Happy Hour: Did you think we could avoid the Talladega finish?
Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to [email protected] or @NickBromberg. We’ll post them here and have a good time.
Well, we were a bit off on our prediction of a general lack of nuttiness at Talladega. It looked good until the ridiculousness that was the green-white-checker attempt(s) to finish the race. Then NASCAR’s rule (that still doesn’t have a direct causation, by the way) went in and helped caused the chaotic finish that we all saw.
Here’s what the old Chase standings would look like after Talladega. The highest-standing driver in the final eight is Denny Hamlin in seventh. Kevin Harvick is the lowest driver still alive in 11th. Last year at this time it was about the same. Seven of the top eight in the previous format were alive.
1. Joey Logano, 2,265
2. Carl Edwards, 2,232
3. Jeff Gordon, 2,213
4. Kurt Busch, 2,212
5. Martin Truex Jr. 2,211
5. Brad Keselowski, 2,211
7. Denny Hamlin, 2,209
8. Kyle Busch, 2,197
9. Ryan Newman, 2,194
10. Matt Kenseth, 2,191
11. Kevin Harvick, 2,183
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2,180
13. Jamie McMurray, 2,158
14. Jimmie Johnson, 2,151
15. Paul Menard 2,146
16. Clint Bowyer, 2,123
Let’s get to your reactions about Talladega. No sense in beating around the bush.
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The teams in the Chase should be on a different scoring system. (i.e. if there are 16 teams in the chase, those drivers should get 16 for the win and 1 for last place.) They are truly racing against each other and where Matt DiBennedetto finished shouldn’t affect the overall championship.
This scenario is setting up a bad bad situation at some point with a winner take all race in Miami. More than likely, we could have 4 drivers from teams with multiple cars. How easy would it be for one of the drivers without a dig in the fight to affect the outcome. Would JJ punt Harvick into the wall with 30 to go in Miami if it would benefit the 24? Maybe a two race series with a 1-2-3-4 point scale. – Peter
Anyone like the points idea in the first paragraph? We’ve thought about similar points systems. Though we’re not sure what’s optimal at this point outside of balancing excellence with bad finishes. We sound like a broken record here, but NASCAR’s points format is too skewed towards penalizing bad finishes. While not making mistakes is something that is part of winning a title, excellence isn’t properly rewarded. And yes, we say that knowing full well about the win-and-in part of the Chase.
The second graph is the disaster scenario for NASCAR. What happened last year at Homestead isn’t going to be a given every year. There are going to be races – assuming that NASCAR keeps this format longer than it’s kept all its other Chase formats – where the four drivers in the final four won’t be running in consecutive positions. A snoozer is bound to happen.
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This is why as a casual fan in Atlanta–I have lost interest in NASCAR. Like Wrestling on wheels… – David
David has been secretly fined by NASCAR for his comments. David, please direct any inquiries to Denny Hamlin. He will tell you how not to compare NASCAR to professional wrestling.
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Dont see how its any different from 2013. same radio chatter from needing a wreck to advance plus video showing him looking at the 6 car to compared to itching arm or being told to pit. But poor MWR paid the price which helped shut down his company. The one difference is kevin took alot of cars out which couldve hurt someone. MWR didnt.
Been a fan for 32 years of Nascar but this last couple years esp. this years changing rules every week is the most inconsistent sport there is. People calling it a non sport will eventually be right they keep this up. Im a Jeff G fan but Nascar keeps it up, their fan base will die out eventually which already started. This year their doing good but only due to Jeff last year. Maybe next year be ok with Tonys last year but I betting sales down next year and all they will do is make an excuse instead of dealing with the real problem. When no one passed at Dover race that changed my mind on getting tickets to going to races. So far best decision I made – Helen
The key difference with Harvick and MWR is that there’s no smoking gun. Sure, you can be convinced that Harvick wrecked Bayne on purpose, but what are you going to point to as your definitive proof? The GIF? Yes, there was an exchange on Harvick’s radio about how a wreck was the team’s best chance to advance in the Chase but there is no direction to cause the wreck. There was a clear direction with Bowyer at Richmond (and, you can argue, two years before with Paul Menard).
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At minimum the rule is likely clarified and/or tweaked. It may go away altogether. It was well-received by drivers, so the latter seems like it’s not going to happen. But we can’t imagine it’ll be left alone.
If there’s carryover from Sunday’s race — AKA, a driver takes revenge on Harvick for what they perceived to be purposeful actions — then oh boy, it’s going to be interesting. If we were running NASCAR we’d want to get as far away from the embarrassment that was Talladega. It’s easier said than done.
And regarding the hashtag, someone who covers the sport told us our “prediction” was “wrong” about Kevin Harvick and Talladega. Thing is, we didn’t make any predictions about Harvick or any penalties. It was like a wrestler jumping from the top rope and injuring himself when there was no one to land on.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
