It's All In The Numbers, And Whose Is Up Next? 10/3/2014 |
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, and a cordial welcome as well to our assigned
NASCAR reader du jour, assumed to be ensconced in the beautiful Fan and Media
Espionage Center in the Queen's City of Charlotte, North Carolina. We do hope
you enjoy your time with us today.
So...
did everyone enjoy the first round of eliminations after the Dover race on
Sunday? Hmm, me either. We can all see
just how it works now, though we still have to go through a few more rounds of
eliminations before arriving at whatever we're going to arrive at in the end.
As I see it, we were at 16, and are now at 12. College Hoops, whose brackets
were supposedly used as a pattern for this nonsense, goes from Sweet 16 to 8,
but then of course, they have honest, head to head matches, and once
eliminated, you're welcome to come back and try again next year.
NASCAR
is a bit more arbitrary in that they merely drop the number of those eligible
to play in Brian's game from 16 to 12, then 8 and finally 4, who will
supposedly recreate the shootout at the OK Corral as the Four Horsemen of
Homestead... or something like that.
~ So
many metaphors; so little time. ~
However,
all the while, there will still be 43 cars... less any parkers of course... on
track for each and every race. There is nothing suspenseful about the whole
deal, and nothing exciting or thrilling either, unless you buy into the cheap
media hype you're being spoon fed like a hungry baby. Beware Baby; that little
spoon does not always hold sweet applesauce. On occasion it holds yummy stuff
such as split peas or even broccoli.
Since we
were at Dover, I let my fingers do some walking back to another day and time
and came up with the MBNA.com 400 from September 24, 2000. That year was chosen
purposely, so as not to go so far back that I'm the only one that can remember
the race, but still to a time before some of the more radical changes had hit
our sport. In 2000, Dale Earnhardt was still with us, though sadly, Adam Petty and
Kenny Irwin were not. It was the last year in which the free market was allowed
to compete for the "privilege" of broadcasting NASCAR races, and yes,
back then it was considered a privilege, and each track got to pick the
broadcast network of its choice. Dover's choice for several years had been TNN,
and this MBNA.com 400 would be the last NASCAR race that network ever
broadcast. Surprisingly, the race wasn't all that different from what we saw on
Sunday, except that the 2000 race had about two and a half times the number of
lead changes... something we've been pointing out to the current regime for
some time now.
The race
in 2000 was won by Tony Stewart, who started 27th on the day but came to the
fore to lead 163 of the 400 laps. What a coinkydink
that poor, poor, pitiful Greg Biffle started 27th on Sunday and that is cited
by many as the reason he now has been eliminated from playing the game. After
all, no one could do well starting that far back. Really???
Apparently they could 14 years ago. Brian, how's that Gen-6 remake looking
about now? 24 lead changes back then and only 10 on Sunday. It's not just the
Chase that needs fixing; the Race itself is also broken and in need of repair
that goes beyond a couple more debris cautions in the waning laps.
8
cautions = 45 laps
Lead
changes: 24
Margin
of Victory: 6.752 sec.
Time
elapsed: 3:28:21
Average
speed: 115.191
Pole
speed: 159.872
And then
of course, we have the points placement following the
race in 2000. I took the top 16, merely to keep the charts even. These points
were kept under the Latford point system. To
approximate what they might have been when counting by "onesies", just divide everything by 4. That's not
perfect, but will bring you very close to the correct figures.
Points
standings after this race: |
|||
Rank |
Driver |
Points |
Diff |
1 |
4091
|
|
|
2 |
3842
|
-249
|
|
3 |
3824
|
-267
|
|
4 |
3823
|
-268
|
|
5 |
3632
|
-459
|
|
6 |
3632
|
-459
|
|
7 |
3604
|
-487
|
|
8 |
3584
|
-507
|
|
9 |
3397
|
-694
|
|
10 |
3358
|
-733
|
|
11 |
3005
|
-1086
|
|
12 |
2993
|
-1098
|
|
13 |
2975
|
-1116
|
|
14 |
2947
|
-1144
|
|
15 |
2859
|
-1232
|
|
16 |
2834
|
-1257
|
|
If
anyone has an interest in watching the race in question, it can be found here:
Now,
let's look at some numbers from last Sunday, when Jeff Gordon took the
checkers, leading 94 laps on the day after starting way back in the 6th
position.
Cautions
5 = 23 laps
Lead
change: 10
Margin
of Victory: 4.352 sec.
Time
elapsed: 3:03:51
Average
speed: 130:541
Pole
speed: 162.933
** Note on Pole speed... the
difference between the pole speed in the two races was
a mere .460 second... not even a full half-second faster in 14 years. Where's
all that speed we keep hearing about that necessitates running restrictor
plates, tapered spacers or (insert your term here) to slow them down? It is
still the contention of this scribe that if you want to save the teams some
money, stick a small crate engine in each one, say, "Touch it and you
die" and let the drivers determine who's the best among them. If anyone is
about to compare the partnership between driver and car to that of the jockey
and the horse, allow me to remind you that they shoot horses that can't
perform... not jockeys.
