Did anyone else hear Jeff Gordon talk about the birth of his daughter? It
really sounds like if she is born on a weekend, Jeff is missing a race - he
said that is why he is working so hard right now. He is 200+ points ahead
of 2nd place, he has bonus points galore for the chase (for his wins). So,
putting aside whether it is a good reason to miss a race (to each his own),
what do you think of a driver planning on missing a race? What if the
driver is your favorite, and you are at that race and don't get to see him?
Do you care?

Will we start to see drivers sit out road courses because they just hate
them and there are a lot of choices for subs at those races?

I'm torn on whether it is ok or not. If they are hurt and it enables them
to heal a little faster, maybe it is a good thing that the points structure
allows them to sit out a race. But I don't want drivers sitting out road
courses or anthing else as a champion should be able to run all types of
tracks. It is expensive to go to a race, and with the top 35 locked in each
race, chances are your driver is not going home unless he is a Waltrip or
drives for a Waltrip. (I do miss Schrader!!!). I do remember going to a
race and Kyle missing it - it was disappointing, and that is why I have
three favorites - but it didn't ruin my race experience. I suppose if you
take your kids though, it could be devestating for them.

Thoughts?
kimmer45

"kimmer45" wrote ...
Well, 50 years ago my dad dropped my mom off at the hospital to have me, or
whoever, and he went home and cut the grass.

Baseball players or coaches never used to leave the team for "personal reasons"
or to have a baby or anything ... but times have changed and I don't think it's
wrong for JG to be there for the birth, although I'm not personally a fan of
knowing the sex of this child until the Dr. says ... " IT'S A ... !!!!"

But I don't think it's the point system structure that allows them to do that
either, JG is just having a strong year and can afford to, if he needs or wants
to, and probably not even lose the lead. Last year at this time JJ had a 55
point lead. Two years ago he had a 44 point lead. Three years ago DEj had a 40
point lead. So, the fact that JG has that luxury with only 2 wins is a
testament to the strength of his season, not the points, even with the 10 extra
bonus points for his 2 wins. And he's behind JJ in bonus points, so you think
he'd want to catch up there.

If nascar went to a scheme where you took your best 30 of the 36 races for your
points pool, or something like that, then you might see guys taking a week off
here and there. But what's gonna happen when they eventually combine the Busch
and Cup into a National and American or Yankees and Rebels, two-division top
series and DEj and JG are in different divisions and only meet head-to-head
during finals or inter-divisional play?

And leaders aren't going to sit out road courses. Cars that are in danger of
falling out of the T35 (or in danger of falling into the T35) will and hire a
ringer, but not the leaders. They run laps in a busted car for a couple of
extra points, they wouldn't give up them *all* to hire a ringer and sit out a
road course.

red or yellow, black or white
points are precious in their sight

(sorry, Marty)

On Mon, 7 May 2007 10:06:21 CST, "WildWeasel" <wweasel_24 (AT) zerospam (DOT) yahoo.com> wrote in
<3aydnQ-VDePT3aLbnZ2dnUVZ_viunZ2d (AT) comcast (DOT) com>:

No need to apologize, WW.

The unjustified, hurtful, uncharitable barbs
that come Our way are just more raw material
to be consumed and purified in the Furnace of
Righteousness. ;o)

I've got to grade papers and make up some final
exams today. I wish I could give the students
and the administration vouchers for Moral Victory
Points. It would make my life a whole lot
easier right now. (

Marty
--
Big-8 newsgroups: humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*
See http://www.big-8.org for info on how to add or remove newsgroups.

On May 7, 10:09 am, "kimmer45" <kimme... (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote:
He doesn't have "bonus points galore" for the Chase - he has 20 extra
(10 for each race). Johnson has 40. Busch has 10.

Doesn't matter one whit to me - it's the driver's life, not ours. If
JG is more than 190 points ahead and the baby comes on a Saturday or
Sunday, he should do what he's most comfortable doing. Maybe this is
the only child they plan to have. Maybe not.

However, knowing how amenable an ob-gyn M.D. would be, I'd say it's a
good bet that the baby will be born on a Monday or Tuesday. ;-) There
are things Ob-gyns can do to hurry things up (in most cases) that
don't involve scheduling a C-section.

Them's my thoughts.

N.

"kimmer45" wrote ...
I think that's a good thing. Like him or not, he's established his
place as the best driver of this time, so he's justified in making
other things more important.

In days of yore it was common for drivers to skip races for one
reason or another. Very few besides Petty tried to run an entire
season. It didn't seem to hurt the sport or the enthusiasm of
those who rooted for someone other than Petty.

Wouldn't surprise me. Especially if a team is outside the T35 in
points - like as not a driver than doesn't like the road courses
won't qualify anyway, so may as well put someone else in.

I think there's a good chance we'll see more drivers doing the
Mark Martin thing in the latter part of their career, too - run
a 20-25 race schedule, and put one or two young drivers in for
the remaining races.

John

"kimmer45" <kimmer45 (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote >
Points System and Missing Races-- Jeff Gordon talk --
So much of the racing action we see is dependant on the
rules that are established for each series.
NASCAR gives points in a very flat graduation all the way
to last place and all races count. So they are very determined
to show up every time and fight for every single position.
Even many laps down, fight to get back on track and
go around.

For quite a few years F1 was almost the opposite.
Points were 9-6-4-3-2-1, 1st thru 6th only and could
only count for example 6 best of years 11 races.
So trended for big battles up front, but if leader
lost a lap, would often just park it for day.
Often once the championship locked up - they
skipped last races of year. One year Rindt was
killed with 3 races left to run, still won championship.

So changes could have real effects.