NASCAR: Is a demotion system worth implementing?
When Quin Houff crashed in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, that was a pivotal moment that changed the outcome of the event.
With 28 laps to go in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in the middle of green flag pit stops, the driver of the #00 Chevrolet turned down on Christopher Bell and Matt DiBenedetto as he was about to make his final pit stop of the day, causing him to spin and hit the outside SAFER barrier head-on.
I’ve got nothing against Quin Houff. He is a good guy; I’ve talked with him before. He is in his first full season in the Cup Series. He doesn’t deserve the hate. But 18 races into the season, you can’t be making mistakes like that, especially being at the sport’s highest level and having raced at Texas Motor Speedway before. Plus, NASCAR specifically says during the drivers’ meetings to check your mirrors as you prepare to enter pit road.
Like in Texas lore, fans took their six-shooters to Twitter and fired their bullets at the Cup Series rookie. DiBenedetto did as well.
This guy having zero awareness ruined our day. Had a very fast car at the end. Lovely https://t.co/AredQ1HAwO
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) July 19, 2020
Besides DiBenedetto, who had a fast car all day and had a chance to finish in the top 10, maybe even in the top five, his Team Penske psuedo-teammates Ryan Blaney, who won the first two stages and led the most laps, and Brad Keselowski saw their races hampered by this untimely caution flag period. They had fast cars all day, and Blaney likely would have won it if not for this moment.
According to The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck, Keselowski said in his post-race Zoom conference that NASCAR should implement a system where drivers get promoted or demoted based on their crash ratings
In a lengthy answer that deserves more than a tweet, Brad Keselowski suggests NASCAR implement a system where drivers can graduate — or get demoted — from the top series based on being involved in incidents. Will write more later on that.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) July 19, 2020
English football leagues such as the Premier League and the EFL operate on a league system where a specific amount of teams, based on how they rank in the table, get promoted and demoted.
Using the Premier League and the EFL Championship as an example, in the EFL C, the top two teams automatically get promoted to the Premier League, and the third team is determined by a playoff system. In the Premier League, the bottom three teams automatically get relegated.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at one pro and one con of a possible demotion system in NASCAR.