BRISTOL, Tenn.— As Formula One’s ruling body debates a new points system, NASCAR’s top drivers almost unanimously agree a similar format would not work in their series.
The FIA said this week it would award the championship to the driver with the most race wins instead of highest points. The rule was vehemently opposed by teams and drivers, and the governing body agreed Friday to postpone its implementation until 2010.
NASCAR’s system rewards consistency. The highest 12 drivers after 26 races are eligible to run for the Sprint Cup title over the final 10 events of the year, and winning does not necessarily crown a champion.
“I think if you determine your champion just based on wins, you’re taking a huge gamble of having the wrong champion,” Carl Edwards said.
And that’s coming from the guy who would have won the title last year under F1’s proposal. Edwards won a series-best nine races last year, but finished second in the final standings to Jimmie Johnson.
“If one guy wins one race and runs 20th in the rest of them, and another guy finishes second in every single race, (the first guy is) not the right guy for a champion,” Edwards said.
His competitors agreed, noting that F1 uses a 17-race schedule and usually only three or four teams are competitive enough to challenge for victories. NASCAR has 36 points races and almost half of the 43-car field is capable of winning.
“When you look at how our series is, it’s a marathon,” Jeff Burton said. “The races are marathons. We run some of the longest races in the longest year compared to other forms of motorsports. So that means you need a different type of points system. I believe consistency matters.”
Kevin Harvick called the F1 proposal “the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard,” because a winner-take-all mentality erases the element of drivers battling back from adversity over the course of a 500-mile race.
“It is all about the guy who can fix his car, and it is about the guy who can come back and make something out of a loose wheel and make up two laps,” he said. “If you aren’t going to win and you are having a bad day, what are the consequences of just pulling in?”
WATCHING THE LEGENDS: Many of NASCAR’s stars had a keen interest in the Saturday night legends race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where a handful of their heroes were running a 35-lap charity event.
Harry Gant, Junior Johnson and Jack Ingram were among the old-timers entered, as were more recent retirees Rusty Wallace and Jimmy Spencer.
Jeff Burton believed the event would give younger fans their first opportunity to see NASCAR’s early starts, particularly the 72-year-old Ingram, who won 31 races in the now-Nationwide Series from 1982-91.
“I told somebody Jack Ingram was in it and he said, ‘The country music singer?’” Burton said. “He’s a huge part of making the Nationwide Series what it is. There are a lot of people who don’t know who he is.
“They will know who he is after Saturday, and I think that’s cool.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a bit of a sport historian, and would cherish one day having an opportunity to race against NASCAR’s former stars.
“I would be very proud to race against Jack Ingram and Junior Johnson and other people I didn’t get the chance to race against,” he said. “For the historians of the sport, it is a lot of fun. For people who have never seen Junior Johnson or L.D. Ottinger run a lap, it is just neat to see them out on the racetrack and compete because you do see some of the competitive fire and spirit, and you imagine what kind of driver they were back when they were at their peak.
“It is a great, great idea, I would be excited to see it more often.”
NEWMAN’S LIFT: Tony Stewart was pleased with teammate Ryan Newman’s progress after just one practice session at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Then Newman narrowly missed winning the pole, qualifying second in the best showing to date for the Stewart-Haas Racing entry.
“It’s nice to see Ryan having a good weekend,” Stewart said. “After the first four weeks, that’s the one thing I desperately wanted to see happen.”
Newman heads into Sunday’s race ranked 32nd in the driver standings and in danger of falling below the important top-35 mark. But Stewart said the struggles have not been indicative of the team’s performance.
“Everything that they’ve had has seemed to be bad luck so far,” Stewart said. “Nobody has been in crisis mode over there. It’s just a matter of them getting things starting to click. I think their confidence is good. I think if we were running bad, they’d need a confidence builder.”
Stewart says the team has been buoyed by his strong start to the season — he’s sixth in the standings with three top-10 finishes.
“One thing that has been good for them is the fact that we’re running good, so they know that they’ve got the same stuff that we have,” Stewart said. “All they need to do is get the monkey off their back, and they can be right there where we are.”
UNWIND LAP: Kurt Busch received more than 10,000 suggestions as to what he should call the unique victory lap he concocted following his win at Atlanta two weeks ago.
The lap driven in reverse elicited 61 suggestions with the word “unwind” in it, so Busch will call his new signature celebratory move the “Unwind Lap.”
“Hopefully I will get the chance to tear up reverse gears in cars all over the country this season,” Busch said.
KING’S CUP: The Paralyzed Veterans of America will team with Richard Petty to host an endurance go-kart race in May in Mooresville, N.C.
“King’s Cup Karting for a Cause” will be a four-hour endurance go-kart race, and Petty will be the honorary chairman.
“I’ve seen firsthand the sacrifices that our troops make so that we can enjoy our freedom,” Petty said. “It has been a real eye-opening experience to learn that there are still places around the country that are not wheelchair accessible and that there are some veterans that are not getting the care that they need. Paralyzed Veterans of America works round the clock to change this situation.”
Money raised at the event will go to the 34 chapters of the Paralyzed Veterans located across the country.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