Here are
the points after the Dover race this year, when calculated using the Brian
France point system.
Points
standings after this race: |
|||
Rank |
Driver |
Points |
Diff |
1 |
3000
|
|
|
2 |
3000
|
0
|
|
3 |
3000
|
0
|
|
4 |
3000
|
0
|
|
5 |
3000
|
0
|
|
6 |
3000
|
0
|
|
7 |
3000
|
0
|
|
8 |
3000
|
0
|
|
9 |
3000
|
0
|
|
10 |
3000
|
0
|
|
11 |
3000
|
0
|
|
12 |
3000
|
0
|
|
13 |
2077
|
-923
|
|
14 |
2073
|
-927
|
|
15 |
2072
|
-928
|
|
16 |
2061
|
-939 |
See how
that works gentle readers? Now look hard at those four that can play no more.
Their fate has been decided. Now look at the other 12. Their fate lies in the
fickle fingers of Lady Luck. They are 12, and there can be only 3 winners
before the next round of "Off with their heads!" (A win keeps you in) We all saw Kevin Harvick
suffer a flat tire on Sunday after leading over half the race. The best that
Gen-6 could do in traffic was a 13th place finish, and it took him a l-o-n-g time to get there. It was good enough this time,
but that won't always be the case... and next time it may not be Kevin. It
might be your favorite, and no one is immune.
Is this
the way any sport on earth crowns a season's Champion... by luck? As you can
see, all actual points are thrown out; all past efforts are cancelled and the
rest of the entire season matters not one iota... and this is done three times
over! Does anyone wonder who would be where in points right now without the
Chase? Well, wonder no more. We have them, not in Latford
points, but in onesies. Of course, the rough
conversion is just the opposite here. Multiply everything by four and you're
close to Latford points. What I'd like to call your
attention to is the number of names in the top 16 here that do not appear in
the Chase. Yet, we're told it really doesn't change things or spoil anyone's
chances of placing well. Tell that to Kyle Larson, who according to this chart
would be right in line for an invitation to the awards banquet in other times.
Tenth place isn't bad for a rookie... but he won't finish there, because Brian
Z. France wants to play make believe games and crown make believe Champions.
Non-'Chase'
standings after this race: |
|||
Rank |
Driver |
Points |
Diff |
1 |
1022
|
|
|
2 |
978
|
-44
|
|
3 |
958
|
-64
|
|
4 |
956
|
-66
|
|
5 |
914
|
-108
|
|
6 |
905
|
-117
|
|
7 |
894
|
-128
|
|
8 |
873
|
-149
|
|
9 |
862
|
-160
|
|
10 |
859
|
-163
|
|
11 |
825
|
-197
|
|
12 |
817
|
-205
|
|
13 |
811
|
-211
|
|
14 |
805
|
-217
|
|
15 |
795
|
-227
|
|
16 |
781
|
-241 |
That's
enough numbers for today gentle readers. Your scribe merely wanted you to see
with your own lying eyes exactly how this Chase game works... or doesn't. Patty's Kids have already crowned Jeff Gordon
as Champion on the basis of handily winning the regular season aka the races
before Brian's game begins.
Now,
it's past time for our Classic Country Closeout. Today, let's share a few
lovely moments listening to one of the sweetest voices Country Music ever
offered us... that of "Whispering Bill" Anderson. We met Bill many
years ago when he and his "Po Folks" came to the Rochester area for a
concert and while there, played a soft ball game for charity against local
media personnel on the baseball diamond owned by the company for whom Don
worked. I couldn't tell you now who won, but I can tell you that a young
pre-teen version of my daughter was more than duly impressed, not only because
Mom and Dad could walk right up and talk to Bill, but moreso by the fact that
he plays ball without the hairpiece and even way back then, his head bore some
resemblance to Todd Bodine's "onion."
Just
yesterday a few of us were having a conversation on Twitter about "The
'60s" and I allowed as how that was far from my favorite decade for many
reasons. In this song, Bill describes several of those reasons, which is why
I've always loved to listen to, "Where
Have All Our Heroes Gone?"
The next
song expresses a lovely and warm sentiment as Bill and his oft-paired singing
partner, Jan Howard, perform one of their biggest hits, "For Loving You." I've always loved the feelings
expressed in this song, and it's guaranteed to make each one of you think of
someone as you listen to the words... and perhaps let a tear or two slip down
your cheek as you remember.
Bill has
recorded so many great songs over the years, it's hard to pick just a few, but
I can't let his day go by without offering one of his biggest hits ever, and
the one for which he named his group. Here then is Bill, singing a story so
familiar to so many of our young lives, "Po Folks." Please enjoy...
For
those that love Bill Anderson as I do, he can still be
found, alive and hosting "Country's
Family Reunion", which is shown in my area on RFDTV. Check it out;
you'll likely find many other old friends there, talking of olden days and
performing one more time for your benefit. Treasure those we have left before
they're all gone. This is yet another parallel between Country Music and stock
car racing...
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay