A WINNING FORMULA FOR NASCAR.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. Imagine, if you will, a NASCAR championship based on winning. Yes, yes, I know, this flies in the face of the NASCAR credo of "consistency" over the entire death march of its interminable 36-race season, but just for a minute, let's look at the current Sprint Cup drivers who have wins. Let's see, Joey Logano leads with six wins. Jimmie Johnson has five wins. So does Matt Kenseth. Kyle Busch has four and Kevin Harvick has three. Carl Edwards has two, so do Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin. And Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordon have one each.

That's twelve winning drivers at NASCAR's premier level. Given that I believe that the NASCAR schedule shouldn't exceed 30 race weekends (read "THE SCHEDULE: NASCAR 2020." -WG), I see a revised championship operating under the fundamental premise that if a driver wins a race, he or she is eligible for the Sprint Cup. No convoluted "Chase" knockout rounds, no other contrived gimmicks to keep things interesting, no analogies or trumped up illusions about being like a seven-game championship series in the "stick and ball" sports because this just in: racing just isn't, not by any stretch of the imagination.

I could get into a point breakdown of those twelve winning NASCAR drivers as opposed to the hackneyed Chase standings that are driving the circus today, but I don't have the patience - or the interest - to figure that all out. Instead, NASCAR as well as every other racing series, should be based on winning. As a driver, if you win, you have a shot. If you don't, well, maybe next year.

Too simplistic? Yes, probably. But in the end, something's gotta give. And NASCAR could, should and needs to do so much better.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Editor's Note: For more racing news and photos, check out "The Line." -WG 

Check out The Autoextremist on AutoextremistTV below...we're already on Episode 5! -WG

Editor's Note: Many of you have seen Peter's references over the years to the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation (HERF), which he launched in 2007. For those of you who weren't following AE at the time, you can read two of HERF's press releases here and here. And for even more details (including a link to Peter's announcement speech), check out the HERF entry on Wikipedia here. -WG

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD 

(Photo by Dave Friedman, courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
Riverside, California, January 17, 1965. Dan Gurney (No. 121 Wood Brothers Augusta Motor Sales Ford) on his way to another dominant NASCAR win at Riverside International Raceway, in the Motor Trend 500. Gurney qualified eleventh and led 126 of the 185 laps. Junior Johnson (No. 11 Junior Johnson Holly Farms Poultry Ford) finished second and Marvin Panch (No. 21 Wood Brothers Augusta Motor Sales Ford) was third, making it a great day for the Wood Brothers. Interesting fact? The race duration was 5:41.42. That's hours, folks. As in, yikes. Watch a great video here. Love details on historic races? Go to racing-reference.info.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD