If All Racing Series Had a "Playoff" System...

[JohnBM01]

GTPlanet, it's time for you all to use your imagination in response to what NASCAR has started this year. How about this as a weird idea- a "post season" in racing. Imagine if the American Le Mans Series, The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford, Formula One, World Rally, JGTC, or any popular racing series in the world, adopted this idea. I'm not saying that this is a good idea, but this is a "what if" situation. So think about it for a moment. Who'd make it? How do you get there? So let's use our imagination as to if this idea was implemented.

JAPANESE GT CHAMPIONSHIP:
After the JGTC finale at Suzuka, the JGTC will have to agree venues to decide where the "post season" will be played. Granted that the higher up teams in both GT500 and GT300 are able to get in. The series would have to be maybe a total of 12 total teams. This means, 6 good GT500 teams, and then 6 good GT300 teams. Because after all, while GT500 is the top class, it still doesn't mean that the GT300s can have a sort of "playoff" going. I would be confused as to how to determine the respective champions in this sense.

So if racing series adopted a playoff like NASCAR did, how do you think racing series worldwide would pull this thing off? Reply away. Then, do they NEED such a system? So go ahead.

 

[Pupik]

NASCAR's just trying to create interest when football's starting up and baseball's in the interesting part of the year. Not to mention basketball's heating up, and hockey traditionally (although not this year!) gets going. NASCAR just doesn't want a Schumacher/Ferrari-like situation whereby the champion clinches it with a few races to go (like Jeff Gordon did back in '98) to happen again, so that ratings fall off in the races where the champ has already clinched the title.

Racing doesn't really need a "playoff system" because every race matters anyway. In other team sports, you win enough games to get yourself into the playoffs, and then it really matters most. Just about every professional and even semi-porfessional racing series, there's a points system that awards the points based on how well you do from the frist to the last race.

If F1 had a playoff system it wouldn't make a difference. The same two cars win nearly every time anyhow. However, I'd love to see a true mid-year Race of Champions, by which they all have to drive a spec-chassis and spec-engine F3000 car, all with the same tires, and no refueling. The rest would be up to car setup and driver ability.

I don't see why you couldn't have somethinglike this in every racing series, as long as you have a spec car for everyne to drive.

 

[JohnBM01]

Well yeah, but I posed this as a "what if?" deal. I'm not saying it's a good thing for a "playoff," neither a bad one. But more like "what if other racing series adopted this idea?" Personally, motorsports would burn in hell and I'd just watch American football every fall. Then I'll have to find alternatives when it's spring and summer. I'll probably see college basketball in the spring, then something else in the summer. Other than that, it's a bad idea. It's only bad if you know what the heck you're doing. And if you don't, you killed a perfectly fine series.