Nov 19, 2007

Let's Have a NASCAR Super Bowl

Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner, so let's talk turkey here. Because that's just what NASCAR's Chase for the Cup is -- a turkey. It was designed with very good intentions, to mimic the playoffs that are so successful in building fan excitement and interest in the stick-and-ball sports, but when all is said and done, the Chase just hasn't accomplished that. The races in the Chase look like every other race; they feel like every other race; and they most often result in a season-ending event that is flatter than a Swedish pancake without the lingonberries. That's just not how it should be. NASCAR racing is terrific entertainment and incredibly easy to grasp by a wide audience. But it is hard to build excitement in an event in which the season champion can achieve that goal by finishing 18th. Talk about anti-climatic! Instead, our suggestion is to make the final race a Super Bowl.

Here's our immodest proposal: Based on the standings in the regular season, allow the top 20 points winners (or the top 19 plus the defending champ if he is somehow not among the Top 20) to qualify for the final 10 races -- the new Chase for the Cup.  Everyone else goes home to lick their wounds. (If the sponsors of those teams don't like it, they should put pressure on the teams they sponsor to get better instead of making their living as rolling chicanes.)

Once the initial group of playoff contenders is identified, starting with the first race of the all-new and very improved Chase, eliminate the driver who comes in last and base starting positions for the next race on finishing order. The same procedure would take place in each of the subsequent Chase races until you arrive at the final race of the season with 11 competitors in the field -- let's call them the Lucky 11.

Sure, in NASCAR terms, it seems like a small field, and small fields might make for less drama or at least fewer chances for crashes, but here's the answer to that criticism -- the qualifiers for the final race would be the best, most evenly matched 11 in the sport. Any one of them could win. That's drama in and of itself. But the bigger drama is this: the winner of that race will be crowned the NASCAR Cup Champion. That's right -- you can't win the championship simply by staying out of trouble; you can only win the championship by winning the final race.

In other words, make it a real Super Bowl. And watch the ratings explode! One race for all the marbles; the best drivers and cars in the sport on the fastest Sunday of the year!  And the guy that takes the checkered flag wins the Championship. Even the non-race fan can grasp that concept.

Sure, some may argue that it isn't fair. But, when you look hard at it, the current system isn't fair, either. It's complicated, arbitrary and arcane, and a TV-ratings snoozer (worst from a NASCAR point of view). Further, when you analyze the playoff systems of other sports, the road to a championship in the National Football League, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball isn't truly fair, either. Yet people still accept their champions.

So come on, NASCAR, give us a real Super Bowl of American racing.