Points And Pointless

According to David Newton of ESPN.com, if the proposed 43-1 NASCAR Sprint Cup point system had been in place in 2010, Jimmie Johnson would have finished 1 point ahead of Kevin Harvick to claim his 5^th straight championship, and Harvick would have finished 1 point ahead of Denny Hamlin. This presents a far more compelling case for the new system than anything said to date.  It makes every position at every race more critical than in past years.  And, if NASCAR wants its final race of the season to have Super Bowl like drama, the top three drivers being just a few on track positions apart in standings certainly would do it.

Also per Newton, NASCAR will be implementing a new system for qualifying.  In the past, if qualifying was rained out, spots on the starting grid were determined by current point standings.  In 2011 it appears this will only be the case if both practice and qualifying are rained out.  If practice takes place, top practice speed of each driver will determine the starting grid. 

Finally, Fox Sports Chairman David Hill would like to see shorter races from NASCAR.  Wouldn’t we all?  Hill stated that for his TV network ideal programming would include 40 minutes of prerace coverage, three hours of race coverage, and 20 minutes of post race coverage.  He talked about all the other entertainment opportunities fans now have, and if that finally becomes a serious consideration for TV, perhaps 30 minutes of prerace coverage, 2 hours and 15 minutes of race coverage, and 15 minutes of post race coverage would be enough.

Despite a clamor from fans for a change, I don’t see much change happening as to the length of a race.  The longer the race, the more commercials the networks sell..  The more commercials sold the more money the network makes.  The more money the network makes, the more money NASCAR can command for televised rights.  Do you think Brian France wants the networks to offer less for TV rights? 

Of course the flip to that is with the large drop in ratings fewer companies want to advertise during Sprint Cup races, and the companies that do advertise don’t want to pay as much money as they once did.  Meaning when the TV contract expires in 2014 networks will either not want to bother with NASCAR or want to pay less for rights.  SO, if we are going to end up in that spot anyway, how about making the races shorter Brian?

As for Mr. Hill, worry about the quality of the program instead of how long it is.  Give fans credit for having half a brain.  Start with getting rid of the idiot cartoon character-I am talking about the animated gopher, not Waltrip or McReynolds, though on second thought…..

Anyway, to sort of quote NASCAR Real Time from yesterday’s blog, “2 ½ hours of s—t, or 3 hours of s—t.  It’s still s—t.” So Mr. Hill, if you make the program better, we will watch.

I didn’t want to spell out the word s—t today.  Randy Palmer gave me a lot of s—t yesterday for doing so. He says it is because sprint car elitists know their s—t.  I say it is because most sprint car fans are full of s—t.

Thanks for stopping by.