The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance

So, now that the Daytona 500 has come and gone, what do you guys think of the 'stage' system they put in place?

In case you haven't heard, the races are split into smaller runs (for the Daytona 500's 200 laps, they were subdivided into 60 lap 'stages'). You get points after each 'stage', and then obviously points to win the race.

Link : "Drivers, Start Your Calculators: Nascar Introduces New Scoring System"

To be honest, I think the rule is silly and they try too hard to create artificial 'intrigue'. I am really turned off by this. Gone are the days of the 'run on the last drop of fuel' pit strategy which would take 1/2 or 2/3 of the race to pay off, or the risky pit strategy or tire choice that could bring a driver to the front at the end of a race, or the renegade that would skip a pit stop during a particular caution to run offset of the others to see if it would get him the victory, trying to hold off drivers with fresher tires mid-run as he clings to his higher placing.

1/3 of a race (with breaks in between) means that you can't be very creative with strategy, and everyone will be forced to essentially do the same thing across the board.

Now, in the world of instant gratification and participation medals, drivers and fans feel like they need to be 'rewarded' (as the article puts it) for where they are at some random point in the competition. Apparently winning once in one race is not enough...

/rant

I think i'll stick strictly to F1 for this year.

Sounds like this is brought to us by the same guy who thinks all extra innings should start with a guy at second...

and the guy that thought it was a good idea to move touch-backs up to the 25 yard line and kick offs to the 35 yard line.

Or the guy that thought eliminating the actual 4 pitches for an intentional walk made the game slower.

tl;dr version:

PEBA to sports innovators: Get off my lawn!

I have good innovation for baseball - pitch clock.

Calzones wrote:I have good innovation for baseball - pitch clock.

Get off my lawn...

Calzones wrote:I have good innovation for baseball - pitch clock.

* smiles nervously *

I think i'll stick strictly to F1 for this year. [/quote]

Reg, ever check out IMSA? (http://www.imsa.com/) You can downlaod and watch all their races from their official youtube channel. I'm still working through the 24 hours of the Rolex 24. The racing is very good and I suspect you too will be delighted watching the GTLM class (Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, BMW, Porsche all in one class) Next race is Sebring!