Well look who would have won the 2013 chase under the new system?

[bksballer89]

CHARLOTTE — In announcing major changes to the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Thursday, NASCAR chairman Brian France touted an emphasis on winning as a primary reason behind the format.
But it turns out last year's champion, if the new rules were applied, would have been Dale Earnhardt Jr., who didn't win a race.


According to economist Andrew Maness, who runs the nascarnomics.com site, Earnhardt would have made the final race along with Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon. NASCAR's Mike Forde confirmed the lineup.
The driver who won the most races last season, Matt Kenseth with seven, would not have been eligible for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.


--Kenseth's poor finish at Phoenix, the next-to-last race, would have knocked him from the top four when the points were reset, giving Earnhardt a slot along with three race winners from the last Chase segment: Gordon (Martinsville Speedway), Johnson (Texas Motor Speedway) and Harvick (Phoenix International Raceway).


--Earnhardt finished third at Homestead, while Johnson finished ninth. That means the winless Earnhardt would have trumped the season of six-race winner Johnson despite blowing an engine in the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway.

 

[bored at work]

Well let's go ahead and crown him still.

That's an interesting point, but in reality, it's hard to tell if the race would have played out the same way under the different points system. Maybe the 48 team would have tried harder, since they didn't have to just cruise, and would have dominated and won. Maybe the 88 team would have folded under the pressure. Maybe Gordon or Harvick would have performed better with having a legitmate shot at being called champ...

 

[Retroram52]

I think this new points format is going to finally be the nail in the heart of what is left of this cluster eff-job. Teams that win races like Jimmy and Matt will now figure out out to race just to make that final race and screw all of the attempts for wins because wins are now less important. I think Carl Edwards has it all figured out.

The whole purpose of racing is to win and in the immortal words of Earnhardt Sr.: "That is the sorriest racin' I have ever seen." I see this blowing up in their faces and it will completely kill any reason to go to the track or watch this garbage on the tube. RIP Nascar.

 

[wildturkey]

^You're on the right track. NASCAR claims it wants all be about wins. Well, every change they've made since the initial Chase system actually puts less emphasis on winning. And here's why. Spend some time around drivers at any level and you'll see they are a competitive bunch. The guys at the Cup level are like that too, except 1000x more competitive. They go out there trying to win. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't because the physical limitations of the car just don't let it run up front no matter how much desire a driver has. Now, under the old format, a driver could be out of the championship (say 7th but too far back in pts). He's not point racing so he's more likely to say "fuck it. I'm taking a risk and going for the win. So what if I wreck/run out gas etc". Now, take the same driver and put him in Chase scenerio. If he takes a risk, maybe he wins, but its a lot safer to get the points for an 11th place finish to just eek into the Chase cutoff. He still wants to win, but his team overrules him, and they point race.

And that's exactly what happens. NASCAR keeps creating the opposite effect. Teams are far more likely to point race to meet the Chase criteria than they are to win a race. Why? Because winning is fucking hard. It's a lot easier to run 10th.

 

[Retroram52]

 

[4down20]

I think this new points format is going to finally be the nail in the heart of what is left of this cluster eff-job. Teams that win races like Jimmy and Matt will now figure out out to race just to make that final race and screw all of the attempts for wins because wins are now less important. I think Carl Edwards has it all figured out.

The whole purpose of racing is to win and in the immortal words of Earnhardt Sr.: "That is the sorriest racin' I have ever seen." I see this blowing up in their faces and it will completely kill any reason to go to the track or watch this garbage on the tube. RIP Nascar.

The chase itself put the nail in the coffin for me. I went from being an every weekend watcher to not even watching a single race with the exception of a bristol where I watched the end.

But I like Jr and hope he gets things going next year regardless of points.

 

[bksballer89]

The chase itself put the nail in the coffin for me. I went from being an every weekend watcher to not even watching a single race with the exception of a bristol where I watched the end.

But I like Jr and hope he gets things going next year regardless of points.

