You hit the nail on the head in my opinion, the Countdown is not really for the hardcore fans because if you are truly a hardcore fan you will watch the racing regardless of the point structure. The Countdown is all about creating excitement/entertainment and bringing in new fans/sponsors to the sport. You may not like this, but drag racing is a business and you must generate new ideas in an effort to grow the business to the next level. I have not heard where one person has stopped watching NHRA Drag Racing due to the Countdown.

What's just as funny, Paul..is your adamant..along with maybe 3 others..counter to these clowns.

There are so many things wrong with the countdown..on so many levels. Maybe it will get tweaked..but to have 2 out of 10 that like it..has to mean something.

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I will ask you the same thing I asked Tom, what can you do about? All the teams knew the rules coming into the season and you can not blame a team for peaking at the right time. Would you like me to send you a box of Kleenex?

PS- Just in case you did not know, you can not do a damn thing about the Countdown so get use to it or stop watching.

Paul,

I not going to stop watching Drag Racing, and what's really funny, is that people I've finally got to start watching all have asked me the same question...

"Why is drag racing copying NASCAR's points system..."

Then they go on to say the best thing about Drag Racing is they don't have to wait 4 hours to see who wins a race, and when you lose, you're out...

one went so far as to say that NASCAR should drop the last five cars out every 20 laps or so.... so that by lap 100 there is only about 20 cars on the track... and by 3/4 of the way through, only the top ten cars should still be racing...

Heck, NASCAR did that and I might start watching again...

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I do think that Glendora knows that the fan approval ratings for the countdown are in the toilet and that is why they are shoving it down our throats. It's just like in sales a good product will sell itself, they more the salesman tells you how good the product is, the more you have to wonder if it's really that good.

Not sure I agree, Jeff. Fuller and Capps, perhaps... but that Connolly dude is smokin' hot right now and just might have been the Schumacher comeback of the '07 season if we still had the old points system in place... I have nothing against Schumacher, Dixon, Pedregon, Hight or anyone else in the Countdown to one - and whoever wins will be the champion in my eyes because they will have won fair and square, by the rules established by the establishment.

But Paul, I respectfully disagree with you too. As the paying fans who support the sport we love, I'd like to think our voices will be heard. Maybe we won't aboloish the countdown system completely (though that's what I'd prefer), but I'd like to think we can have a say in making it better than it is now. Sure, there's been some outright whining with respect to the new system, but there has also been a lot of genuinely good and decent debate too. To lump everyone's opinions together is a travesty.

Lastly, I agree with whoever it was who said the thing that makes tight points races special, or used to anyway, was the fact that they are (read: were) rare... but they were never fabricated.

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Funny, I thought this was a discussion forum, I didn't realize Pravda had moved in and decided what I could say or think.

D

No one said you could not say what you think, but for the same people to say the same thing over and over again is old. I think this topic has been beaten to death since the Countdown was announced over a year ago. By the way some people are complaining about this you would think the world is coming to an end.

Yeah.........it's called a "bandwagon"

REX

Yeah..........I heard on CNN that the Countdown was responsible for Global Warming....................

REX

To reference the original post...

I commend DRO for doing what they feel is right, as much as I commend PJ for taking a stand and doing what he feels he has to do (The Petition). Just like Rex and Paul are doing their part to support "The Countdown".
This country was founded on people thinking outside the box and going against the grain for what they believed in, sometimes they got what they wanted, sometimes they didn't. The main thing is THEY ALL TRIED.
I refuse to judge someone personally on what they think of "The Countdown", opinions are like a--holes, everybody has one - some are louder than others. Perhaps a more contructive debate about each others opinions would be better for all of us and would keep this from getting personal. We can all agree to disagree.

A couple of observations I would like to make with regards to the ongoing dispute of "The Countdown"

1. Test Mode- Several drivers (GA, RC, etc) admitted going into "test mode" once thier berth into the countdown was locked. Now this was either a intelligent way of using the rules of the game to gain some ground and valuable data for the "playoffs", or a crock and just a cover story for them falling off. Personally, I believe it's the former. With that being said, their "YTD Points" have been skewed due to this testing (and using the rules of them game). In my opinion, DRO recognizing a YTD Champ isn't truly a representation of what may have been.

