Comments on: No “Chase” Needed Here

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:41:32 +0000

Not to mention the green-white-checker finishes. The races are not long enough as it is.

By: Brian McKay

Brian McKay — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:46:27 +0000

I haven’t been a fan of dandy Dan Wheldon since he defected from Andretti Green Racing. But now that he’s an underdog, I wouldn’t mind seeing him take a win each season. Would like to see Wilson, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Andretti and Rahal win again to prove that they can and that Penske & Ganassi teams aren’t invincible.

By: Paige

Paige — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:14:50 +0000

I would like it IF it was truely going to give the smaller teams a chance at the title.

My favorite driver (Helio) may be a Penske driver, but I”m getting a little bored with Ganassi or Penske in victory lane. Andretti’s fine, but every weekend I’m crossing my fingers for a KV, de Ferran Dragon, Panther, or any other team to win.

By: Brian McKay

Brian McKay — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:59:30 +0000

Yes! Can America become interested in, then avidly follow the IndyCar Series’s athletes who don’t strip clothes for magazine photo shoots?
I have been waiting and waiting for increased sponsorship of the series, of teams, and of drivers. I have been waiting for team sponsors to ‘activate’ their sponsorship and promote the athletes who take podiums, wins and championships while wearing their brandmarks.
Glad to see Izod sponsor Ryan Hunter-Reay for years, using RH-R in ads (remember the jumbo Times Square ad the month that Ryan won at The Glen?), and now sponsor the whole series and use some drivers in national (and cooperative [Macy's]) advertising campaigns.
Glad to see Dollar General’s sponsorship of Sarah Fisher and its ‘use’ of her, which in turn gives her more exposure.
Let’s see MORE athlete- and team sponsors trumpet their involvement in the sport by ‘using’ the racers in more regional and national marketing campaigns and thus increase the general public’s awareness of the drivers then affinity for a particular racer.

By: The Speedgeek

The Speedgeek — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:33:15 +0000

What NASCAR doesn’t seem to realize, and what they continue to show that they don’t realize amid the current rumors of making extra drivers eligible for the Chase and then eliminating drivers and resetting points and other accounting gymnastics until a few are still in Chase contention at the last race, is that you don’t need 12 or even 6 drivers to make for a compelling championship picture at the last race. Two will do just fine. Three is an embarrassment of riches. The other thing that NASCAR doesn’t get is that rewarding drivers for winning races works just fine as a motivator to get people to try to pass each other. Right now, NASCAR rewards the winner with a 8.8% points premium over a 2nd place, and a dead last start-and-park 43rd gets 18.4% as many points as a winner. There’s why guys cruise around for points. When you can win almost as many points for a 4th as a win, there’s no real incentive to tear up your equipment just to go after 10-20 extra points.

Meanwhile, in IndyCar, winners are given 25% more points than guys who finish second, so it’s possible to chase another driver down with a run of wins or good finishes at the end of the year without having to depend on your title rival also breaking down a bunch. We’ve seen this scenario play out several times in the last few years. Roy’s right (as much as it feels weird to say such a thing…Roy making salient points that don’t involve homemade recipes for napalm…) in that the championship would be more interesting if we got some more non-standard teams and drivers in contention, but at least we don’t have to rely on any goofy points resetting or reseeding to ensure that a couple of drivers are close to one another at the end of the year.

By: E.M.H.

E.M.H. — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:29:12 +0000

My whole objection is exactly what George points out here: The contrived-ness of such a step. It’s an artificial imposition. NASCAR’s sin is that they’re manipulating things too much, from phantom “debris on the track” to that damn Chase. It turns what can be genuine competition into something artificially manipulated. It’s too many fingers stirring a stew that should just be left to cook, so to speak.

Maybe the reason they lost viewership in the fall is because they have too damn many races already. Eliminate many of the duplicate dates and they’ll probably see no falloff without needing to massage results artificially. Regardless, I hope to God that Izod Indycar doesn’t follow in their footsteps. NASCAR can afford missteps because they’d cruise right through mistakes and keep viewership on just momentum alone (witness the maintainance of high viewership after the implementation of the COT), but Indycar wouldn’t have that same cushion. Bernard cannot make the same mistake; it would have the potential to really injure the series if he did.

By: billytheskink

billytheskink — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:14:22 +0000

I would support a “chase” in IndyCar, provided it was 16-22 races long. I also support extending NASCAR’s chase, preferably to 36 events…

The worst championship system is the NHRA’s “countdown”. Nothing wipes out a hard-earned points lead like the Countdown to 1.

By: Roy Hobbson

Roy Hobbson — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:34:16 +0000

George — Last year it all NATURALLY came down to Homestead … and even then, that race was remarkably unexciting. Why? Because there was little difference in our minds b/w Dario & Dixon & Briscoe — that’s like choosing b/w Walgreens & CVS & Rite Aid when all you need is some Immodium.

Point being, unless fans start having a genuine rooting interest in a particular driver, a Chase-type format seems pointless. Does that make any sense?

(Trying to make coherent racing points gives me an unsightly rash on my forehead. This probably isn’t for me.)

By: redd

redd — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:24:58 +0000

A “chase” wouldn’t work, for reasons Dylan stated above. And it certainly isn’t necessary.

(Something else I hope they never borrow from Nascar is allow all the exceptions in qualifying. I realize, with the present car count, it doesn’t apply right now–but I love the drama of making the race or not.)

By: M. Miller

M. Miller — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:58:59 +0000

I agree with you OP. The chase is nothing more than a giant competition yellow for the season.

But if you’re a manufacturer, chassis or engine, how can you truely push your product on the results of racing when those results are so manipulated? It can no longer be a proving ground.

So it does not just turn fans off, but a chase makes true competition meaningless.