Did NASCAR go too far at Daytona?

As one of the fans whose favorite driver was taken out in a wreck early in the 500 I wonder if perhaps NASCAR did not go too far to bring back the pack style of racing. A couple of things don't make sense. First, why reduce the amount of downforce on the cars to the point where the slightest tap they become unstable? It's a miracle, and a testament to the COT, that no one was seriously injured during any of the Daytona races. The other issue I have with the changes made to the cars is reducing the airflow to the point where the winning car was blowing steam in Victory Lane. I am of the opinion that, given the expense involved in putting a car on the track, creating a scenario where engines are on the cusp of overheating seems like an unnecessary expense. Thankfully there are only four plate races a year... let's hope NASCAR reconsiders somewhat for the safety of the drivers and the mechanical integrity of the cars.
Congratulations to Matt Kenseth on his Daytona 500 win!

The new points structure: No surprises

After five races, the top 12 in drivers points is pretty much shaking out like prior seasons, with the same drivers in the top 12 that are always there. Sure, there are drivers in there who normally haven't been there, like Paul Menard, but I predict come September it will be the same 12 drivers in the Chase who are always in the Chase. When I look at the standings, it still seems strange to see such low numbers, but I'll get used to it eventually.

Kyle Busch: The New Jimmie Johnson

Face it folks, Kyle Busch is no fun anymore. I read the other analysts, and they still refer to him as a bad boy. Really? All the quotes I read from him these days are so sweet it makes me want to puke. Two weeks ago, when Carl Edwards said that he thought he owed Kyle one, Kyle's response was something along the lines of 'I'm sorry he feels that way, maybe he could do it during the All Star (no points) race. Gone are the days when Shrub would try to win at all costs; who every other week was taking pot shots at Dale Jr.; the Kyle Busch we all loved to hate. Now he's as plain vanilla as Jimmie.
So who would bear the title of Bad Boy now? The most likely candidate would be Brad Keselowski; the only problem with that is it's hard to take a driver seriously who mostly runs at the back of the pack. Otherwise, there is no one who I can see.

The Points System. It could have been simpler.

The points system

On Wednesday NASCAR announced the new and improved simpler points system. The winner of the race will get 43 points, 2nd place will get 42 points, on down to 43rd place which will get 1 point. The race winner will get 3 bonus points, plus 1 point for leading a lap. There will also be 1 point awarded for leading the most laps. A couple of things occured to me about this change:
1: If the streamlining here was to make the points system simpler, why is the race winner awarded 43 points, plus 3 points for winning the race, plus one point for leading a lap? Wouldn't it be simpler just to say that race wins are worth 47 points, with a possible 48th point for leading the most laps?
2: I wonder if NASCAR is also going to adjust the number of points deducted for rule infractons? I am thinking of Clint Bowyers 150 point penalty last season. Conceivably (at least in my mind, anyway) a penalized driver could be back near the top in 4 or 5 races under the old system. Under the new system, a mid-season penalty could doom a driver's chances of recovery. I'll have to make another chart now that I see how this has panned out.
C'mon February 20th!!!!!!

The Points System

I was pondering this points change thing, as announced so far. I did the most logical thing that I could do. I made a chart. As you can see from the chart, it's still a complicated mess. So they should probably leave it alone.

The Greening Of Nascar

This season NASCAR will start using an Ethanol blended fuel in the races. This is a good and Politically Correct (fingers choking on the last two words) thing to do. Ethanol alcohol is produced from corn, so this benefits American farmers and the production of Ethanol is expected to create 136,000 American jobs...jobs that cannot easily be moved offshore, according to American Ethanol. Now if only we could get fuel injected cars to increase the mileage, so that Denny Hamlin stops running out of gas...

Jeremy Mayfield back in the news

I just read on Nascar.com that Jeremy Mayfield is filing an appeal of his long lost lawsuit. Give it up, Jeremy... just think, had you just sucked it up, and went through drug treatment like NASCAR wanted, you'd probably be reinstated. Instead, you chose to throw away a lucrative job, and lost your own racing team in the process, just to supposedly prove a point. What was the point, that of being a sore loser?
I'm not saying Mayfield was guilty, though he may very well have been. It just seems to me that it would have made much more sense just to play the game, do the treatment, and all the while proclaim your innocence. I'm sure both of his fans would have been appreciative.