2. The format- I think with some fine tuning "The Countdown" could work. The big difference between "The Chase" and "The Countdown" is that once "The Countdown" is limited to 8 cars, there is no guarentee that those 8 cars are going to race each other at any point during the remainder of the season. "The Chase" pretty much has the final 10 cars on the track all at once, which seems to work better.
Perhaps a seperate eliminator for the final 8, 4 and 2 would be best and would let them race for the championship and get the media coverage they deserve (they seem to be the only one's getting it now anyway). Let the remainder of the field run for non countdown points and money, or run them all down and then let the Countdown car race the non countdown car for the Wally. This would also do alot to eliminate the "blocker" cars and "dives" from becoming an issue, even if the cars met in the final, "The Countdown" points would already be settled for the day and they can just outright race for the Wally.


I prefer the system the old way, hell I even signed PJs petition, however "The Countdown" is now and can't be taken back this year. Maybe with some changes "The Countdown version 2.0" it could be a better system next year, maybe not. I guess time will tell.

And .............I mean..........wow..........what a Major unbelievable shock the DRO poll is.....................

An internet poll that was probably answered by folks that populate internet forums.......well.........not even probably, absolutely.

As far as the countdown in the beginning I decided I would wait before judgement.

When I saw all the immediate appoplexy over it I started to think that there must be something right about it.......the masses are usually quite wrong.

It has been blamed for everything from a-z and everything in between that has cropped up this season.

It has been tied to being the cause of totally erronious rumors;

Alky cars no longer at national events............Why?

The Countdown of course!!!!

Of course the rumor was BS.

Kalitta Boycotting the last two races.............Why?

The countdown of course!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again?...............BS.

OK............80% of the entire world hates it.

So what.

Even if It WAS a good idea for the sport those against will never admit it, once a mind is prematurely made up it is virtually impossible to change it.

If the countdown tanks, I'll be the first to say farewell if and when it goes.

But we have no proof yet.

Meerly opinions.

REX

I do not know how many have read this, but I came across it on ESPN online

:http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/s...s=8&id=3059018

Sums up why I (as in me....)

Prefer the new format over the old.

REX

I generally like Stephens but this collumn is way off base and appears to be misrepresenting the facts. He questions Fuller seasons by saying "In Top Fuel, No. 2 seed Hot Rod Fuller has won only twice so far in 2007 and picked up five first-round losses along the way. Would he be within striking distance of his first POWERade championship in the pre-Countdown era? "

He then says about Capps "In Funny Car, Ron Capps began '07 with a string of steady performances, but stumbled into a second-half tailspin, which has seen him drop seven first-round matchups in the last 12 races while failing to score a national event win since St. Louis in May. Would he be too far back in the points by now under the prior championship package to have a shot at his first Funny Car crown?"

He knows under the old points system that both of these guys would be in in first place yet he makes it sound like they only have a chance now beacause of the countdown. Thats not right or true???

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I love how some complain about the people who complain, isn't that complaining Could we then complain about the people who complain about complainers?


I do believe people can change things. If as a mass group people turn away from drag racing then maybe nhra will reverse this. I believe that would hurt the sport even more though. Sponsors seeing people leave will in turn leave and may not return if and when the people do. I prefer a first step to be protesting, making nhra and powerade aware of the general dislike of the countdown. Are the odds against us, yes, but I prefer to at least make the attempt.

A common statement by countdown lovers seems to be if we don't like it leave. Lets say we did that, countdown haters just stop watching and don't go to the track. Do you really think that enough new fans have been brought into the fold to make up for losing us? If you want nhra drag racing to survive you don't really want us to go. You need us...or more importantly our money and our eyes watching the telecast to help with ratings. Ideally you would just rather censor us and have us shut up. I can't do that. If something is wrong I have to say so, if something is broke I want to fix it. I want nhra to be a strong, prosperous organization. Hell I would love to get a call from Glendora to help change things (yeah I know fat chance lol).

Lets say Capps doesn't win the title this year, yet under the old system would have. I would feel guilty to say, well yes you scored 100 more points then anyone else, but see I have to be entertained and that is why you have to lose. Funny thing is going into vegas under the old system, these races would still be up for grabs, however people would have more faith in it.

Now its the year of the asterisks

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