Hot 20 – NASCAR’s paper champions vs the real deal

I guess it was written in stone, after all. NASCAR has gone ahead and, starting this season, will award the season crown to the best finisher amongst just four drivers at the year’s finale in Homestead. I doubt more than a handful would consider such a champion as legitimate, at least among true fans. As for the rest of us, we can either find some other sport to watch, or decide amongst ourselves who really was the best on the season.

In 1967, Richard Petty won 27 races and the title. No surprise there, but if this new way of doing things had been in place, Petty would not have won the title. Last year, Jimmie Johnson averaged a 5.1 finish over the course of the Chase, but he would not have won the title, either. In fact, had Dale Earnhardt Jr finished second, ahead of Matt Kenseth at Homestead, he would have won the crown under this format. He would have done so without winning a single race all season. Now, that would have been ironic.

I understand what NASCAR boss Brian France is attempting, but those “game seven” moments just happen. They are not contrived. The Yankees did not fold by design in 2004 to allow the Red Sox to storm back to enter sports history. Even the Super Bowl does not always provide a game seven moment. While the 2013 game was tight, who can forget the 49’ers 55-10 drubbing of the Broncos back in 1990? Even Denver fans can’t get that one out of their heads.

Once again, we turn to the Fiddler on the Roof and its lesson on tradition. You win titles by consistency, so you need a system that forces championship contenders to run well in order to keep their hopes bright. You need wins, the most cherished statistic, Top Fives and Top Tens in order to succeed.

If Brian France can put forward his idea, let me provide one of my own. Wins are important, so let us make them worth 17 points more than they currently are. That way, a maximum of 65 points might be realized. Add 11 points to those finishing second through fifth, or a minimum of 50 points for a Top Five. Finish outside the Top Ten, you are an also ran, so let us give those who finish 6th through 10th an additional 6 points, or worth between 40 and 44 points, not including bonus points for leading. Finish 11th, you still receive 33 points, and on down to one for finishing dead last. Maybe, just maybe, we can also dispense with the Chase while we are at it.

What about the game seven finale? Well, you do not always get that, so just maybe NASCAR should promote, feature, honor, and salute its best of the best. Coronations can be fun, too, if one has a clue about promotion. Maybe recognize those who came close, podium style, like the other racing series. Finishing second or third over the season, indeed at any individual race, is a fine accomplishment. Does NASCAR honor those drivers? Hell, no. Still, it is bewildering that Jimmie Johnson is not marketed as a living legend, or Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, for that matter. Instead of cherishing their best, they seem almost embarrassed by them. It is like the MLB trying to play down the Yankees while hoping to some how get the Miami Marlins or the Houston Astros a shot at the World Series.

Will fans buy into this nonsense? Some probably will, tossing tradition into the scrap heap. Some never will. No one will beat Petty and Earnhardt’s string of titles in their minds. Why? Because no other champion will be legitimate, unless they also happen to have been the best over the course of the entire season…Chase be damned.

Using my proposed system, here is a look at the Hot 20 drivers over the 2013 season, those who proved themselves to be among the best, no gimmicks needed.

Points awarded as they presently are, with the exception of Wins worth 63 points (for a maximum of 65), Top Fives are worth from 50 – 53 points, and Top Tens are worth from 40- 44 points.