I have something in common with a Bama fan

 

[Retroram52]

I pretty much don't watch much of any race anymore. I began watching NASCAR in the late fifties before it was well known outside of the south. I watched Richard Petty race before he was known anywhere. I consider this krap that is now on T.V. to be a disgrace. I doubt if I'll be following any of it much further into the future.

 

[4down20]

I have something in common with a Bama fan

Doubtful you like him for the same reasons I do.

 

[bksballer89]

Well why do you like him?

 

[4down20]

Well why do you like him?

Because he is a nice and humble person outside of racing.

 

[wildturkey]

Found these articles while reading on that nascarconmics site linked in the OP (cool site btw). They're worth a read:

Racing is simple. Why does NASCAR complicate it? | SportsonEarth.com : Matt Crossman Article

Four math and racing experts devise NASCAR points plans. | SportsonEarth.com : Matt Crossman Article

How points changes would affect NASCAR history. | SportsonEarth.com : Matt Crossman Article

The point system suggestions reminded me that I did something similar back in 2010 I think. I don't have the spreadsheet anymore but I essentially combined Indycar and F1 ideas. Wins were with 50 pts, 2nd was worth 35 pts, and each spot decreased by 1 until 35th. You got 0 pts for 35th thru 43th. No Chase BS, pts scored over the entire season. Kevin Harvick won under that format but I don't remember by how much other than it was reasonably close up until the end. Looking back on what I did and these articles, I'd just go with the Indycar model. It's the simplest and its the fairest.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Found these articles while reading on that nascarconmics site linked in the OP (cool site btw). They're worth a read:

Racing is simple. Why does NASCAR complicate it? | SportsonEarth.com : Matt Crossman Article

Four math and racing experts devise NASCAR points plans. | SportsonEarth.com : Matt Crossman Article

How points changes would affect NASCAR history. | SportsonEarth.com : Matt Crossman Article

The point system suggestions reminded me that I did something similar back in 2010 I think. I don't have the spreadsheet anymore but I essentially combined Indycar and F1 ideas. Wins were with 50 pts, 2nd was worth 35 pts, and each spot decreased by 1 until 35th. You got 0 pts for 35th thru 43th. No Chase BS, pts scored over the entire season. Kevin Harvick won under that format but I don't remember by how much other than it was reasonably close up until the end. Looking back on what I did and these articles, I'd just go with the Indycar model. It's the simplest and its the fairest.

I use a points system that was based on the old F-1 points system. Back in I think it was 09' someone on the ESPN boards were unhappy that Kyle Busch might miss the chase even though he had won I think 4 races or something like that. Used the F-1 format to show how he would be much higher in the points. I thought it was stupid at 1st because obviously only giving points to 10 cars in a 43 car field would never work in Nascar. So I altered it to see how it would play out that year. Basically I was wanting to prove how it was a dumb idea, but ended up liking my points system better than the then points system Nascar used.
I figured the podium cars should be separated in points. Which made winning & getting on the podium more important & worth more. 25 for 1st. 22 for 2nd. 19 for 3rd. 17 for 4th & one point on down to 1 point for 20th. you must get in the top 20 to score any points. Also I later added 1 point for leading most laps. No points for leading a lap as that is kinda dumb nowadays. If Nascar adopted this system. The points are usually tighter, because if you have a DNF it doesn't take 3 real good races to make up for it. Also you wouldn't have wrecked race cars trying to get their cars fixed to limp around crippled dropping debris on the track. Since 28th & 33rd is the same amount of points. Nothing to gain. I have kept track of this points system since then except the 1st year Nascar changed the points system of their own. Then I realized I still liked my system better than theirs so I continued it the following year. Wins meant more & DNFs didn't hurt as bad. Only quality finishes scores points. I post the updated points on the other racing forums I post on, so people can compare my system to Nascars. Thought it was cool you had your own point system as well. I wonder how many more of us do this?

I don't know the F-1 or Indy cars current point system. Ironically though my point system was always a better points fight than the Chase. (Although Jimmie Johnson can make any points system ugly at times)