The New "Chase" Format.....

When I first heard about NASCAR's new format for "The Chase" I was less than enthused. But after taking a closer look I must say that I find it very interesting.......up until the last race. You have to love how the new format rewards winning races and it will definitely add a considerable amount of new drama to the earlier events in the chase, but frankly the opportunity for shenanigans during that final event at Homestead will be well beyond what we saw at Richmond last year.

To have four drivers running in one race with the best finisher to take the championship is definitely intriguing, but keep in mind that there will be thirty-nine other drivers out there running around as well. And a significant number of those, as teammates of the chasers, will have a vested interest in the outcome. It would be like the Bruins and Blackhawks playing in game seven for the Stanley Cup and having eighteen other teams on the ice at the same time, playing defense, body checking the contenders and trying to score their own goals. I have always said that golf would be more interesting if you could play defense and this Homestead event will come as close to an equivalent to that ridiculous notion as you can get.

Kudos to the folks at CJ Raceway in Columbus Junction for making an attempt to give the Late Model division an opportunity to run on a semi-regular basis in 2014. The purse has been panned by some of the posters on the internet but at $500-to-win and $100 for tenth it is what this small town Iowa track feels that it can afford. Will it draw a bunch of cars? No, but neither did it when they paid $1,000-to-win at a few specials the past two years. They may have a few less cars, but the bottom line for the speedway will be better at the end of the night, and the fans will get to see some late model racing.

More and more I am seeing people call attention to how forty years ago the Late Models were racing for $500-to-win and while the costs to race have skyrocketed since then, the purses have stayed the same. Well first of all, no the purses have not stayed the same. While the money on top is similar, drivers who finished at the back or failed to qualify took home a $20 or $30 check while today the tow money is twice that or more. And second, just how much more would be able to be paid to two or three classes if we weren't spreading the money out over five, six or seven classes. I am still waiting for the area track (besides Knoxville) that will be bold enough to break away from the "back gate" way of thinking and go to three classes: a premier division, a support division and a true beginner's division for their weekly show. Whoever does it will lose fewer drivers than most would expect from their five or six division days and the more compact show, likely with heat races that matter again, will eventually draw in more fans.

Who will it be? I just hope that I am still around to see it.....

Due to the fact that I have been asked to cast my ballot each week for DirtOnDirt's Top 25 Late Model Rankings this season I am no longer going to track the dirt late model points on a state by state basis this season. (Other than in Iowa and Missouri) Instead I will use a point system that will put more emphasis on higher paying races and I will then use those point standings as my guide to how I will cast my ballot each week. In other words, tabulating the points will force me to look at all of the results, but the actual standings will not necessarily be how I submit my rankings each week. The current standings following the events held in January are below and this is nothing close to what I submitted for the pre-season poll that will be released next week. Enjoy your Super Bowl weekend!

		National
		Dirt Late Model
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	John Blankenship	Williamson WV	15
2	.	Billy Moyer	Batesville AR	10
3	.	Ryan Gustin	Marshalltown IA	10
4	.	Billy Moyer Jr.	Batesville AR	8
5	.	Kent Robinson	Bloomington IN	8
6	.	Jimmy Mars	Elk Mound WI	6
7	.	Shane Clanton	Locust Grove GA	5
8	.	William Thomas	Phenix City AL	5
9	.	Eric Cooley	Fulton MS	4
10	.	R.C. Whitwell	Tucson AZ	4
11	.	Terry Phillips	Springfield MO	4
12	.	A.J. Diemel	Navarino WI	3
13	.	Mark Whitener	Middleburg FL	3
14	.	Ross Martin	Talladega	3
15	.	Tim Fuller	Watertown NY	3
16	.	Tony Toste	Arroyo Grande CA	3
17	.	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin IL	2
18	.	Lavon Sparks	Phenix City	2
19	.	Travis Carter	Valdosta GA	2
20	.	Chase Junghans	Manhattan KS	1
21	.	Clay Daly	Watsonville CA	1
22	.	Mason Ziegler	Chalk Hill PA	1
23	.	Rhett Carter	Blackshear GA	1
24	.	Todd Morrow	East Ridge TN	1
25	.	Will Vaught	Crane MO	1