Backseat Blonde - No Place for the Chase

August 16, 2004

No Place for the “Chase”
By Allison Wagda

I must have missed the memo. Apparently, the powers
that be in Daytona decided before the 2004 season
racing in and of itself is too boring. Hence, a (so-called)
brilliant plan was hatched…a playoff.

Up until now I’ve mostly held my tongue on the subject,
preferring to reserve judgment and see how things play
out. But with a mere four races left until the “Chase for the Championship” and the
vast majority of the general media seemingly endorsing the concept with an
overwhelming amount of hype, it’s time to speak up.

The Chase is nothing more than a publicity stunt. A gimmick. Contrived drama. It is
not legitimate racing competition, nor will the winner necessarily be the best driver.

Sure, many other sports have playoffs or a post-season to determine the final
champion. NASCAR, second in the ratings to the National Football League (NFL)
believes the best way to beat football is to emulate them. While imitation may be the
highest form of flattery, NASCAR’s leadership apparently fails to comprehend the
inherent differences between the sports.

In football, a playoff is necessary because it would be impossible for teams to face
every other team in the NFL during a regular season. The physical toll on the players
combined with the sheer number of teams means the league must be separated
into conferences. Only the most successful team from each conference, plus a
couple of wild card entries (hotly debated among football fans) qualifies for the
playoff. In order to win the championship, a team must win every single playoff
games for that Super Bowl ring.

It’s pretty fair, because it pits the best against the best, often for the first time all
season. In NASCAR racing, drivers face the same 40 or so competitors each and
every week from day one. Kurt Busch has a chance to beat Jimmie Johnson every
race. And given that NASCAR is doing everything under the sun to ensure parity
among teams, the remaining factor for success is the team itself.

Therefore, a playoff is not only unnecessary, it is patently unfair to those who
consistently run up front throughout the season. Let’s say Busch, who had had a
rather unremarkable season and is currently 389 points behind Johnson in 7th
place, steps it up just slightly during the final 10 and the others have just one major
problem. Under the new format, he could win the title. Will it have been earned? No.
Under the old points system, Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. would
have enough of a cushion to withstand the occasional screw-up.

And as we all know so well, a problem may not be the fault of the driver or even the
team. It’s so easy to get caught up in a wreck caused by another driver. Or even have
a freak incident like the track falling apart at Martinsville.

A better comparison than football would be golf. Imagine Tiger Woods in the
Masters. Let’s say throughout the weekend, he dominates the field, and enters the
final day seven strokes ahead of the closest competitor. But the PGA resets the
scores so the top 10 golfers are within a stroke of the person ahead of them. Tiger’s
ball lands in the fairway, but in some sort of crack caused by rains the night before
that hadn’t been fixed. His shot goes awry, and he loses the green jacket by a stroke.
Fair?

Much of the recent media coverage has focused on the so-called bubble drivers.
Actually, most of the NASCAR press releases have done the same. But in the
meantime, if anyone cares to notice, we have a helluva battle going on for first place!

That’s where the real drama lies (TNT…you listening?). At one point yesterday,
thanks to a DNF from Johnson, Gordon took over the points lead before succumbing
to transmission troubles. Dale Jr. gained considerable ground, bouncing back after
a fiery crash a month ago in a non-NASCAR event. Tony Stewart gutted it out with a
stomach illness to take the checkers yesterday.

Less than 200 points now separate the top four, arguably the best of the best in
racing today, and under the old format we’d have something very engaging to
discuss. Yet no one cares (except maybe the fans). Instead, all we hear about are
drivers who are, quite frankly, performing just mediocre.

I also believe the Chase for the Championship will divide the garage into two camps,
those in the hunt and those who are not. The “Chasers” can’t help but expect the
“Followers” to afford them special consideration. After all, they’re running for a title,
right?

A more divisive issue may be the inevitable wrecks. The post-crash vitriol has always
been interesting, but imagine the words if a Follower takes out a Chaser. Even if the
fault is equal, the Follower could be hyper-scrutinized and be forced to take the
blame.

So why did NASCAR decide to make such a massive change, seemingly on a whim?
The final segment of the 2003 season was rather boring. Matt Kenseth raced virtually
unopposed to the championship. Fans dozed and once football returned to the
airwaves, interest in NASCAR waned. Since NASCAR has been doing everything
possible to grow the sport in order to make more money, the suits in Daytona
panicked.

Can’t you see Brian France, the newly-anointed thronemaster and his merry
henchmen, including Iron Mike Helton, sitting around a mahogany-accented
boardroom deciding the future of racing? Throughout this season, I’ve gotten the
impression this is all something of a hobby for France. Throw in a bit of greed, and
the Chase was born. I wonder what the other options were. Perhaps all that sun over
time has addled their wits.

Kenseth, quite possibly the nicest guy in the NASCAR garage and arguably one of
the blandest personalities, will very likely qualify for the Chase. It would serve
NASCAR right if he wins the title again over fan-favorite Dale Jr. or Jeff Gordon. Better
yet, right now it is even conceivable a rookie could win.

Needless to say, the most vocal critics in the garage have been the frontrunners.
Johnson has opposed the idea from day one, understandably so. But even a few of
the bubble drivers, most notably Ryan Newman, have lashed out at NASCAR for
harming the integrity of the sport. Newman even went as far as to call some of the
drivers who first criticized the Chase but capitulated when it could benefit them “two-
faced.”

Despite all the propaganda, so far the Chase has hardly energized fans. Ratings
have been mixed in the so-called Race to the Chase (an even dumber moniker than
the Chase for the Championship). One week a slight bump up, the next slightly
down. Not quite the bonanza NASCAR expected.

The sad thing is, NASCAR has a real opportunity to grow tremendously in the coming
years. By focusing on racing and increasing the credibility of the sport, NASCAR
could make serious inroads among general sports fans disgusted by the antics of
pro athletes in other sports. Racing is interesting, as are the personalities involved.
But the machinations of NASCAR’s leadership to gain visibility only increase the
perception (or unveil the reality) that NASCAR is all about the money.

The short-term payoff may cost us all in the end.

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