 Winston Cup champion Benny Parsons, was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung in July. He was checked into intensive care last week at a North Carolina hospital. "

1/7/2007 10:11:45 PM

Benny Parsons died this morning ...

Quote :

" Benny Parsons, who charmed television audiences with his folksy demeanor as much as he impressed fans with his ability as a driver, died Tuesday at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte following complications from lung disease. He was 65. The former self-proclaimed Detroit taxi driver-turned-NASCAR racer never forgot his humble rural North Carolina roots, and it came through in every aspect of his life. Even though he gained fame as the 1973 Winston Cup champion and winner of the 1975 Daytona 500, Parsons understood that as a broadcast analyst, it was his job to aim the spotlight away from himself. "I heard someone say this one time and I thought it was fabulous," Parsons said. "Everyone can't be stars. Someone has to sit on the sidewalk and clap as they go by. "We announcers on TV that talk about sports are simply the people sitting on the sidewalk clapping as the parade goes by. We are no longer the stars. The guys on the racetracks and in football and basketball games -- those are the stars." Still Parsons was a star in his own right. He was born in 1941 in Wilkes County, N.C., but resided for much of his life in Ellerbe, just a few miles up the road from Rockingham, home of North Carolina Motor Speedway. It was there that perhaps Parsons' greatest accomplishment as a driver took place in the 1973 season finale. Holding a slim lead over Richard Petty, Parsons' car was heavily damaged in a Lap 13 accident. However, with help from a number of different teams in the garage area, Parsons was able to get back on the track, completing enough laps to finish 28th and win the title. Parsons' racing career came somewhat by accident. When his parents moved north to Detroit following World War II, Parsons helped work at his father's service station. One evening in 1963, a truck towing a racecar stopped at the station for fuel. Parsons was invited to join them and hopped into the bed of the pickup on the way to nearby Mount Clemens Speedway. According to the story, when the regular driver failed to show up, Parsons volunteered to drive. Parsons made his first visit to Daytona that same year. "I had become a huge race fan and had been going to the races with some guys that were running the ARCA series up in the Midwest. I didn't know a soul [in Daytona], and couldn't get in the garage area," he said. "But I would buy my infield ticket for three or four dollars -- whatever it was to come in -- and just hang on the fence and watch those cars being pushed by. I would've paid anything I had in my pocket just to push -- you know, [Fred] Lorenzen's car and Ned Jarrett's car and Fireball [Robert's] car." The highlight of the trip, Parsons recalled, was when he met H.B. Bailey's wife in the lobby of the hotel where they were staying. "She slipped me a pit pass, so I got in for about two hours one day," Parsons said. "It was the highlight of my life, getting inside the garage area and getting close to those racecars." Parsons quickly made a name for himself in the Midwest racing ranks, winning ARCA rookie of the year honors in 1965, then capturing the ARCA championship in 1968 and 1969. He made his NASCAR debut in 1964, earning $250 for a 21st-place finish after his Holman-Moody Ford began overheating. Parsons qualified for the first of 20 Daytona 500 starts in 1969, finishing eighth in the No. 88 Ford. He would go on to run the entire 1970 season in L.G. DeWitt's No. 72, posting the first of 21 career victories at Virginia's South Boston Speedway in 1971. When David Pearson spun out while leading with two laps remaining in the 1975 Daytona 500, Parsons was there to take the checkered flag, giving Chevrolet its first win in that race since 1960. Parsons also became the first driver to qualify a stock car at over 200 mph when he won the pole at Talladega for the 1982 Winston 500 at a speed of 200.176 mph. After retiring as an active driver following the 1988 season, Parsons joined ESPN as a race analyst, winning an Ace Award in 1989 and an Emmy in 1996. He moved over to NBC and TNT when those networks began NASCAR coverage in 2001. In July, Parsons revealed that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Parsons admitted he had been a smoker but had kicked the habit nearly 30 years before. "The first thing everyone asks me is, 'Are you a smoker?'," Parsons said at the time. "The answer is that I smoked my last cigarette way back in 1978 and since then I've hated being around smoking. I don't even allow anyone in my foursome to smoke on the golf course." After treatment, the 65-year-old announced in October that his cancer was in full remission. "Three months ago my family doctor called me into his office and told me I had lung cancer," Parsons said at the time. "So Rick Hendrick told me if I was going to fight cancer, you have to get [oncologist Steven A.] Limentani. He helped Rick through his leukemia 10 years ago. So we did. "The last three months we have been battling the disease. Then Wednesday, I had a scan and [Limentani] called me Wednesday afternoon with the best news: 'The cancer is gone ... see ya.' " However, Parsons was unable to attend the Nextel Cup Awards Ceremony in New York as the cancer treatment reportedly left his left lung too damaged to function properly, according to a report in the Charlotte Observer. He was admitted to the hospital for the final time on Dec. 26 as his condition progressively worsened. Parsons was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994 and named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998."

[Edited on January 16, 2007 at 12:52 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2007 12:52:17 PM

They change their rules every race

1/20/2007 11:12:35 AM

Every sport tweaks the rules every year. Most of the time its to make things better.

1/20/2007 2:51:22 PM