# 88

Dale Jarrett! He’s going truck racing next year. We’ll see him in Vegas!!

I don’t want to go on a rant about the big one, but I am pretty tired of watching restrictor plate races simple to witness the ‘big one’. All they do is emphasize the ‘big one’ and it inevitably happens. Twice this Sunday in Alabama. It really makes me wonder why I am watching it. The announcers and team personnel reiterate the ‘big one’ so much that I start getting bored until it happens. Its as if you hear about a scene in a movie, then go see the movie. You wait and wait for the scene to come up. it might be a good movie prior to it, but you’re so preoccupied and distracted by the “one” scene you were told about, it consumes you. That’s how I felt this weekend when I was watching the race (the Yanks and Sox had already clinched at that point-the one and only reason why I may miss a race), like I was only watching for the one inevitable moment. Not that it disappointed. Gees Louise! That everybody walks away from that is amazing. For better or worse, NASCAR continues to provide phenomenal excitement. By the way, love that Carl Edwards is “the high-horsepower hunk”. Try saying that 5 times fast.

So I read that they thought of making the next two races 1.5 in point value. Wouldn’t that be interesting? Wow. Talk about giving it to the fans. We are talking about dramatically changing a rule with two races to go in order to provide the maximum drama. Some would argue that it’s preposterous to change the rules midway that were implemented for a reason and can’t be changed at the expense of driver and team.

I agree. But….

2003: Matt Kenseth wins the Winston Cup with one of the most boring championship race in so many years. Averaging an 8th place finish, Kenseth captured the cup with consistency and shear plainness. No need for the flash or glory, no need for the final 15 races, Kenseth had captured the title by mid-July.
2004 Off-season: Press release: NASCAR has just implemented a new set of rules that will now determine the new NASCAR champion….you know the rest.

2004: Michael Shumacher wins his 7th championship in succession. As a result, the FIA has implemented a series of rule changes to essentially prevent Shumacher and Ferrari to win another championship.
Maybe those examples are a little extreme, but nonetheless they were put out for a reason. To make the product better for the fans. If Champ Car decides that the last couple of races are worth 1.5 the points, then so be it. They have a good reason/excuse with Korea. Go ahead and make it more entertaining. We’ll all thank you in the end (except maybe Macdonalds, if plans don’t pan out. No free Macflurries for you guys!)