As it seems that every few months, the subject of the controversial format of NASCAR’s qualifiers is once again a hot discussion subject.
Legends such as Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. sounded, just like active stars such as Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney. Opinions vary. Some say that the automotive racing playoffs are useless and unfair, and the pilot who scores the most points all season should always win the title. Others cite the need for a format more based on entertainment in which the championship is guaranteed to be determined in the last race of the season.
There is a simple compromise here, and it is the one that was long -awaited.
The answer is a full season points format, but not the one that fans want to come back.
The argument for the playoffs, beyond the creation of an artificial moment “Game 7” to conclude each season, is that in theory, they attach greater value to victory. Win at any time in the regular season, and you are in the field of the playoffs. Win during any turn in the playoff series, and you go to the next.
The problem is that in practice, the playoffs have not rewarded the most frequent winners; Only those who do it at the most appropriate time. Example; Joey Logano has three championships despite never having led the series in the victories during these seasons.
Many fans maintain that consistency should be more important, but there is also a problem with this state of mind. “Coherence” in motor racing is less a question of competence because it is the avoidance of bad luck, and during a full season, any point format built on it (like the one used before 2004) will simply reward the pilot with the least bad finishes instead of that which demonstrates the greatest level of excellence on the track.
This is how Jeff Gordon lost the 1996 title against Terry Labonte Despite an advantage of 10-2 In the Win column. This is how Matt Kenseth won in 2003 (With a singular race victoryAnd 354 laps led) while Ryan Newman found Victory Lane eight times just to finish sixth (!) In points. It is not great. It is a glorified mediocrity, “running to not lose”.
In a sport where results are so often determined by chance and chaos, control must be in the hands of the fastest drivers as much as possible. The way to do so is to reward a victory significantly higher than the penalty of a bad finish, in this way We can compensate appropriately When inevitable circumstances eliminate them from a race. But it must also be done in a fair and legitimate way.
Obviously, the playoffs are not the answer. But an entirely new format, with an curved distribution of points, so that the margins between the positions increase in conjunction with their value. Indycar understood this. Formula 1 understood. It is only in NASCAR, the difference between the finish of second and third considered as the difference between 32nd and 33rd.
The playoffs have followed their course, but if they are from, we cannot go back to a world in which the champion can hide in ninth place each week. A revised point format, in the illustrated manner, is the only solution to satisfy this balance.
