 |
|
 ABOUT CSD
Race
Shop
Tickets
Fantasy
Garage Opinions
Contact |
Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for
Vol. III,No.VIXII FINAL EDITION
|
2004 Quotes: "I think maybe it's time for change. NASCAR has reached another level. Maybe we do need a playoff."- Team Owner Richard Childress 7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: Martin,Team optimistic after Daytona test Talladega will sell pit passes Fanfest:Fanflop Waltrip and crew all dressed up, ready to go Las Vegas next on testing schedule after Daytona Park wants to drive a Dodge in Bud Shootout Fittipaldi joins Bell team for Rolex 24 Question marks abound in preseason Gibbs Sees Big Challenge in Redskins Job NASCAR's substance abuse policy quietly working A Little Bit Of This And A Little Bit Of That Update your Thesaurus Opinion/My Word Letters to the Editor Readers Message Board(NOW OPEN!) Race Shop RACE Tickets Fantasy Garage NEW!
SEARCH THIS SITE: The Cup Scene Daily T-Shirt Shop
CLICK HERE!
KEEP THE CUP SCENE DAILY COMING!
New Raceshop Stuff!
|
Happy Birthday: Harry Gant
Larry McReynolds,Dennis Lacroix,John Mulloy Dale Earnhardt Junior, doesn't like it, neither does Mark Martin. Richard Childress, however, does like it. Jim Hunter, the sanctioning body's vice president for corporate communications, confirmed Thursday the organization will drastically change the way its champion has been decided since 1975.
"The whole idea is to regroup after 26 events," Hunter says. "The interest in our sport from Labor Day until the end of the season -- we go from the front of the sports page to the back of the sports section." Eight times in the final 10 races, the circuit returns to tracks that have already been on the schedule, which contributes to dwindling interest from the casual fans down the final stretch. NASCAR hopes the new system will allow them to take advantage of being the only major sport that culminates in November. "We're trying to focus some additional attention in that critical part of the season on our top-10 drivers and their chase for the championship," says Hunter, who also acknowledged that the new system will place a greater emphasis on winning races throughout the season. "We are going to add more points to the winner of the race." Kenseth claimed Roush Racing's first Winston Cup championship despite winning just one race in 2003. The year before, Kenseth won a series-high five races, but finished eighth in the standings. "I have to wait until I see how they structure it before I say too much about it," says Kenseth, who claimed Roush Racing's first championship last year despite winning just one race. "But if you start it at zero with 10 races to go, I don't like that idea at all because in the last 10 races there are no Daytonas, there are no Bristols, there are no Poconos and there are no road courses. I don't think a champion should be rewarded off of how good they are at a mile-and-a-half race track. I think it still needs to reward the team and driver that can do the best at all the different race tracks." Fellow Roush Racing driver and Kenseth's car owner Mark Martin said: "My initial thought and reaction is that it's not good. It might be good for TV ratings or something like that, but I'm not very well educated about playoffs. I don't even know how a playoff works. Once I find out about it, maybe I'll be more sold on the program, but right now I'd hate to see it change. I will tell you this, the France family has brought this from the sand on the beach to what it is today and I'm not going second-guess them. I have my personal feelings and then I have the real world and the real world says they've brought the sport to this point and I'm not going criticize them for anything. Personally, though, I wish it wouldn't change." And from Greg Biffle: " I think a change in the points system will have much more of an impact than people think, especially on the team and sponsor side. Eventually it might change contracts, because once the top 10 is set a sponsor and driver outside of that won't have as much to gain. It may get to the point where sponsors sign their contracts for 28 races and them sign an addendum for the final shootout for the championship. I guess it just depends on how the new system is set up. That being said, I like the points the way they are now, but I'm not opposed to a change either. I definitely think it will create some new energy for our sport." "I'm on both sides of the fence. It's difficult to change it that dramatically because you'll have sponsors that will come in and sign you up for two-thirds of the year and then if you do get into the top 10, they'll give you an additional bonus for the final third of the season. That's the sponsor side of things. As far as the drivers are concerned, it seems as if you get locked out of the top 10 - say you're 11th - and you go and win three races and have a great finish to the year like I did in 2002, I could have won the championship. But it depends on what they decide.", said Kurt Busch. Jeff Burton was one of the few drivers who are postive about the change: "I think it's a good thing which puts me in the minority. The person that does the best job still wins, that doesn't change. You don't have any less of a chance of winning, you just have to go about winning differently. I think in the end it will give more people the opportunity to win. It's radically different but that doesn't make it wrong. I do think NASCAR has to find a way for 11th place through say 15th to get into the top-10. If 11th place is three points out of 10th, they should not be precluded from getting into the top-10 so in my mind there needs to be some kind of handicap system. All in all I think it's a good thing that will make it more of a playoff scenario which in turn will make it exciting for the fans and that's what we are all about."
"I'm disappointed," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of the system. "It should have been more thought out. They should have gotten more opinions. They say they talked to the drivers, but nobody called me. It stinks. But it's their playing field." "You can call me a traditionalist or whatever, but I'm not for the change," said Dale Jarrett, who captured the championship in 1999. "We've always been about a season-long deal -- performing for 36 races," Jarrett said. "Whoever does that the best wins the championship. "Do we need to be like the NFL, like Major League Baseball and the NBA, to where we bring more teams in and the best team doesn't always win the Super Bowl or the World Series or the NBA Championship?" Jarrett voiced his concern about team sponsors, which is the lifeblood of stock car racing. He said his team could face sponsorship problems if they failed to make the playoff cut. "I'm fortunate to have a very good sponsor in UPS that spends a lot of money in this sport -- not only on our race car, but in marketing UPS, the race team and NASCAR racing," Jarrett said. "You're gonna tell UPS, who spends millions of dollars, that the best their car can finish this season is 11th? I'm not sure how long they'll be around. I'm not putting words in their mouth, I just know of conversations I've had with them. "I think we're taking a big chance with sponsors." "I thought they were going to make 30th-43rd the same so if someone broke or got in a wreck they didn't have to go back out." said 2003 Rookie of the Year Jamie McMurray. "A lot of time when guys are running around with no front end, they're in the way. They're doing what they shouldn't have to. I did it last year three times. The drivers don't want to do it. I think that would close the points up a little bit too. I think maybe rewarding the winner with more points was good. I wasn't in favor of starting over after Richmond." "This series has always been about 36 weeks or 34, not about 26 and start over and do 10 more. Part of the reason I'm not in favor of it, I feel like I'll be one of those guys around 10th. You might get to start over and that would be great, but I might be 11th and not have a shot at going to New York." "I'm not in favor of it. " "I don't think you'd ever go out and see who you had to race for 10th and intentionally go out and wreck someone, but I think you'd be more aggressive at that time of the year to make sure you could be in the top 10. I think everybody will be that way. I haven't heard anybody that's in favor of it yet. You're going to have to do whatever you've got to do at that time to get in the top 10 and race for the championship." Dodge driver Jeremy Mayfield added: "You've got to make changes sometimes to keep the sport growing. I'm sure they're (NASCAR) listening to all of it." "I think maybe it's time for change," says team owner Richard Childress, who won six Winston Cup titles with Dale Earnhardt, Sr. "NASCAR has reached another level. Maybe we do need a playoff. Sure there will be some questions and some hiccups to it. At the end of the day, NASCAR has made a lot of right decisions along the way." |
|
