The changing of the championship format in 2014 by NASCAR was met by mixed reviews from all, including the drivers. Some drivers and fans enjoyed the excitement and endorsed the new system like Denny Hamlin. Hamlin said earlier this season that it was the “best thing to happen to the sport in a long time.”
Other drivers like Jeff Gordon seemed to be okay with the format bu felt that it needed to be tweaked to make it better. Six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is fine with the format but he believes that NASCAR needs to do more to help the ratings of the sport.
Johnson was recently asked about Kevin Harvick winning the title by Fox Sports. After Johnson admitted that Harvick was the one he thought should win he delved into some ideas for helping NASCAR improve their ratings.
We need to do something to drive the viewership up.
Maybe we qualify on Saturday and that’s televised, and then run some heat races and a feature on Sunday, in a four-hour time window. It sticks to our roots, sticks with what we’ve always had and done, gives some natural pauses for the show for the social element at the track. I think that would be a pretty entertaining format.
Johnson who clearly supports heat races capped by a final A main-style race slotted into a television window might be onto something. One of the biggest complaints from some fans is that NASCAR has gotten too far away from what it used to be. Maybe if NASCAR were to consider Johnson’s idea it would be a welcomed return to how some things used to be in the sport.
Regardless of whether NASCAR makes any changes next season, the one thing that is for sure is that they cannot overhaul the chase format again. Tweaking the format is fine but for the most part they need to leave it alone. Having Harvick win a title under one set of rules and then changing them again would produce a situation where 2013-2015 would have three different champions under three sets of rules which would be ridiculous.
NASCAR saw its viewership and ratings increase over the final races of the chase and they now need to build on that. NASCAR had to know that this was going to be a slow process and it still appears that it’s going to be. 2014 saw some positive signs and now they need to build on that in 2015. Do you think that Johnson’s idea has any merit? Be sure to comment below and let us know what you think.
