“The white-zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and it’s time NASCAR fans load up their cars, find the nearest anti-Chase bridge and get over it.
For some reason, even after 11 years, there’s still a notable section of the NASCAR populace that can’t accept the fact that the Chase is never going away. I understood the distaste for it back in 2004 when it was a whole new idea of determining the champion, but now it’s just gotten to the point of being on par with those who hate dubbed anime with a passion…It makes no sense!
I’ve heard just about every excuse for being against it. “It’s not tradition.” “It’s artificial entertainment.” “It’s killing the sport.” “It cost the Red Sox Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.” Okay, I made up that last one, but you get my point.
For those who say it’s “not tradition,” traditions change. Once upon a time, it was a tradition in NASCAR to race back to the caution. What started as the leaders running at a slightly reduced speed to allow any lapped car to get their lap back turned into a fustercluck of leaders speeding back to keep certain cars from getting back.
On Sept. 14, 2003, Dale Jarrett got turned by Jimmy Spencer and hit the wall driver-side at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. His car came to a stop in the middle of the track. Meanwhile on the backstretch, race leader Bill Elliott, Ryan Newman and Michael Waltrip slowed down to a reduced rate while Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer rocketed by trying to get back their lap. That gaggle of cars had taken up most of the track exiting Turn 4 with Jarrett’s No. 88 UPS Ford sitting lifeless in the middle of the track.
Wally Dallenbach put it best. “Here’s the bad deal. You got a car sitting in the race track right now and these guys are racing back to the yellow. That’s just…ugh I hate that!”
NASCAR had always maintained that the leader should be the first one back to the line and let him decide who should get his lap back. Now Labonte had made a deal with Elliott to let him back on the lead lap the next caution and Bill slowed down to let him pass. Then Jimmy Spencer, being Jimmy Spencer, decided to fly up to the leader and almost spun Waltrip out to get by.
This incident, and a string of close calls in the 2003 season, finally made NASCAR realize someone is going to get killed if this keeps going and they banned the practice of racing back to the yellow the next week at Dover.
With no social media at the time, I don’t know how well received it was with the NASCAR fans, but 12 years later, I don’t hear anyone clambering for the return of racing back to the caution.
With the “it’s artificial entertainment” argument, someone will have to explain that to me. I don’t understand it. If you’re saying it’s not natural, no sport on Earth is natural entertainment. All sports on Earth are artificial entertainment. Someone didn’t just one day plant a seed into the ground and suddenly, Bristol Motor Speedway popped out of the ground. Until someone shows me a field of Sprint Cup cars growing out of the ground, it’s not natural. Even the traditional method of determining a champion is not natural. A human created an arbitrary points system, thereby making it artificial.
For the “it’s killing the sport” argument, that holds no weight until you present an academic study proving that the sagging attendance and diminishing ratings correlates with the Chase.
In conclusion, traditions change, all sports are artificial and there’s no evidence to support the hypothesis that the Chase is killing the sport.
If you honestly think the old way of determining the champion is better than the Chase, that’s your right to think as such. But after 11 years, the Chase isn’t going away. It’s here to stay. The current incarnation of the Chase is the best and it’ll carry this sport for a number of years.
My plane is ready to board, so I must wrap this up. Until next time, I’ll leave you with this fact. Heart attacks are more likely to happen on a Monday.
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