Yeah, three people that took home trophys for it.

I don't understand why trying to have an honest discussion needs to be thought of as kids fightig. For the most part people on both sides have been behaved, there are always a few chumps but I think its been ok for the most part.

Do you talk about the weather, your favorite sports team, politics? These too are issues that the general person has no control over yet its ok to talk about them.

Look at the number of comments and views on threads. People look and comment on the ones that they want.

I would love to talk about something else.

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Just because somebody has a bad idea and is in a position to shove it down our throats is insufficient reason for us to "sit back and enjoy the sport." The current Countdown structure compeletely ruined the 2007 championship - I enjoyed the races, but not the "championship process" and I believe that in at least two instances, the championship went to a driver with a season record not worthy of the honor.

If they had cut the field to the top ten (remember that, a time-honored end-of-season achievement formerly honored by being invited to the stage at the awards ceremony and the right to wear car numbers 1-10 the following year?) at Indy and let them fight it out, then we wouldn't be faced with one-race wonders wearing the crown and we wouldn't see racers in the top ten fighting a "glass ceiling" that keeps them from moving closer to the top. While I still prefer the old system, I could live with one that makes Indy the start of the championship season because it eliminates the crapshoot we saw this year with the two-event championship format. Might as well take the top four and have them play rock-scissors-paper, because one round-one loss leaves no chance for recovery with the 2007 format.

I believe that was the initial reaction of most of the teams and drivers - the initial cutdown (to eight, ten would be better) was acceptable, the second, two-event countdown was not. We lived with it for one year, let's not screw it up that way next year (and three races isn't much better than two).

Oh, yeah, several winning and disappointed drivers all said pretty much the same thing in their post-season interviews at Pomona. If a countdown is necessary (and that's not universally accepted), the championship "post-season" needs to be longer and the need for the second countdown is unclear, unless it's solely to improve ticket sales at the Pomona Finals.

I for one am not a fan of the countdown. Like many have said, cut it down to 10 after Indy and let it go to the end of the season. Isn't a Championship a culmination of a entire years work, not just two races? Cutting the Championship to two events makes it weigh as much as 2 event wins, not a year long championship battle. Might as well make the championship payout a race win times 2, because that is all it is.

I hope NHRA can see what is happening here and make some adjustments, but we have a better chance of them creating world peace. The more people complain and state their protest the more they will dig their heels in and say this is the way it is. Remember the Pro Stock Truck deal? Even if it makes sense to change or over turn the original descision, they make a decision and it is FINAL, which is pretty sad.


Tony

Larry your 100% right.. with that being said, I Demand a Recount of the points in "vBookie" I was betting on Schumacher, thinking he was trying to WIN.. now I find they were just testing, & I lost all those points... I could have made the "Bookie" countdown if I knew that

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"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather, who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming in panic like the passengers in his car."

ESPN - Stephens: Pomona proves Countdown a success - Racing

It's articles like this that drive me nuts about the countdown. Normally Stephens' articles are well written but in this instance he's talking about how Robert Hight would have had a difficult time winning the championship under the old format when that statement is completely inaccurate. Then he's talking about how the countdown was a genuine success and the only way it could be better would be to have all the championships decided in the final round. If that's the case then why should the fans and racers for that matter even bother to show up at the first twenty two races. Normally when the season is over I'm wanting more, not this year, I went to five and a half (For some reason I couldn't make it to Reading on a Wednesday) this year and none of them meant squat. After 2006 I thought back to a semi final race at Sonoma where Schumacher beat Kalitta and thought that if Tony had lost that race Doug would have won the title, and it was kind of neat to know that I saw what turned out to be a race that played a large part in who won the title. This year Sonoma and Reading were turned into glorified test sessions; I could care less who's in eighth place.

Nothing personal Rich but I get sick of reading crap like this. I GOT SCREWED! I can speak for no one other than myself but one person did for sure. I can't go to IHRA tracks either because they are few and far between.

Are you really telling the pros to give up their sponsorship money and switch to IHRA? Give me a break.

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Bob
Doug - 2006 & Greg - 2007 The Real Champs

I loved grade one. Life was simple, no worries, biggest problem was deciding which cartoons to watch on Saturday morning.

Oh ya, and there was no Countdown

Leave Bill Stephens a comment about his own rose colored glasses look at the countdown.
ESPN - Conversations: Countdown to Championship finale better than advertised

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"I'm pi$$ed at all most everthing."

My guess is because of they way the season ended with the champions who were crowned, the NHRA WILL look at changing the system. For startesrs there is animosity between the NHRA brass and DSR. And in almost all cases the DSR team was wrong in in the controversy's. and because it is the NHRA's playground They probalby were not happy with shoe winning the title. Jeggie is a great racers but should have finished third in the points, period. I like the idea of the playoff starting at Indy (top 10) without a further reduction. They did still honor the top ten at the banquet I believe (did not go this year).

Larry Sullivan, I am pleasantly surprised by your candor on this topic. I hope there is no backlash for you or DRC from your outspokeness.

Brent Friar, if you guys did not have luck on your side at the race in Reading would you feel the same way you do now. (I don't think so).

Dean

My opinions are my own, not those of DRC. I reserve the right to have an opinion without clearing it with DRC or the NHRA. I believe I stated my opinion about the Countdown well before the season started and I've seen nothing to make me change my mind, but I've seen plenty of things that support my original objections to the 2007 championship system.

If you don't want to take my word for it, just read Tony Schumacher's post-race comments about the Countdown - "hastily conceived and poorly thought out" pretty much sums up his assessment - and he won the championship. I can only imagine what Fuller or Hight or Anderson or Connolly would say if they didn't have to worry about repercussions from NHRA. Gee, "the powers that be" might even take away some of their hard-earned and "valuable" POWERade points. Oh, wait, they already did that...called it a Countdown or something. All in the name of making the boring sport of drag racing more exciting or something like that.

I thought it was pretty exciting last year, much less so this year because it was carefully staged, just like all those highly-scripted "reality series" on TV - I don't watch those, either.

So how did you get screwed? I don't recall seeing your name on any of the pro catagory entry lists.

I'm just saying that they announced this at Indy last year and every team knew up front what they had to do to make the final 8 and that's the way that it is. The finals in top fuel worked perfectly as the race went down to the last round. Like Patty said it was exciting. You also have to realize that under the old system if you were in 10th place at Indy you had no chance to win it anyway. I'm sure Fuller hates it but again the rules weren't changed in mid season.

As for IHRA all I'm saying is that they have the old points structure and for a while winning the champoinship paid the same.