In 1965, The Rolling
Stones sang “I can’t get no satisfaction.” More than forty years later, the line still rings through my
head as I ponder the 2007 season, only the words are more like: I can’t get any motivation. Having watched this racing season play itself out like one nightmare after another for
many teams who didn’t deserve the bad breaks they ended up with, I wonder: how do they motivate themselves, particularly
in light of the domination of the Hendricks Motorsports (HMS) stable? The sport has already
basically divided itself into the mega-teams and the smaller teams. Mega-teams consist of multi-car, mega-money owners with power and resources the smaller teams utilize, while the smaller teams are generally one or two cars with limited
resources. Though 43 cars qualify for every race, they play out like a combination A and B Main feature with the smaller teams
being lapped to death or worst yet -punted, depending on who’s irritated with their presence.
Furthermore, where’s
the motivation for the drivers who missed the Chase when drivers in the Chase indicate non-Chase drivers need to clear the
way for them to compete. Tony Stewart stated pre-Chase in an interview, “You just have to show the top-12 respect. You
still want to win races, but at the same time, you still have to be mindful that there are 12 guys racing for a series championship.
You try to race hard, but at the same time, you have to be respectful and give them the room they deserve.” So, Stewart
pretty much told all the non-Chase drivers to stay out of the way of the Chase drivers by showing some ‘respect.’
Nine races later, some of the Chase drivers probably wish he remembered that respect for them along the way, too.
The Chase format for
NASCAR Nextel Cup racing just finished its fourth season and I still don’t see what NASCAR thought would be so great
about it! In 2003, Matt Kenseth won the championship because of consistency that paid off through 36 races. Like many champions
before him, consistency was the age-old, time-honored way of winning a championship. Drivers raced to win. If you race to
win every race, then you’re consistently doing your best and that consistency is what wins championships even if you
don’t win many races. But, NASCAR wanted something more exciting to hype up the sport, so the powers-to-be created the
Chase - a “racing playoff system”. Since then, the sport has effectively segregated itself into multiple factions
of racers: the Chasers and non-Chasers, and even more importantly, the non-Chasers are divided into those in the top 35 or
not. Just how motivated can teams remain throughout a harrowing season of one pitfall after another against nearly insurmountable
odds. No wonder fuses are short and tempers flare by season’s end.
Even more disturbing, though,
is that the TV ratings have consistently dropped for all but two races this season and the Chase itself has been the picture
of domination by one stable. Recently, Richard Petty weighed in about the Chase of 2007, saying "It's not good for the sport,
no. It's too cut-and-dried. You've got no [real] competition. You've got competition between two teams within the same team.
That don't get it done as far as the general public.” I agree with Petty that we’ve got “no [real] competition”
on the track. Not because Hendrick is “just that good” as we’ve been told a thousand times, but because
everything is being played out just too well. When the Chase came into play, it became chess instead of racing. The sport
took on supposedly “smart racing” which has sadly left fans watching drivers just cruise around mile after mile
until the last 50 laps before they begin to race. We used to call that sandbagging, now it’s labeled “smart
racing.” What motivation is there for a fan to spend a small fortune to watch a race in person when the only part
of the race that will be truly competitive is the last 50 laps?
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Lastly, how do the drivers
stay motivated individually? Jeff Gordon has repeatedly mentioned his point’s lead that disappeared instantly at the
beginning of the Chase, which all but makes consistency a moot point and a lot of hard work equally pointless. Jeff Gordon
fans may have very well watched Jimmie Johnson “rob” Gordon of that illusive fifth championship simply by his
7th place finish Sunday. Naturally, Gordon will graciously take it for the company but underneath, I’ve got
to believe still beats the heart of a competitor who’d rather be fighting all the way on the playing field he started
on. But, because of the Chase, his playing field was leveled. With 43 drivers out there, where’s the motivation to keep
on driving your heart out when you don’t count or barely merit honorable mentions for the last ten races of the season?
How does a driver satisfy his sponsor if he doesn’t make the Chase?
Granted it is what it is. Drivers,
owners and fans, all have to take it because it’s the only game around. Personally, I don’t think the Chase is
good for the sport on any level. NHRA adopted something similar with their “Countdown.” For them it works far
better because of the way their sport is structured, there’s not much room to manipulate. For NASCAR Nextel Cup racing,
there are too many variables. The Chase is divisive to the sport, detrimental to the teams and their sponsorship and obviously,
losing the fans. Adding more drivers won’t make it better. No matter how many spots there are, someone’s favorite
is always going to fall out. The Chase prevents any true Cinderella stories to emerge and stunts the racing the fans really
enjoy and the drivers enjoy delivering. I can only hope NASCAR will be motivated to make changes in a visionary direction
and not just make changes for changes sake.
2006 StockCar Review.
