A year ago, I wrote a commentary on the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship, offering praise and disdain for the so-called playoff format, which has worked precisely as intended over the years. There has been more than one instance of championship battles coming down to the line. 

I also said the NHRA should make last season the final run of this format and work on something new. Here we are, a new season with a fresh batch of examples of why the NHRA should scrap the deal. Know this: It’s not going to get any better. Last time, I asked if it had run its course. Wholeheartedly, I declare it has run its course. 

Let’s go back in time and discuss how it entered our world. 

Granted, I give the NHRA credit for never claiming that the Countdown format was an original idea. Most everyone aware of NASCAR’s Chase to the Championship understands the Countdown is the straight-line version of this format, adopted in 2004 to inject drama and excitement into a stale championship environment. 

Except for a few examples, NHRA’s 24-race schedule had fallen into the same old dull routine, with some championships determined as many as four races before the season’s conclusion. Then, when NHRA introduced the Countdown in 2007, it presented a flawed and sometimes confusing procedure following the template created by NASCAR. 

The Countdown was tolerable for a while because one understood the rules of the game. You are to fight to earn your place in the Countdown, but the last six races count for the whole season. A hard-fighting racer who amasses an incredible points lead at the end of the regular season has their hard work erased to prevent a blowout championship. In one fell swoop, the NHRA’s Robin Hood system, sometimes called the drag racing welfare system, made the regular season irrelevant other than gaining the berth. 

The Countdown has provided a measure of uncertainty and generated media attention as it was supposed to. That is until some racers went on dominating runs and took the drama out of it by clinching their titles as early as Las Vegas, the season’s penultimate race. NHRA adjusted the points structure to ensure the races almost always went down to the season’s final race with 1.5 points. 

That was still somewhat tolerable until the NHRA made one format adjustment, which included any racer who ran all regular season events qualified for the Countdown. I am not alone in feeling as if the last shred of credibility went out the door of this so-called playoff format went out the window with this. 

Those who know me know I am a diehard Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. Under this exact format, my beloved team back in 1976 would have gotten into the playoffs at 0-14 and would have gotten into the playoffs simply by showing up every weekend to get their butts kicked. 

That might be an example of apples to oranges, but consider this: Funny Car racer Paul Lee enjoyed his best season by winning more rounds of competition and finishing 11th in the championship points after the NHRA U.S. Nationals, completing his greatest season ever. 

Therein lies the rub. Lee won a career-best eight rounds of competition, reaching the finals of one event. Still, a first-round loss in Indianapolis combined with an oildown violation allowed Alexis DeJoria to go around him and earn a place in the top ten of point earners. 

Lee didn’t have a problem finishing eleventh; it was still the best finish of his career. 

However, when the Countdown to the Championship points reset on the Tuesday after the event, Lee was so incensed he decided to take pretty much the rest of the season off. He only missed one race but still earned enough to finish as high as he did. 

But with the points reset, Lee was dropped to No. 14.

Considering this, the three drivers who all recorded perfect attendance combined won only SIX rounds of competition. 

No wonder Lee went on his social media and declared, “After NHRA reset the FC points, we go from 11th to 14th, with NO chance of finishing higher. So there is no use wasting parts and money this year, so we will sit out until the last couple races for this year. Oh, and best of luck to this year’s FC “participation award” winners.”

Even Top Fuel racer Josh Hart, who gained a berth in the Countdown due to participation, wasn’t exactly proud that his team qualified for the playoffs. 

“I’m not into participation awards, but we are in the Countdown,” Hart said following his quarter-final loss at the U.S. Nationals. 

The NHRA has time to fix this by next year, but it will need the series’ executives to make a serious adjustment. 

Tweaking the format will do wonders, and do so in a positive move, not by penalizing those who succeed by taking away points and rewarding others who don’t. I’m not getting political, but it reeks of socialism. 

Instead, reward those who performed flawlessly with even better incentives instead of resetting the points and pulling the field closer together, starting at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, awarding double points to those in the top ten. Those who are in the second ten are provided 1.5 points to give them a chance to earn their way into the top ten. Think Lee’s team couldn’t have used those bonus points to get a top-ten season finish?

This way, a team could get hot, finish in the top 10, and earn a championship, but it will be tough. At least they still have skin in the game late in the season. Robert Hight proved that a team could win a championship from the tenth seed. 

If NHRA is so intent on giving away bonus points like candy, how about giving the NHRA’s tech department the budget they need and deserve to gain more help to let racers gain points for setting records. 

It’s time for NHRA to quit skating on the success of the past and become the innovative and forward thing series many of us believe it can be. If they can make crotchety old veterans like me excited about the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty, they can make the Countdown natural and not wholly manufactured. NHRA can make their championships real without needing to tip the scales.