Mike Mulhern talks to Darrell Waltrip on the change coming to Bristol and whether the lack of competition in the sport is due to the points system the sport has going for it.
My Take: Darrell is 100% right about tires - you don't want a tire that's questionable. The whole tire issue is - pun - sideways. The tires being as hard as they are isn't the problem; the problem has been ability to lean or them or race them the way they were raced on in the days of bias-ply tires. The best example remains the 1991 Michigan 400, won by Davey Allison over Waymond "Hut" Stricklin - the first half of that race saw a huge battle for the lead involving multiple cars with Allison, Dale Earnhardt, and Mark Martin providing the largest percentage of fight. The lead changed unofficially 30 times in a 15-lap span before Stricklin took over around the 50-lap mark.
There was word in 2010 that Goodyear would widen its tires by 2011 or 2012 - I'm curious as to what happened there.
Waltrip also raises the points system and he's right again - the points system has the exact same failing as the old Latford Point System in that it refuses to reward winning and also leading the most laps. The points system and the Chase format have to go; revert to the old Latford System but increase the bonus for winning the race by over 100 points, and increase the bonus for most laps led by 100 points - make it where winning the most races and leading the most laps are the focus of the championship.
Waltrip also talks about how the cars can be changed. It remains - go back to the roof blade; restrictor plate the cars; go back to the 2010 radiator and grille package to allow tandem-drafting - Brian France was wrong about tandem-drafting; it's superior racing (shown by the 300 lead changes in Cup's four plate races in 2011, not to mention the nearly 160 in the last four plate races in the Nationwide Series 2011-12).
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