- Television ratings are down.
- Fans are conspicuously absent from the tracks (and it’s not the recession).
- Jimmie Johnson won the championship again and many of us (including me) question its legitimacy.
Despite all my complaints I continue to watch every race. Although I enjoy them, the races many times are not what they used to be. NASCAR can do much to make the whole series and each race better:
- Modify the points system and eliminate the Chase. The best idea I’ve heard is to heavily weight podium (top three) finishes. Also, eliminate points for, say, 31st on back.
- Influence the television networks to focus on racing rather than blather. Do we really need 11 (count them) on-air personalities vying for the microphone?
- Make the cars look like race cars with more manufacturer identity.
- Eliminate the “Lucky Dog” and the “wave around”. It’s a race – not a show.
- Find a way to get rid of the restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega. What we saw at Talladega is not racing and is very dangerous.
- Try a little harder to hold qualifying rather than setting the field by points.
I will credit NASCAR with one change this year and one change planned for 2010:
- The double file restarts are a good thing. I had my doubts, but other than the “wave around”, they added something.
- The plan to have more races start at the same time (early afternoon) next year is a good one.
Let’s hope that 2010 is a good season.
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