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If I Were Brian France |
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| Edmonton - Monday, January 19, 2004 - by: Ron Thornton Marriage, Be It Same Sex, Same Family, Same Harem | |||||||
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if I were |
 One should always try to put themselves in someone else's shoes, especially if they happen to disagree with that individual. So, as I outlined in my previous article, if NASCAR desires to have a playoff system, maybe I should attempt a more constructive look at the changes proposed for 2004. |
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playoff |
 Okay, so let us have a playoff. Let me pretend for a moment that my daddy handed me the reins of grand daddy's innovation, to let me tinker with unimpeded by the fans, the drivers, the teams, the sponsors, but with some input by my television buddies who write them big checks. Well, they want a playoff, I want a playoff, and by gum I'm going to dream up a playoff that might make things a bit more exciting. I'm going to attract people to the sport who presently think NASCAR is how a two-year old refers to an automobile they think is nice, while convincing the folks who brought me to the dance to not bolt for the door. |
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25 cars in |
 So, how about I put a little thought into my little scheme? We have
36 races on the schedule, but let us keep the regular season to 31 and devote just
the final five to my brain child. Twenty-five cars have traditionally been given
bonus money, so the top twenty-five teams make the playoffs. Hey, you got to give
a little to get a little, like cash for credibility, so the non-championship contenders
head home, just like any other sport that has a playoff. You "zero" the
points for the championship contenders as the playoffs in every other sports represents
a "new" season, and I do want my playoffs to be taken seriously. You want
excitement? If this had been in place in 2003, Ryan Newman, Bill Elliott,
and even Johnny Benson could have contended for the title. |
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pole |
 The higher ranked teams usually get rewarded by taking on the least ranked playoff teams to open the playoffs, but NASCAR does not exactly have that option. Instead, the top ranked team holds the pole going into that first playoff race, the second car right along beside, with the twenty-fifth team in the standings starting at the rear of the pack. You could freeze the starting line-ups for the entire post-season, or let the playoff points determine the starting order each week. There would be no real need to qualify, as the regular season would have already determined that. |
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not |
 Now that we have a playoff, we also have to tinker with our regular season. After all, we don't want any fans or scribes thinking we just came up with the idea while taking a recess break and jotting it all down on someone's lunch bag. Folks need to be left with the perception that my greatest asset is really my brains, not my last name. We have 24 race tracks, with a dozen of them holding a pair of races. I would want my playoff run to be representative, yet with one eye on tradition and another on the weather conditions expected in October and November. |
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Martinsville |
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next year |
If my last name was France, this is the plan I would lay out before the public for 2005, in the hopes that they may forgive me for what I have in store for them in 2004. | ||||||
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| Images on the page were made by "Autosport" | |||||||
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Keeping that in mind, I would begin my playoffs with Martinsville,
as scheduled, though I might think about moving it back a week to add one more break
in the schedule before the championship run. For my money, the most visually exciting
track on the circuit is Talladega, and I would make that the site of my second
playoff race, swapping its place on the schedule with the second Atlanta date.
Phoenix would remain my third playoff venue and, as I need a road course in
my playoff, I would move Darlington's Southern 500 to late June, making Sonoma
the site of the next race. That would leave me wrapping up the season, as we do presently,
at Homestead. This would even allow me the flexibility of adding an additional
playoff race for Texas if my legal beagles think it prudent for me to do so.