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Sept 27, 2003 Matt Kenseth has built a commanding lead in the NASCAR Winston Cup points race this season. Hes had a remarkably consistent year. His team has been able to avoid mechanical failures and Matt has been able to steer clear of trouble out on the track. Hard work and preparation by the crew are vital to success in Winston Cup, but lots of teams do that. Youve also got to have luck. Every team will tell you that sometimes it comes down to who gets the most breaks. The mark of someone having a championship year is when the team is able to get good finishes on days when the car isnt running well. The only way to do this is to have good communication between the driver and the crew chief. The driver has to be able to tell the crew chief what the car is doing and what he needs to make the car go faster and handle better. The crew chief needs to understand what the driver needs and make the right adjustments to get the car where it needs to be to give the driver a chance to be competitive. The best teams are the ones who can make these adjustments. No team has done a better job of that this year than Kenseths. They have a big lead and they deserve to be out in front. Whenever the points lead in Winston Cup starts to look like a runaway people begin to talk about changing the way NASCAR awards points. NASCARs point system was designed to reward consistency. A team can win the championship without ever winning a race. Its never happened but its technically possible. This is a slightly antiquated system that was created to give all the races on the schedule the same importance. The Daytona 500 has the same point value that races with less prestige have. Back in NASCARs formative years it was important to bring some attention to all the races. The series championship was a way to make fans want to pay attention to NASCAR every week instead of just once a year like the Indianapolis 500. It worked beyond anyones wildest dreams. The televison networks were reluctant to air NASCAR races because the races were too long and they thought fans would lose interest. That point of view seems odd now in a time when every race draws a huge television audience and even qualifying is shown every week. The point system needs to be changed now because too much attention is paid to the championship and not enough to winning each individual race. Anything that prevents a driver from wanting to win a race is bad for racing. NASCAR has now reached that point. Drivers and crew chiefs talk about the big picture and will preserve a top five finish by not racing anyone late in a race. They talk about how it isnt worth it to go for the win if it jeopardizes a big points day. NASCARs most consistent winner this year, Ryan Newman, said it felt greedy to go for the win when he already had a second place finish in the bag. Newman has won more than any other driver this year but he was also guilty of the worst points racing that Ive seen this year. Near the end of a race Newmans crew chief wasnt sure if they had enough gas to finish a race so he told his driver not to race anyone. They lost several spots but still got what they considered a good finish out of it. I dont consider it a good finish. I think they put in a lot of effort and spent a lot of money and then wasted it by not trying to win. Other drivers have been quoted as saying that a top five finish is as good as a win. NASCAR needs to make the win more important to these teams or the racing will continue to deteriorate so that only teams far out of the points will take a chance to win a race. The rumors indicate that NASCAR is leaning towards making this change. Another thing they should do is try to lessen the dependence on aerodynamics. Its gotten so that a car with any kind of damage is relegated to a terrible finish. Just because a car has a dented fender it shouldnt mean they have no chance to win. Aerodynamics are important on every track nowadays, not just the super speedways like Daytona and Talladega. But these changes shouldnt be looked at as a knock on Matt Kenseth. So far no one deserves the championship more than he does, no matter what points system they use. Some people seem to believe you can finish consistently in the top ten in Winston Cup and not be aggressive. Thats just not true. Ive read several articles lately that ask if people are losing interest in this NASCAR season because the points chase seems to be over. I dont see any evidence of this and thats how it should be. Each race is important and is hotly contested. Racing isnt like other sports where a team can have a big lead in the standings and the games dont have as much meaning. As Ive said, there should be less focus on whos leading the points and more attention paid to winning races. ------------ Email Ken Moore: mareinfinitus@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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