New Rules

I thought politics was stupid. Then NASCAR announced its new rules for the upcoming year. They are awesome.

Football has a halftime period where talking heads can bore the audience, and for commercials, which aren’t seen because the audience is in the bathroom and/or in the kitchen getting more beer and snacks ready. NASCAR, in its quest to outdo “stick and ball sports,” is going to have no fewer than two halftimes in each race.

After changing the points system to reflect “one point per position” because the old graduated point system was too complicated and people watching could not figure it out, the new system includes “championship points” and “playoff points,” some of which are awarded at the end of the first of three halfs, some of which are awarded at the end of the second of three halfs, and some of which are awarded at the end of the race.

Note, however, that only ten drivers get points at the end of the first half and the end of the second half, while everyone gets points at the end of the race.

Both types of points count toward getting a driver into what used to be called “The Chase” at the end of then season but is now called “The Playoffs,” after several years of management insisting vigorously that “The Chase” was not to be referred to by sportscasters as “The Playoffs.”

Now it is “The Playoffs” and should not be referred to as “The Chase,” but the format and eliminations process is precisely the same as it was when it was called “The Chase.” What, precisely, was accomplished by changing its name is unclear.