New Hampshire Kicks Off the Race to the Chase
Thursday June 28, 2007
This weekend's LENOX Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway marks the beginning of the 2007 Race to the Chase. Only ten races remain until the NEXTEL Cup series will return to NHIS to kick off the Chase for the Cup.
Sunday's race marks an important test session for teams that expect to be battling for the Championship. Teams that run well here in the summer race typically run well here in the fall too. Who will find the winning combination and start their 2007 Race to the Chase off with a win?
Comments
The Chase in my opinion is not making the sport any more exciting .Now we have the COT .Nascar should stop pushing so hard and let the Driver concentrate on the task of winning ! and not becoming one of the Kids that never get picked to play ball !
Race to the Chase? The prelude to the Chase for the Cup? Just more media hype.
Weren’t they racing since the begining of the year to make the “Chase”?
Agree with LeoZ, not very exciting.
The chase is just like the cot is crap. The chase knocks out anybody below the top 12. So no more from the behind and come for the win.
I know many die hard Nascar fans, and like 1969rs and ????? reiterate why is this Chase even part of the deal anyhow ! Maybe its for the teams with the big bucks to show off their sponsors logos and get more TV time . I know thats what i see !!
More TV time? If you notice leo z how much tv coverage do you see the bottom 33 cars anyway? None, they don’t even show the cars, unless for the wrecks. I don’t really understand how some if not most of the teams have sponsors with no coverage. With no coverage it’s awful exspensive for sponsors pay these teams for local track coverage. The chase knocks out contenders. Like I said how many times a championship won because someone came from behind, and the leaders had some unlucky races?
So true !Makes you wonder why nascar would promote the chase .Sponsors should ask the same questions .I to would like to see whats going on in the back of the pack .Some great racing is not getting air time .
I argree with Leo Z the race to the championship should involve all the cars it makes for better races.
Dont want to make to many comments on here but im glad to see passionate race fans using this format .Its cool to interact and gain new perspectives ,even if we dont agree . Thanks to Steve McCormick.Ps (Do you think Nascar reads this )
I have one question about the chase—
Is it the top 12 in driver points that make the chase or the top 12 in owner points that makes the chase???
Why I ask the #01 car is in the top 12 in owner points but Mark Martin and the other driver who drives the car are not in the top 12 in driver points.
Thank you
missy, Driver points.
Nobody ever came back from beond 12th place before(that I know of)so the chace keeps drivers from points racing.Personaly I dont like it cause Jeff would be going for #6 instead of 5.But if you dont adapt,you might as well quit watching cause nascar is making millions over it.
The chase doesn’t start this weekend, it starts at the next New Hampshire race in 2 months. this article is false.
Bitch,Bitch,Bitch, this game belongs to Nascar and if we want to play we do it their way, it is no different than football or basketball or even golf,the
owners make the Rules as it should be.If
you don’t like it don’t watch.
GET OVER IT
Way to go Reggie! Couldn’t have said it any better. People are only happy when they can bitch.
Dave, the ten races that lead up to the Chase for the Cup are called the Race to the Chase. That starts this weekend. Not False.
To repeat the first two sentences of the article: “The 2007 LENOX Industrial Tools 300 is a key point in the NEXTEL Cup season. This race marks the beginning of The Race to the Chase as there are ten races left until the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup begins.”
right on reggie thats what it is all about!!! GET OVER IT!!!
I don’t think I come here and bitch too often, a little I guess, but try to be reasonable. I personally tihnk the chase thing is more hype than anything else, and lets NASCAR have a “playoffs” like the other sports. As a Nemechek fan I agree with some of you that the lower cars get little to no coverage, and the big names get coverage even when they are running in 35th and the coverage turns to why they are there. Once in awhile I’d like to know why Nemechek fell from 9th to 25th or whatever the case is on more drivers. Not trying to sound too bitchy, I am getting more and more irritated with NASCAR and only hope things will get better for the sport’s sake. I think the money has become their ONLY focus now when before they tried to put out an entertaining product while making the money too. I truly don’t know what the answers are to some of these issues, just know its heading in the wrong direction from this fans perspective.
Well I too kinda think the whole NASCAR organization is all about $$$$. The Chase is a “TYPE OF PLAYOFFS” but unlike other sports, the teams involved PLAY against each other every week. Which makes a PLAYOFF SERIES kinda ridiculous. I mean if a driver finishes the year in 12th place in points. Is it the same 12th place (regardless of whether 12th is in “THE CHASE” or not)? Seriously 12th is 12th. 2nd is 2nd and so on. I think it is time to stop this craziness and get to the BASICS OF STOCK CAR RACING and not the specifics of money making 101. Thanks for letting me vent a little
Just enjoy the show or turn off your TV…Nascar is what it is…It’s not ever going to be like it was in the 70’s
Getting back to LeoZ and ???? comments, if Nascar was really concerned about sponsors, all sponsors, not just the top five cars, when negotiating the big $$ TV deals, they should require the netowrk to give “x” amount of time minimum on each driver to help the sponsor get a minimum amount of exposure. If I were a sponsor on one of the bottom ten cars, I would be asking myself if I would get more exposures to my companies name from a busy highway billboard or sponsoring a bottom ten Nascar team. If you do not get the air time on network TV, then the only exposure you are getting is the fans at the track. I am thinking you get more bang for the buck from a billboard.
AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED NASCAR HAS CHANGED THE RULES SO MUCH THAT THE RACES ARE BORING ..AS FAR AS THE ” RACE FOR THE CHASE” GOES I THINK IT IS UNFARE TO THE REST OF THE DRIVERS WHO ARE OUT THERE DOING THEIR BEST JUST TO GET SHAFTED BECAUSE THEY ARE 5 OR TEN POINTS SHY OF MAKING THE TOP 12 IN POINTS..I SAY GET THE FANS BACK INTO THE SPORT BY LETTING THE DRIVERS DECIDE WHO WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE TRACKS
I agree with Missy,. What if no. 13 has only 5 points less than no. 12. I also don’t think it’s fair for the person in 1st place after 26 races with 480 points out in first, only to come back 1 week later to find he’s 5 points ahead of 2nd place.What good did it do him to drive and stay out of trouble the first 26 weeks?
P.S.The chase sucks big time
RIGHT ON THE MONEY MISSY!!! THE RACES ARE BORING BECAUSE OF NASCAR AND THE FACT THE DRIVERS DON’T HAVE TO WIN, OR EVEN COME CLOSE TO WINNING, TO CONTINUE MAKING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE ANSWER IS, BUT IT SURE ISN’T WHAT NASCAR IS DOING NOW.ELIMINATE THE CHASE WOULD BE A GOOD FIRST STEP, ELIMINATE THE COT A GOOD SECOND STEP, AND PLEASE LET THE CREW CHIEFS, CREWS, AND DRIVERS USE THEIR BRAINS, TALENTS AND SKILLS TO TO GET THEIR CARS INTO THE WINNING CIRCLE.
Sorry Reggie, you’ve got it all wrong. When you start getting an inferior product that you used to like and enjoy, you complain and hope that the company (nascar) responds positivily. Eventually if enough customers complain the company will start to make changes for the better. Only time will tell. PEACE TO ALL
Why not assess points according to where they qualify and finish. Each week there are 43 drivers in the field. The person who wins the pole gets awarded 43 points. If he finishes last he gets 1 more point for a total of 44. That way it puts equal emphasis on qualifying and racing.
Excellent Reggie. When you don’t like some sports or the way they do things like baseball(change the channel or do something else)LEARN FROM THE BASEBALL WHAT DOES THE OWNER OF NY YANKEES DOES. DOES HE PAY ATTENTION TO THE FANS… HERE WE GO. DON’T COMPLAINT. JUST DON’T WATCH. A GOOD FAN ALWAYS IS A GOOD FAN IN THE BAD AND THE GOOD. ALL WE HEAR IS THE BAD. I WONDER IS THESE PEOPLES EVER RUN THEIR LIFE COMPLAINING TOO…
Well why is it not ok to be a critic !If so many fans feel strongly about their sport and its direction we should speak up .Im a big fan of motorsports no matter the rules but the chase sure puts a damper on many a racers .Two cars to a team and keep the Nextel drivers out of busch .After all you dont go back to college once your a pro..
NJNascar 48, you beat me to it. I was going to compare what happened to baseball, to what is probably going to be NASCAR’s fate. MLB fell to greed of players going on strike, but still, the fans revolted and in many venues, there’s tons of empty seats.
If NASCAR wants to ignore the fans, they’ll have sponsors pulling out and empty seats as their reward. Or maybe I’m just a naysayer who doesn’t know diddly-squat. On topic: the Chase makes no sense to me, though I’m glad they put more emphasis on winning races. Still, it didn’t help Kasey at all last year, and he won 6. There’s a better way.
what a loser helton is. schedulr bush griver’s meeting during cup practice. poor dave blaney. you are consistant all right nascar. consistantly stupid.
In the Busch race I noticed that Montoya got a dose of what he was dishing out last week. What goes around, sometimes comes around… and around… and around…LOL
The people at NASCAR who make the rules
to me are utterly stupid. I always
thought that the people who were the
smartest and better mechanics would always come up with new and better wasy
to win. But the idiots at NASCAR seem
to think that every one should be equal.which is not the way it is. Just
look at our schools. No one is supposed
to be smarter then any one else. Just
equally DUMB. That way no ones feelings
gets hurt. Nuts!!!!Bill
As a 60 year old NASCAR fan I think it’s time to drop the chase for the ratings. Remove the sticker headlights, the measurements of front ends, spoilers (except NASCAR officals|) and have a good ole time. NASCAR wants to build fan support. Nothing better than a dirt track and no holds bared racing. Winner take all. He who has the most wins-wins the cup. As for the blood-Cot car. Giving me a Ford Edsel with a hemi in it and Mark Martin, or even Kevin Harvick and see who wins in a one on one.
WHO WON???? I turned the channel when there where more commercials than racing.
all the above to me says nascar to screw-up agood sport. nascar will not do anything until the owners mand drivers demand change,but this will not happen due to money that they make. price to daytona 500 [20,000] for two . if the COT is a level playing why isit two to three carsdistance the field [IROC?]