JUST HAD TO POST THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very good Read............. Jimmie Johnsons Sixth Championship Perfect Example of Why Chase Is Bad for NASCAR Yahoo Contributor Network By Matt Fitzgerald November 18, 2013 1:18 PM COMMENTARY | With Jimmie Johnson winning his sixth championship with a ninth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it just further proves why the Chase has been a negative thing for NASCAR and the sport as a whole. This championship pulls Johnson within one of tying the record of seven championships won by Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. Without the Chase, this would only be his third title and put him in line to still be a huge part of the history of this sport. By no means should what Johnson has put together this year be taken away or downplayed, but he has been over-glorified by a system that he has found a way to take advantage of. The only other drivers that would have won a championship specifically because of the Chase are Kurt Busch in 2004 and Tony Stewart in 2011. While it would hurt their legacies to no longer have this recognition, it shows gives backing to how the Chase has been a bad thing. Both of these drivers drove just well enough to make it into the Chase to finally come through and perform at a championship level. The fact that Stewart was able to come into the Chase saying that he did not deserve to even be in the Chase, only to win five of the final 10 races and win on a tiebreaker is crazy. While what he did in being able to close out the season in such a way as amazing, his consistency throughout the season as a whole did not warrant his championship. Along with helping to build Johnsons legacy within the sport, the Chase has also been a great detriment to many drivers that would have won championships during the past 10 years. The biggest example of this would be Jeff Gordon losing out on two championships that would put him on the doorstep of history as Johnson now finds himself. The Chase has also taken two championships from Carl Edwards and one from Kevin Harvick, two drivers that have proved that they deserve to be in the history books by being at the top of the class within the sport. Many will say that these drivers would have driven differently throughout the years that could have changed the outcomes of the seasons as a whole, but 2008 was the only year that Chase champion lost and was within 50 points of the championship. That year was also under the old points system where larger gaps were much more common as well. This next common argument that seems to come up within many in the pro-Chase groups is that every other sport has a playoff system, why shouldnt NASCAR? Every other sport doesnt have direct competition between every team on a per-day basis. NASCAR is truly unique in the fact that with weekly competition, every bad week for a certain time provides direct advantage to every other team that week. Why promote an attitude of driving just well enough to make it to the next stage before you actually start becoming competitive? Matt Fitzgerald lives in Las Vegas and has been following NASCAR for 15 years now. He never misses a race and goes to as many as possible at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 23:08:19 +0000
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