What is the countdown?
I tried to resist.
-When you barely have 10 full time teams in the categories, is a cut off really needed
-Dives have been around for years, now we have, at minimum, at least an increased chance for the need for them. Even if they don't happen, just the cloud that now every race might not be done straight up is damaging to the sport. I wish the NHRA brass would sit in the stands under cover, they might be surprised what they learn. I don't go to a race where I don't hear someone mention dives when teammates race. From a business/sponsor stand point I fully get why they happen, from a competitive and fan stand point they are bad.
-It seems to be a miss on knowing the fan base. I think its safe to say the demographics skew to the right for race fans, yet they went with an everybody gets a medal approach to their championship. It's a sport built on one-and-done. Bring your best or go home. I fully get why they thought it was needed after the epic Schumacher/Kalitta battle but what made that special and other close years is that they don't happen every year. I can name just about every champion in the season long points era. I can only guess over the countdown years.
-Eliminates greatness. Why do we love or hate Force, Glidden, Tony, Snake or Garlits? Because they beat the crap out of everyone for years on end. That is why they are considered the greatest of all time. Now, we've seen too many times, you only need to get hot for a couple of races to win it all.(Might help if you have some teammates along the way too). I don't follow Nascar but remember reading and hearing a few years ago how Jimmy Johnson didn't get the respect the number of championships would normally get and it was blamed on people looking at them as "Chase" championships and not equal to what previous drivers had done. Look at last year, while it was nice that Brittney won. She won it fair and everyone played the same rules, it really didn't feel the same. She should have been all over the place for winning a championship and being the best for the season. Oh wait, this other guy won how many times, twice as much as her? We awarded a hot streak, not greatness. Yeah championships being decided early may take away some drama and as a WJ fan I was pissed every time Glidden would wrap it up early, but it made it so much better when WJ finally broke through.
- People now don't make passes to stay in the countdown. I love that Palmer is out there but..... He skipped two sessions Sunday in order to avoid an oil down penalty. Then when Crampton lost first round, Palmer had secured the 10 spot but by less than a round. He didn't run. I'm not sure if something really did break or if it was to not risk losing points in case he oiled the track. I fully get playing that game from a points stand point, it sucks though that you can win a championship by not racing.
I don't expect it to change. I usually get bored with them going nuts over it and don't finish out the season anymore. I also only go to one NHRA race a year now(went to 4 the year before the countdown) BUT I rediscovered cool small track stuff and shows so I still get plenty of racing in. Heck I'll even debate ways of keeping the countdown but making it a lot better.