Care For A Game of Musical Chairs?
Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
Nick Laham/Getty Images
Remember the old kid’s game, Musical Chairs? You know, you have one less chair than you have kids, they circle around the group of chairs, and when the music stops, everyone tries to grab a chair as quick as possible.
Of course, the kid left without a chair is eliminated. And so the game goes, with a chair being withdrawn after each round until there’s only two competitors vying for the final chair and the overall victory.
I got to thinking about that concept today and wonder if perhaps NASCAR might add such an element to the Chase for the Sprint Cup some day.
I’m not convinced anything really needs to be done to the Chase in its present format right now. I still think that this year’s Chase is going to wind up being the most exciting edition of the 10-race playoff since its inaugural year in 2004.
Sadly, we have eight races left and by virtue of Jimmie Johnson’s win this past Sunday at Dover, some so-called experts are already predicting the Chase is over, that the remainder is going to be another Johnson-Chad Knaus domination abomination, so to speak, and that JJ and CK will ultimately go on to make NASCAR history with their fourth consecutive Cup championship together.
We shall see on that. I think there’s several drivers that will want to weigh in on that still not happening, particularly Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.
But what happens if Johnson does win a fourth title? He’ll have done it the same way he did the first three: he earned it the hard way, by being the most consistent driver in the overall Chase.
Yet, what if we implemented an element in the Chase where we start eliminating one driver after, say, the fourth race of the Chase – in this year’s case, after the contest at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif, next weekend.
And then for the following five races, we take away the next lowest-ranked driver in the standings who hasn’t already been eliminated?
Using that theory, we eliminate No. 12 after the fourth race, No. 11 after the fifth, No. 10 after the sixth, No. 9 after seven, No. 8 after eight and No. 7 after nine.
That way, we have a six-driver battle going into the season finale at Homestead, setting up a one-race, potentially winner-take-all battle.
Or, how about an alternative: we eliminate two drivers per race starting with the sixth race of the Chase, namely, Martinsville.
That way, we eliminate No. 12 and 11 after Martinsville, followed by No. 10 and 9 after Talladega, No. 8 and 7 after Texas, and No. 6 and 5 after Phoenix – thus setting up a four-driver shootout at Homestead.
Let’s sweeten the pie even more: instead of letting the four drivers coming into Homestead still in contention for the championship maintain the points they have carried throughout the Chase, reset the points so that the leader has a 10-point lead over second-place, a 20-point lead over third and a 30-point lead over the fourth and final contestant.
You don’t think that wouldn’t set up an epic battle in the season- and championship-deciding finale?
We keep hearing NASCAR officials call the Chase a “playoff.” Well, let’s REALLY make it a playoff by eliminating those guys that are going to wind up being also-rans, anyway – get them out of the way early enough so we can focus on the guys that really have the only remaining chance at the title.
This way, we prevent any type of runaway, and quite frankly, it may be the only way to stop Johnson from winning not only this year’s, but also the next 10 Chases, as well.
Posted by on 09/29 at 09:16 PMDo you really want to shake it up
All entries into the chase has to be a race winner [yes brad k too]
thats it no others
Five races one super speedway
one intermediate,one short track one roadcourse and a draw of the hat each year for either bristol, darlington,charlotte,talladega,or kansas for the fifth
Resetting the points at Homestead is brilliant. It will truly become a winner-take-all scenario and you won’t have the farce that we’ve had the last few years i.e. “Carl Edwards can win the Cup if he wins the race and Jimmie Johnson finishes 35th or worse. “ Aside from the 2004 inaugural season, there hasn’t been anything close to intrigue or a possible upset since.
And while some may consider Johnson’s historical feat as “good for the sport”, it’s the farthest thing from: Viewership and attendance is down, and it doesn’t help that the SAME guy wins the title every year and pretty much wraps it up long before the last race of the year, leaving fans of other drivers no real reason to watch.
