Official 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Thread

Edwards had the most wins, the most top 5s, and the most top 10s, but lost the championship. He had the most points under the old system. It was a closer finish under the old points too. The Chase is stupid and the season is too long. It needs to go back to 28 races and have a completely different points system. Something like 43 points for 1st place and 1 point for 43rd place.

I agree, something is not right here. Edwards should have won the trophy based just on wins! Nascar is now too big for it's own good, I'm starting to think it's friggin rigged.

Jimmy seems like a cool cat so congrats to him. I'm just unhappy with the system.

I agree. The reason it is so long is b/c Nascar (the higher up's) care about nothing but the bottom dollar and making as much coin as they can.

The only reason they made the chase is to keep people watching late in the year. Someone can get so far ahead by July/Aug that its pretty much impossible for anyone to catch them so people stop watching. So now they knock everyone's points down and start a 10 week playoff race, how f'ing stupid.

Nascar is to inconsistent w/ penalties depending on what your last name is and try's to micromanage to much of what goes on the track. They leg hump drivers like JR of which was given a Championship on a silver platter by going to Hendricks but proves that hes nothing remotely close to the driver his father was and he'll never win one to begin with. The only thing he has proven is that he can get peoples hopes up and then utterly fail by the end of the season.


Nascar is nothing like it used to be, back before it got to big for itself

Yeah, Jimmy did what he had to do to win under this system, so I can't fault him. The Chase was meant to reward those who won though and it's not working. Busch was 2nd or 3rd based on results, but he barely made the top 10 due to the chase. The trucks and Busch cars use the old points are have closer finishes. Maybe Brian France should sell out to Bruton Smith.

funny how we basically said the same thing. I wasn't riding the coat tails of your post I was typing it when you posted yours.

no worry's I wont report you or anything. Besides, I have a feeling there are alot of people thinking the same thing as we are typing right now.

Nascar seriously needs to address how it awards the titles.

How can the guy that had more wins, more top 5s, and more top 10s than anyone else in the sport not win the championship. Carl only had 2DNFs to Johnsons 1.

Carl had 2 more wins, 4 more top 5s, 5 more top 10s and 2 more top 20 finishes than Jimmy.

No doubt Jimmy Johnson is awesome and maybe by the time he is done the best ever, but come on.

NASCAR isn't a sport like others where you can use a playoff format to eliminate teams as the season comes to an end. Matt Kenseth is who I follow the most and he would actually have finished worst under what I would consider to be a better points system. All it has done is made it so whoever has the best average over the last 10 races is the champion. That makes the previous 26 races meaningless. I noticed the tracks and tv networks also try to play up the 10 races before the Chase as the Race to the Chase to try to make them seem important. I think every race from the 1st race of the year should be important. If you can do like Matt Kenseth and dominate from the 3rd or 4th race to the end, you should win. Everyone forgets that the year before his championship, he won more races than anyone else but didn't win the championship. As far as fuel mileage wins, the race is the first one to run the advertised distance. If you can run the whole race at half throttle and still get there first, you did what it took for you to win. I don't think the 48 wouldn't win championships under a better points system, but I don't like how Brian France thinks he has manufacture excitement when the trucks, Nationwide, and F1 points all prove that it's not needed.

I thought NASCAR started going in a bad direction when Mike Helton gained a lot of power, but Brian France has alienated long-time fans. I'll even list what most former long-time fans think is wrong with NASCAR, and it has nothing to do with Gordon or Johnson.

1. The Chase
2. The Car of Tomorrow/Common templates
3. Races should start at 12 or 1pm in the timezone they take place in
4. Tracks that don't really need one race have two dates
5. Darlington should be on Labor Day
6. Rockingham should be on the schedule.
7. The Nationwide series needs to go back to a unique schedule that includes the old short tracks they used to run at so it actually has its own heroes, like the truck series.
8. Get rid of the Lucky Dog rule.
9. Allow racing to a green finish on the last lap.
10. Get rid of the out of bounds rule at Daytona and Talladega.
11. Quit ridiculous fines for things caught BEFORE the race

You wont ever hear me argue Johnson isnt great and I have no real comment about previous seasons but as long as it went to the best driver over the whole season I am good with that even if Gordon would get two more. I just think that its a joke that the guy that has the most wins, most top 5s, most top 10s, and 2nd most top 15s, most top 25s doesnt win it.

Wins - Carl 9 Jimmie 7
Top 5 - Carl 19 Jimmie 15
Top 10 - Carl 27 Jimmie 22
Top 15 - Carl 29 Jimmie 30
Top 25 - Carl 33 Jimmie 33
30+ finishes - Carl 4 Jimmie 3
DNF - Carl 2 Jimmie 1

Ave Finish - Carl 9.46 Jimmie 10.46

Now look at those numbers and even as a JJ fan how can you say he was the best driver this year? Yeah he won the chase, which is alot like the BCS in football. You can play the system and make a title game but it doesnt mean you are the best team at the end.

It is safe and they will evetually figure it out and get it raceable, but it's the common templates that I don't like. They need unique bodies, even if they gripe about it. I like the old spoiler better than the wing and I don't think the wing has an advantage over the spoiler.

12. Penalizing drivers points for things off the track for something they say or even do.

The points they earn are for how well they do on the track, just b/c they say something on TV that pisses of NASCAR they should not be penalized points for it, fines yes, points no.

Take The NFL for example. Roger Goodall ( The NFL Commissioner) is never heard from unless it is something big or important. In Nascar it seems like that fat bastard Mike whoever has his fat sausage fingers all over everything to do w/ the sport. Like I said its micromanaged to much.