Some fixes for my favorite sport

[jmowreader]

I love auto racing. Here's what I'd like to see happen in 2004:

* CART and the IRL merge into one organization. Call it IRL, because they're the more powerful organization right now. Divide it into two subseries--an IRL Speedway Series, which contests on oval tracks, and an IRL Road Series, which goes to road courses and temporary street courses. Drivers from either subseries can run the Indianapolis 500.

* NASCAR trashes its current points system in favor of this one:
a. One point for leading at the green flag.
b. One point for leading at the crossed flags--the halfway point.
c. One point for winning the race.
d. One point for leading any lap. (A driver who makes a last-lap pass and leads only the final lap receives two points: the point for winning the race and the point for leading a lap.)
e. One point for leading the most laps.
f. Position points: 1st place pays 43 points unless fewer than 43 drivers have entered. Last place pays one point. If fewer than 43 drivers are entered, 1st place pays points corresponding to the number of cars that qualified; if 40 cars started the race, 1st place pays 40 points.
g. Point deductions: if you cause a wreck, you lose one point for every car involved in the accident, no matter how many of them ultimately return to the track.
h. It is possible to go into negative figures using this system. If you finish the season in negative figures, you must reapply for your NASCAR driver's license.

* Stock cars run the other direction at Watkins Glen from what they do now, so you don't need to own two cars that can only be used there and you don't need to rehearse pit crew procedures for that one race. (The right side of the car is closest to the wall at Watkins Glen.)

* The Independence Day race at Daytona runs on the road course, not the oval.

* The International Race of Champions recognizes that not all motorsports champions drive things with wheels and invites Dave Villwock, driver of the unlimited hydroplane Miss Budweiser, to compete in their series.

* Modify the one-engine rule as follows: After qualifying is completed, all teams return to their garages and remove the engines from their cars. The engines will be placed in an impound area. The teams then install a practice engine for all practice sessions. After happy hour, the race engine will be returned to the teams. This way, they don't have to worry about killing the race engine in practice.

[david_vincent]

1. I'd like to see a series

featuring Fred Flintstone-style cars. You know, floor missing, guys flailing away at the track surface wildly with their feet. You could have different classes, based on the drivers' footwear: sneakers, sandals, and slippers.

[mmm]

3. Fred had big feet

He was so good he didn't need footware!
(Damn, what a champion!)

[mmm]

2. I say throw away the oval...

make em' run the manly road course every time.
Open road is even better.
(Now, if we can just get away from making every car look the same
we'll be on our way.)

[OldSoldier]

6. You got to have some ovals in there

but this would be entertaining:

* No more than one race at a particular track per year. What the hell do we need two races at Martinsville, Virginia for? Martinsville tests how well the drivers can run with no brakes. You can figure that out in one race.

* The only facilities that can have two races are those that have two tracks. Daytona has a road course inside the oval. Indianapolis has the road course they run the F1 race on. Given the choice of losing one date or building a road course, there'd be some asphalt laid in a real hurry.

* Give Bristol two races, but the second one has to be a heat race like you'd see on a Saturday night at a local track. Run qualification the day before. Top three cars automatically transfer to the Feature race. Split the other forty into four Main races, ten cars per race. Each main is 50 laps, caution laps don't count, no pit stops, everyone starts with a full tank of fuel. Transfer spot is third. Last race of the evening is the 200 lap feature, fifteen cars, everyone pits on the frontstretch.

[HEyHEY]

4. Have two guys trying to set up a model railroad on the track

That outta add some entertainment.

(Letterman inspired)

[beyurslf]

5. And here I was all ready to rant about how the BCS

has ruined college football and that is why I won't watch it.