From my viewpoint Jeff's problems this year were in his pit stops. If he had the same team as Kurt Bush had he'd have been a runaway winner for the Chase. He usually qualified in the first five rows and the crew was adept at tweaking the chassis/tire combo to get him slightly loose (oversteer) so he could dive low and power through the turns while climbing the banking. As it was if he didn't have to pit for a cut LR tire under green or if Bush's lost RF wheel had rolled down pit road instead of down the track bringing out the yellow and Bush had had to pit under the green I think Jeff/Jimmy would have won the Chase. Next year will be intersting since he lost his engine builder in the Hendrick plane crash...we all know that nothing stays still in racing and innovation wins races. And Jack Roush and Roy Everham will be very busy this winter. Can't wait for Daytona!!
Pretty much everyone in NASCARland except the fans and the rare racing commentator (and the occasional comment by a driver like JJ) stuffed this chase down our throats. Despite the fact that there are some absolutely valid criticisms that can be made about the chase format, we were told, in essence: STFU and "like it or lump it."
There is no longer any reason for fans or teams to care that much about the first 26 races. Talk a look at the excerpts from an Ed Hinton article I posted in #4 above. So I'm not planning on watching or attending any NASCAR races this year other than the two road course races (I like road racing), and maybe Bristol. Otherwise, Daytona, Indianapolis, Talladega, and all the cookie-cutter 1.5-mile tracks are just a bunch of meaningless races. And once I get out of the habit of planning my Sundays around the races, I may very well ignore the last 10 races next year also.
On his show the other night, Dave Despain (sp) asked Dick Berggren (sp), "What about the alienated fans." Berggren said one of the most insulting things I ever heard a sports commentator say. Can't quote it vertatim, but this is pretty much what he said:
There are around 6 million people who watch the races, plus maybe 100,000 people in the stands each week. But the population of the U.S. is much bigger, and the chase is draw them in. He essentially said NASCAR doesn't care about any alienation it's current fan base might be feeling, because they believe the potential market is unlimited. In a nutshell: They can replace their current fans with new ones, so screw the current ones. Then, later in the interview, Berggren must have realized (or been told off air) that his comments were pretty harsh. So he said NASCAR has always made decisions with the welfare of the fans in mind first. Hah!