Full Throttle

Much has been written on what makes a NASCAR champion and how he gets there. Most of the debate is where the sanctioning body should place it’s emphasis when deciding on its points system. Should it be weighted towards winning races or based on driver consistency over a long season?

A quick trip around various racing blogs and forums and you will note many have a less than glowing opinion of Kurt Busch. One of the reasons, I believe, is Busch winning the ‘04 Championship with only 2 wins. My short answer to them is, get over it. He won under the rules in place.

A recent piece written by Patrick Zier for the Ledger out of Lakeland Florida (Mediocrity Reigns in NASCAR) got me to thinking, and researching the past. Zier starts out with a provocative statement in my opinion:

“Rusty Wallace does not deserve to win the Nextel Cup championship. Neither does Mark Martin or Dale Jarrett.

All are great drivers, and all have had outstanding careers. But none of them have done anything in 2005 to set themselves apart.”

To which I say, again, get over it. If one of the three win the crown they will have done it under the current rules and point strucure. To say they wouldn’t deserve it is flat out nonsense.

Zier goes on to call The Chase an “absurdity” and made for TV event “which was never designed to determine a true champion.” In it’s early life the current system has raised much debate and there is little doubt it is a TV event, but what isn’t in today’s culture? Making the Chase a “TV event” serves an important function and the ever increasing TV ratings are an indication of that. As viewership rises so does exposure in the media and added exposure to “Mr. Joe NeverFan,” who just might be tempted to purchase a seat in the grandstands. Butts in seats provides bigger purses, better track facilities, deeper pocketed sponsors and ,cover the kids ears, even more money for ISC and NASCAR.

That aside, what got me scurrying to the records was this bit from Zier.

Until Winston came into the sport in the ’70s and started pouring money into the championship, nobody cared anything about it — not even the drivers.

Back then, drivers did what you would expect them to do, they tried to win races and lead laps. That’s what racing is supposed to be about.

Now, it is about something called “consistency.” In reality, that means mediocrity.

With its current points system, NASCAR has succeeded in doing something unheard of in sport. It has neutralized winning.

I defy Zier to ask Richard Petty (64), Ned Jarret (65), or David Pearson (66, 68) who all won Championships pre-1970 when Winston entered the NASCAR arena if they “didn’t care” about their accomplishments or the career NASCAR provided for them. I suspect Zier wouldn’t walk away with discolored eyes - all three are consummate gentlemen - but he most certainly would get an earful.

In search of the difference between “consistency,” “mediocrity” and “true champions” I did a little searching in the NASCAR Wayback Machine. Here are a few examples from the pre-Winston days.

• 1960: Champion was Rex White with 6 wins, Lee Petty finished in 6 place with 5 wins with one less start.
• 1962: Look at this top five. it wasn’t wins that gave the crown to Joe Weatherly, it was being consistent and racking up points. 1) Joe Weatherly 9 wins, 2) Richard Petty 8 wins, 3) Ned Jarrett 6 wins, 4) Jack Smith 5 wins, 5) Rex White 8
• 1962: Joe Weatherly wins his second consecutive crown with a very Kurt Busch like 3 wins. Richard Petty, in one more start than Joe, had 14, count’em 14 wins to sit in second place.
• 1964: Richard Petty 9 wins, Ned Jarrett placed second in the championship with 15 wins.

And thats a short list. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s examples can be found where a NASCAR champion had less seasonal wins, in some cases many less, than his nearest competitors.

So someone ’splain it to me. Just when in NASCAR history was winning a crown not a function of being consistent and winning races? Chase, pre-Chase, Winston, pre-Winston, take your pick. Hell you can go all the way back to ‘49 if you care to, but don’t be surprised if that years champion was tied in wins by the third place finisher.

NASCAR, Sports, Auto Racing