Is Jimmie Johnson that good or is everyone else that bad? (motor, nascar)

[WFW&P]

Originally Posted by kentuckydad95

You forgot to add in the cheating crew chief. That is a MAJOR part of all of it.

As they say its only cheating if you get caught. Though CK appears to have no problem bending the rules to the breaking point.

[kentuckydad95]

Any driver who has won a NASCAR title under the current "Chase" points system, has not won a real championship, imo.

[plf86000]

JJ is a dominant driver period
He is winning given the rules that are currently in place
I suspect CK and JJ would race differently if it was under the old system

Hard to compare apples and oranges.

[USNRET04]

Originally Posted by kentuckydad95

Any driver who has won a NASCAR title under the current "Chase" points system, has not won a real championship, imo.

I can't see how you believe that. First of all Jeff Gordon is my driver, and had the Chase not been in effect, Jeff would have at least 2 or 3 more championships by now.

With that out of the way, even if there was no Chase, the #48 team would have won a couple by now. Those guys start in February and focus primarily on getting into the Chase...that's all they do. If there was no chase format, then they would focus on winning a bunch of races every week and get the largest point lead by October. Either way, the #48 team would win titles.

I also think it's much harder to win in the Chase. You have to be perfect, 100% on top of your game in the last ten races. Even Denny Hamlin said that, while he was whining.

During the non-Chase years, the #17 won the championship after winning only ONE race the entire year! How is that a better Champion that say JJ who wins multiple races, including 3 so far in the "playoffs". You say he is not worthy of being called a Champion??

Also, with just 5 races to go, it seems like JJ is well on his way to win the Championship. Would it be more interesting if JJ had a 500 point lead in August or Septemeber, man those next 10-12 races would really be exciting huh?

[USNRET04]

Originally Posted by Orangeish

From a non-NASCAR person, I have a question...What percentage is skill of driver and what percentage is how high performing your car is? Does the car give more edge towards the win or does the driver. Obviously it takes both, but I was curious to know if you guys thought it was 50/50, 80 drive/20 car etc...

A good way to answer your question and would be quite interesting is this: Next season, have Jr and Johnson swap teams! Then we will see who the best driver really is (after some adjustment to being with a new team).

A lot of people say, how come the #48 car does so much better than a 4-time champ or even Mark Martin? The #24 has tried using the #48 setup several times, to no avail. JJ and JG are different drivers, each have their own style, which is why JG can't jump in the #48 and start winning races.

[jazzy jeff 11]

Originally Posted by kentuckydad95

You forgot to add in the cheating crew chief. That is a MAJOR part of all of it.

true true

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by WFW&P

As they say its only cheating if you get caught. Though CK appears to have no problem bending the rules to the breaking point.

With JJ not being a fan favorite I really doubt NASCAR is overlooking any rules they have broken.

[pokrplr]

Originally Posted by USNRET04

Those guys start in February and focus primarily on getting into the Chase...that's all they do. If there was no chase format, then they would focus on winning a bunch of races every week and get the largest point lead by October. Either way, the #48 team would win titles.

Correct! That's exactly what the 48 team does! They just want to get into the chase, they practice all year with different setups - pitstalls - 2 tires/4 tires. They take all that data and really put it to good use in the last 10. I still wanna see a different 10 tracks in the chase. Bristol PLEASE - Even 1 road course. Move Sonoma to the Fall and swap it with it Fontana maybe. And why doesn't Darlington have 2 races??? Wouldn't that be a beast of a race if it was a chase track?!? NASCAR has some work to do, system needs tweeking.....IMO

[kentuckydad95]

Originally Posted by USNRET04

I can't see how you believe that. First of all Jeff Gordon is my driver, and had the Chase not been in effect, Jeff would have at least 2 or 3 more championships by now.

With that out of the way, even if there was no Chase, the #48 team would have won a couple by now. Those guys start in February and focus primarily on getting into the Chase...that's all they do. If there was no chase format, then they would focus on winning a bunch of races every week and get the largest point lead by October. Either way, the #48 team would win titles.

I also think it's much harder to win in the Chase. You have to be perfect, 100% on top of your game in the last ten races. Even Denny Hamlin said that, while he was whining.

During the non-Chase years, the #17 won the championship after winning only ONE race the entire year! How is that a better Champion that say JJ who wins multiple races, including 3 so far in the "playoffs". You say he is not worthy of being called a Champion??

Also, with just 5 races to go, it seems like JJ is well on his way to win the Championship. Would it be more interesting if JJ had a 500 point lead in August or Septemeber, man those next 10-12 races would really be exciting huh?

So the rules were changed because of Jeff Gordon? That I do believe.

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by kentuckydad95

So the rules were changed because of Jeff Gordon? That I do believe.

I thought the Chase format was added because Matt Kenseth won the Cup in 2003 with only 1 win. He had a huge points lead by mid season so tv ratings were down until the gap closed really late in the year.