Jeff outperforms Jimmie 26 races, Jimmie outperforms Jeff 10 races and Jimmie is the best?

Question

Now before everyone says "hey they all knew the format before the season started". I just think the chase "waters-down" the champ. Lets face it you don't have to be the best you just have to be the best (or luckiest) for less than 1/3 of the season. To further my point Clint Boyer got outperformed by 11 other guys for 26 races but ended up 3rd cause he didn't have any major problems. Jimmie's nice but i'm sorry, in my mind you have to be the best all year to actually be the best.

Answer 1

Amen brother. Jeff was the champion of the whole year. Jimmie gets hot and backs his way into a title. Sorry Jeff is the champion this year.

Answer 2

Right, this will be argued into eternity. Your logic would say that any team that didn't dominate and lead all of the regular season is not deserving of winning the championship (like the Superbowl or World Series for examples). I agree that the chase format is not perfect but it makes for a much more exciting last 10 races of the season. The way it works now is that an underdog can peak at the right time and make a run for the championship. Sometimes the heavy favorite doesn't win in the post season, it's like that in ALL the major sports, but it shouldn't detract from the accomplishment of the eventual champion. That's the way it goes sometimes and they DID all know the format when it started, regardless. Jeff doesn't have near the problem with this that you and most of his fans do. With the way Jimmie drove when he needed to there is no way you can say he "backed into" anything. Jeff would have driven different under the old system and Jimmie would have been driving with more of a sense of urgency earlier in the season (like he did the last 5 or 6 races). They drove accordingly for what part of the season it was. Jeff took some risks earlier and Jimmie wasn't panicking because he knew he would lead the chase under the new seeding they used this year.

Answer 3

First of all, your premise is incorrect. Jeff did not outperform Jimmy( I know he spells it "ie" TYVM, but I just can't bring myself to doing so for a guy) for 26 races, he had the lead in points after 26 races. Same goes for Bowyer, he wasn't outperformed by 11 guys in all 26 races before the chase.

Since the chase is based on a "playoff system", the way it is set up now, only the top 12 in points after a certain point in the season are the only ones who can compete for the championship.
I have some problems with the chase format. We all do.

For one thing, the chase is not representative of all styles of driving skills required by drivers to make the chase. For example, there are no road courses in the chase. Another thing about the chase is that in a true playoff format, the top representatives from different divisions are represented, and everyone else goes home. If NASCAR truly wanted a playoff system, I would think this would be the way they would have to do it, but really, who wants to watch a head to head competition between two cars for the final race?
The basic nature of NASCAR can't support a "true" playoff system. This is the best they could come up with, I suppose.

Answer 4

So how is this any different than the nBA, Major League Baseball, or the NFL?
Concievably, the Patriots could go 16-0 and lose before even getting to the Super Bowl by losing to the Colts.
This kind of stuff happens all the time in other sports.
I'm not sure "the Chase" is the answer, but any lame system that allows a guy who wins 1freakin' race is wrong.
I'm a Gordon fan, but with 10 victories for Johnson to 6 for Gordon is proof enough Jimmie had the better year,

Answer 5

I think France needs to re think the chase idea...Yeah it keeps things closer (up to a point) at the end ...but , if you're leading the points pretty much the whole year, as Jeff did. That should be taken in acocunt, yeah Jimmie had more wins, and some of them I kind of question. But overall Jeff out drove Jimmie by a long shot. You can't change the outcome of this season but IMO Jeff should have won the championship. Not because I'm a fan of Gordon's but because he plainly outdrove Jimmie the whole year. Jimmie just got lucky. The last 10 races doesn't make a champion. France makes the rules as he goes just to suit himself.

Answer 6

I look at the way Jeff Gordon speaks of this situation.

He's ok with the Chase, as he understands it's purpose and intent. He's stated that he feels that it probably is the best thing for the fans....as it keeps the entire season exciting.

