Driving fighting to get handle on new format
Send a link to a friend
[March 14, 2017]
By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange
To fight or not to fight? That appeared
to be the question at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch came in swinging on the pit road. Joey Logano did his
best to avoid the punches behind a protective barrier of his crewmen
from Team Penske.
The two had tangled in Turn 4 on the final lap coming to the
checkered flag and Busch got the worst of it Sunday in the Kobalt
400 -- in terms of dropping 18 positions after his spin and in the
fight with the stand-in crewmen afterward.
Perhaps the better question concerns what was the point? Two drivers
without any past major issues wrecked each other over fourth and
fifth place. Maybe there is something to the new scoring system that
rewards a regular-season points champion with a playoff berth and
playoff bonus points.
The facts are that Busch nearly wrecked Logano going into Turn 3 on
the last lap as each sought to avoid the faltering Ford of Brad
Keselowski. Logano did not back off and did not avoid banking his
Ford off Busch's Toyota to get through Turn 4.
Logano came home fourth behind winner Martin Truex Jr. and Busch
went spinning, ending up on pit road and then chugging across the
line as the last car on the lead lap in 22nd place.
The speculation is whether this same incident would have happened
under last year's "win and you're in the Chase" system? The answer
is most likely no.
Under the previous scheme, there wasn't much difference if a driver
finished fourth or fifth in terms of either his paycheck or his
prospects for winning a championship. For the first 26 races of the
season, the main object was to win a race to gain entry into the
Chase and to get three bonus points for each victory. If a victory
wasn't to be had, there wasn't as much reason to fight for the
remaining positions when it came to actually winning a championship.
This year, 61 playoff bonus points will be divided up among the top
10 finishers in the points at the end of the regular season. The
regular-season champion will carry 15 bonus points through the first
three rounds of the playoffs before the one-race finale at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The regular-season runner-up will receive 10 bonus points, the
third-placed driver eight, etc. This provides a relatively big
incentive to make every position count in each regular-season race,
because it can have a direct bearing on making it to the final round
at Homestead-Miami.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Mar/14/images/ads/current/mks_lda_POTGOLD_2017.png)
That's the reason Keselowski was trying to carry a car with serious
front suspension problems to the checkered flag and why his slowing
car created the fracas between fourth-placed Busch and Logano
entering Turn 3.
NASCAR is on to something with the scoring system change. For one
thing, it reassures fans that drivers are not just loafing around if
they're having a bad day. It also recalls the bygone era when
drivers -- and their fans -- could take some satisfaction in
salvaging a decent points day in a race where they either missed the
set-up, had mechanical issues or suffered from mistakes. It kept
everybody's head in the game -- participants and fans alike.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
The more radical change, known as stages, also came
into play in Las Vegas. Due to the 1.5-mile track's relatively
forgiving asphalt, more teams tried different tire strategies than
on the worn asphalt of Atlanta. Although Truex Jr. also ended up
winning the 10-point bonus for each of the two stages -- along with
a playoff bonus point -- it wasn't for the lack of competitors
trying two-tire strategies or skipping a trip down the pit road.
Truex Jr. eventually gave up the lead to Keselowski
and the longer final run to the checkered flag, primarily due to his
track bar adjuster breaking. With Truex Jr. unable to adjust his
handling on longer runs, Keselowksi went to the front before his car
suffered the suspension problem, enabling Truex to return to the
lead with two laps remaining.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Mar/14/images/ads/current/st_claras_lda_082114.png)
Without the pressure to race hard for the points in the first two
stages, would the two front-running cars have held up better in the
107 laps of the final stage? In terms of the race for the overall
victory, as well as the race for fourth place, it's possible to put
a dramatic finish in Las Vegas down to the new system for
determining the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion.
Teams may revert to some conventional wisdom when it comes to stage
strategies as the season progresses. But even if the two opening
stages so far have resulted in predictable caution periods instead
of slam-bang affairs as happened between Busch and Logano, they will
sustain an emphasis on the value of points as the season progresses.
Once into the postseason, the points and every position will still
matter as drivers seek to keep advancing.
When it comes to spinning and then fighting, NASCAR is likely to
seek to keep a lid on the emotions getting out of hand and turning
into crashing fists. But will officials fine the instigator Busch by
subtracting points?
As for the scoring on the fight, there's much that was familiar. The
younger Busch has been backsliding toward the old days of volcanic
anger as his 2015 championship season grows smaller in the rear view
mirror. His flailing did not land a single blow.
Logano continued to talk a good game afterward with the media. But
absent standing toe-to-toe with one's adversary, a good verbal game
generally fails to pass muster.
So, this titanic struggle ended in a draw. Inglorious as it was, the
fight bore no resemblance to the ultimate NASCAR fisticuffs in 1979,
when brothers Allison and Cale Yarborough went after it in Turn 3
following the Daytona 500. That one launched the live television era
in a big way.
But in its own way, the Las Vegas "fight" may have landed an
historic punch. It could well mark a knockout of the old Chase
approach and the beginning of a format that better connects with
fans who want to be reminded the drivers bring some passion to their
high-speed jobs.
----------------------------------------------- [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed. |