NASCAR

Format Explanation: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/what-if-nascar-had-a-head-to-head-playoff-format-series-introduction For the 1972-74 regular seasons, since the race-by-race point standings unfortunately aren't available until 1975, I have to kind of guesstimate on who would have been in the top eight in points through the first 22 races of the season. However, since the final standings are pretty spread out, I can say with a decent amount of certainty that they didn't end up changing too much in the last nine races, bringing us to the: First round (8) #4 John Sears v. (1) #43 Richard Petty (7) #64 Elmo Langley v. (2) #12 Bobby Allison (6) #30 Walter Ballard v. (3) #48 James Hylton (5) #72 Benny Parsons v. (4) #24 Cecil Gordon With the first round of the 1972 playoffs taking place at what's now known as the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Bobby Allison took home the win against Elmo Langley's fifth-place finish, while Richard Petty finished second with his opponent John Sears dropping out with an engine failure. Although James Hylton ended the event 51 laps down, he still finished six laps ahead of Walter Ballard, with Benny Parsons outpacing Cecil Gordon by 17 laps to go into Darlington with the series lead. At Darlington, most of the first round matchups would be decided, starting with Allison getting his second win in a row to eliminate Langley. Petty scored another top-five to knock out Sears, who, like the department store company which shares his name, collapsed in spectacular fashion as he again took an early exit due to mechanical woes. Hylton would get the better of Ballard again, finishing seven laps ahead to punch his ticket to the next round, while the Parsons v. Gordon series would continue into Richmond after Parsons suffered a blown engine in the opening laps. However, their battle at Richmond would be an anticlimactic one, as Parsons was bitten by a second blown engine to give Gordon the final semifinal spot. Semifinal (4) #24 Cecil Gordon v. (1) #43 Richard Petty (3) #48 James Hylton v. (2) #12 Bobby Allison Despite a top-five effort in the semifinal's opening race at Dover, Gordon would fall behind in the series as Petty finished second to race winner David Pearson. Meanwhile, Hylton picked up a top-five finish of his own with Allison finding himself in the garage thanks to an engine failure. However, Allison quickly turned his luck around with a second-place run at Martinsville to tie up the series, as Petty picked up the race win to eliminate Gordon and move on to the finals. The deciding race of the Hylton/Allison series took place at North Wilkesboro, where Allison began putting several laps of distance between himself and Hylton. Hylton's run would officially come to end with less than 30 laps to go, as the race's only caution would be brought out due to a crash between him and Max Berrier, sending Allison to face Petty in the final round. Finals (2) #12 Bobby Allison v. (1) #43 Richard Petty Despite the two drivers being relatively evenly matched, Allison would jump out as the clear favorite in Charlotte as he picked up the race win with 192 laps led, while Petty crashed out late in the going. The next race at Rockingham would be a bit more competitive, with Petty starting ahead of Allison and leading a significant number of laps near the midway point of the race. However, at the end of the day it would be Allison taking the race win over Petty by two laps, with Allison dominating in the second half to claim his first Cup Series championship. Bobby Allison's stats for 1972 were 10 wins, 25 top-fives and 27 top-10s, as he jumped up one spot in the standings from where he finished in reality, while Petty fell back to the runner-up spot from his actual title-winning campaign. 1972 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/1972-nascar-cup-series-season-recap