The only problem that he (and many of his fans) have is the fact that they keep using championships as a measuring stick. You can no longer compare Gordon to Petty and Earndhardt using championships as the measure of "greatness." The system for measuring champions has changed. That needs to be remembered when history compares the greatest drivers of all time.

And to call Jimmie the best is ridiculous. He's not had nearly the success that Jeff has had in his career. Give him a few more seasons and maybe he'll be there, but he's not at the Jeff Gordon level yet.

Answer 7

... I have been trying to say the same thing over and over. The chase is a 10 event shootout. That's all. On the other hand Jeff Gordon said it himself at the awards banquet. Jimmie and Chad did what they needed to do when it needed to be done. They stepped up and out performed everyone in the last 10 races.

... Now I do have to agree also on who is the luckiest. The first maybe 5 races of the chase were total chaos. Wrecks and more wrecks and rain outs and bad gas,etc... Jimmy and Jeff dodged all of that. That is the reason I don't believe in the chase. Too much can go on in 10 races to change the outcome of a champion.

...A true champion is someone who's entire season performance totals higher than everyone else's. Congratulations Johnson fans but still I will never call any champion of the chase a true season's champion. I don't care if Dale Jr is the one who wins a chase under this format, I would feel the same if it was him.

Answer 8

yes yes yes and YES! Gordon was running great all season and should have taken the championship. I don't like how they choose a champion, they could have thought of something better than that.

here's how I would run it, out of half of the races in a season, take every driver that finished in the top five of every race and throw them into the championship bracket. Half of the season is to qualify and the other is to win the championship, that's how I would do it.

Besides, the old format was just as fine, the last time I checked they still had millions upon millions of Nascar fans. This is only making people dislike Nascar if it is doing anything.

Answer 9

Jimmie drove way more agressively all season long. In the last three races of the season even Truex was running better than Gordon. If Gordon has it figured out, he'll save all his talent for the last 10 races of 2008. 10 whole races! That's plenty of track time to prove who is the best driver of the season. In street racing it only takes 1 race to be the champion.

Answer 10

definite, Jeff Gordon raced an excellent race and wasn't afraid to be aggressive - Jimmie change into basically being an a$$hollow even as he suggested "i change into dissatisfied contained in the way Jeff raced me"....he change into basically mad that someone change into better efficient than him. Gordon needs to be like that better many times, I suggested the Jeff Gordon of the ninety's on Monday - it change into magnificent seeing someone step as a lot because the plate and flow Jimmie out of how. bypass Gordon!

Answer 11

Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson, since NASCAR let them test the COT in the 06 season. Why you think Jeff Gordon couldn't do anything in 06, he was worn out from practice sessions in the COT...
Say it aint so... Childress built the first truck for NASCAR Truck Series and guess what. He won the first truck championship, good golly that's wisdom... So in turn Hendricks went all pouty lipped to NASCAR and said you did that for Childress a couple years ago, what you going to do for me? Whimper Whimper...
All one needs is the OK from Chevy to "Take one for the Gipper"... Everyone knows that Nascar will throw 7-8 yellow flags until they can get Hendricks Teams up to the front. They should have a stat on who had the most "Lucky Dogs" since the bring about of it...
Recap of the last two seasons. 31 laps to go, Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon sitting 35 laps down in 41st place. Caution, Johnson or Gordon has the Lucky Dog, they come down for the Green, Caution is out, Johnson or Gordon another Lucky dog and they gain 15 laps on the leader, they come down for the green, another caution, and gain 14 more laps on the leader, they come down for the green, caution guess who got the lucky dog and they are in 5th spot. We come down for the green flag with 5 laps to go, Jimmy Johnson passes everyone in the 4th turn as they take the green flag, caution Jimmy Johnson wins under default. (Default, the act of Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon being entered into a race automatically qualifies them for the win if they have ran at least 1 lap of the race.) Next years rule change, Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon gets to park their car in the garage until the race is down to the last two laps then black flag the whole field and let JJ or JG out of the garage only to have to finish the remaining 2 laps...