If the NHRA didn’t know before, it certainly knows now that trying to do something bold to generate excitement — like this Countdown to the Championship — will not please everybody.
When NHRA announced the new format last August in Indianapolis, people looked at each other in shock, mainly because we were stunned that so many NHRA people could keep such a spicy secret. But Tony Schumacher was tearing up the Top Fuel class, and he didn’t think he’d like any system that would bunch up the field after 17 races and let a mere No. 8 driver have a chance to steal the championship.
As Pro Stock’s Jeg Coughlin, Jr. put it, the new set-up has provided “an opportunity for somebody in a distant position to have a heck of a shot at winning a POWERade championship.”
So it’s different this year. Schumacher says, “This Countdown deal, it’s as if the NHRA made it with us in mind. This team always comes alive in the second half of the season. The format of this deal is perfect for us.”
Some people will drum up conspiracy theories, but it’s America and people can think what they want.
Are they wondering if drivers will dog it and try just hard enough to make that first cut, when only eight officially are in contention as of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals? Brandon Bernstein, for one, hasn’t been dogging it. “In the long run, it’s just important to get in the countdown to eight, but we all have that competitive spirit and want to lead the Top Fuel standings,” he said.
Dave Grubnic teetered for weeks on the edge of the Top Fuel cut off, and he said the Countdown format is “definitely playing into my advantage this year. If we were in the old format, obviously we’d have to a pretty big miracle to put ourselves into contention. It opens it up.”
Warren Johnson, the six-time Pro Stock champion, questioned how great it can be if it was an idea stolen from another sanctioning body. But does it really matter that NHRA borrowed the concept from NASCAR? The first rule of effective marketing is if you see something that is highly successful, copy it! Don’t burden yourself with innovation. Cut to The Chase — er, the Countdown.
Pro Stock Motorcycle leader Matt Smith, enjoying his success this season as an independent team owner, said after his Denver victory, “I kind of wish we didn’t have the Countdown now.”
Look, it’s human nature — those strategically set are happy for now, and those who aren’t, aren’t. And that changes as performances improve or slide.
Gary Scelzi has won four championships and has pretty sharp instincts. He said, “It’s going to be excitement. It’s going to be drama. It’s going to be everything the fans are going to want. Even if they bitch about it, they’re going to watch. Trust me.”
The Countdown should be great for the fans and consequent media attention and the growth of the sport.
Coughlin said  the Countdown would “bring so much more opportunity for NHRA and for POWERade drag racing that the fans can enjoy. And if we, as a group of drivers and race teams and crew chiefs and media, can take this opportunity and build this sport, because it is exciting...I mean again you can’t argue with Tony Schumacher’s finish last year, and that’s really what the Countdown to the Championship has the ability to set up. I see it as a win-win for the whole sport.”
 Here’s the thing...Like Schumacher, Grubnic has refined his opinion as the season has gone along.
“When we first started doing this, I really had no opinion on whether it would be better or worse,” he said. “It was one of those deals: You’ve got to try a piece of food before you decide you like it or not. So we really have to give it a run and we’ll see how it plays out.”
I agree.