Last week's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was a blast to watch, both literally and figuratively. There's not much I can really say about it that hasn't already been said. It was a great race, despite the last lap crash. My thoughts to make the restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega safer are simple and comprise 4 things.
1. Jeff Burton's idea of having single-file restarts as opposed to double-file restarts in the last 10 laps of the races at those two tracks is a good one. The cars won't be so bunched up.
2. Move the grandstand seating in the front further back. The seats that are that close to the catchfence suck anyway due to the lack of visibility.
3. Put tethers on the engines so they don't fly out on impact. They put tethers on the wheels in the late 1990s after several fatal Indy Car crashes, and it has worked out well.
4. Put a smaller plate on the engines to slow the cars down some more so they aren't as apt to fly through the air on impact. The single-car lap times on the plate tracks didn't get much higher than 192 mph until a few years ago when they started topping out at nearly 200 mph, partially due to the aerodynamics of the Gen-6 car that debuted in 2013.
And now for something completely different:
I felt compelled to write my third blog post after watching Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway. The obvious topic of discussion is the new lower downforce aerodynamics package that NASCAR mandated for the cars this weekend. A similar package will be used at Darlington on Labor Day weekend, and an all new completely different package, focused on creating higher drag, will be used for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in two weeks and at Michigan in August. The package used this weekend was designed to give the cars less grip and more straightaway speed, which would hopefully allow for better runs and more passing, a quality that us fans don't see enough of on most NASCAR tracks nowadays, save for restarts and pit stops. To NASCAR's credit, the package, for the most part, worked. It wasn't a breathtakingly exciting race overall, but there was a lot of passing and it was infinitely better than what we've been seeing on 1.5 mile tracks the last few years (the length that comprises most of the schedule). However, the point (no pun intended) of this post is to proclaim a gripe that I (and I believe a great deal of fans) have with the current NASCAR Cup Series points system. Starting in 2014, if a driver won a race within the first 26 races, he or she would automatically qualify for one of 16 spots in the "Chase," NASCAR's equivalent of a playoff format, that takes place during the last 10 races of the 36-race season. Any other disputes to determine the Chase field (such as ties, more than 16 drivers with wins, or fewer than 16 drivers with wins) would be settled by the actual numerical points accumulated in the first 26 races. Disclaimer: If you're still reading and aren't confused or angry so far, you're doing a lot better than most NASCAR fans. The other issue that had never been touched in 66 years of NASCAR racing was an allowance for a driver to miss a race for a medical exemption, such as an injury. Before the Chase was revamped in 2014, if a driver missed a race, he didn't get any points and would drop down the standings accordingly. I completely understand that NASCAR, and some fans, wanted to give the drivers, teams, and sponsors a chance to win the championship even if they had to miss a race or two due to injury. However, there should be a limit to the kindness in this case. Kyle Busch broke his leg in a multi-car crash during the Xfinity race at Daytona in February. He didn't compete in a race until Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend, meaning he missed the first 11 races, which is nearly half of the regular season. He won on the road course at Sonoma last month and he won again Saturday night at Kentucky. NASCAR deemed that Busch could take a medical exemption and as long as he finishes the regular season in the top-30 in points, he would qualify for the Chase, since he has a win. Something about that just seems naturally wrong to me. It's not his fault that he got hurt, but how is it fair that someone who missed nearly half of the regular season could potentially be the champion, while someone who ran all of the races and finished in the top 16 in regular season points, but may not have a win, could be bumped out of qualifying for the Chase because of the medically-exempted driver? NASCAR made a step in the right direction by introducing the new aero packages to help improve the racing. They could make another step forward by closing this glaring loophole in the points system (if not cancelling the Chase format altogether.)
