Friday, December 12, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JEFF WOLF: 'Tis the season to halt points madness

Matt Kenseth celebrates after his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. It was Kenseth's only Winston Cup win of the year, but he still captured the points championship. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Dear Santa,

As a pioneer in high-speed sledding, you certainly must have a fondness for racing.

The past year my behavior has been good if you ask blue-collar fans like Joe and Joan Spectator.

If you have started to chum with corporate types to cut a better deal for raw materials, then I've been bad a few times by irritating a few executives in the motorsports world.

But you've always seemed like a working-class guy, even if conditions at your shop this time of year might not be up to code. So coal probably isn't headed my way.

You also should be lauded for using elves; more need to help those with special needs.

I'm not asking for much this year, but can you at least deliver a message for me:

Tell NASCAR to stuff its new points system up a chimney. And give its officials a big box of logic and a double-dose of truthfulness.

The lords of stock-car racing have launched a trial balloon that is flying higher than Rudolph.

Granted, the current system needs some surgery. But for this plan, NASCAR needs a lobotomy. Can you deliver one of those, too?

This year's champion, Matt Kenseth, won only one race, while Ryan Newman won eight, Kurt Busch four and Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon three each.

The current points system dates to 1975 and, as you know, rewards consistency instead of victories. Kenseth, who had won a series-high five races in 2002 but placed eighth in points, played the system to perfection.

NASCAR has this new plan where only the first 26 races would be used to determine the top 10 drivers, who then would vie for the championship over the last 10 races.

That's pretty stupid, isn't it? It's doubtful those first 26 tracks are going to drop the cost of tickets because their events are nothing more than qualifying heat races.

What piques me most, though, is that NASCAR's only motivation is to drive up its television ratings, which plummeted in the year's final 10 races because Kenseth had built a substantial lead.

Of those races that were televised on the same network as in 2002, half had smaller TV audiences. The season finale in Homestead, Fla., a week after Kenseth had clinched the title, fell by 13 percent.

Though NASCAR's Busch and Truck Series races drew significantly smaller crowds at Homestead, each had higher ratings than the year before because their points races went down to the wire; Busch was up 11 percent and the trucks were up 33 percent.

Every league and series wants its championship to come down to the final out, second or lap, but this 10-race miniseries is dumb.

Santa, try to steer NASCAR in a better direction on this issue.

And try not to show any bias against NASCAR because of the weight added to your sleigh with all those NASCAR-themed souvenirs after the past decade.

Thanks for you time and drive safely.

Your friend,

Jeff.

P.S.

There is one more thing.

Before you deliver a full-time ride in the Cup Series for Las Vegas' favorite racer, Brendan Gaughan, make certain his Orleans Racing truck team gets that big sponsorship deal signed and sealed.

Instead of my Big Ear Posse, one of your elves called with the tip that it's looking pretty good and that the No. 62 Dodge of Brendan's is likely to challenge for the title again whether he's driving it or not.

Jeff Wolf's motorsports column is published Friday. He can be reached at 383-0247 or jwolf@reviewjournal.com.