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NASCAR made drastic changes to improve the level of excitement and intensity in the Sprint Cup Series’ season finale.
NASCAR’s playoff system, the Chase, became stale after Jimmie Johnson won six of the last ten Sprint Cup Series championships. Most of the time he has had commanding leads entering the final race of the season. NASCAR CEO Brian France decided it was time to change it up.
This is not the first time that France was played around with the Chase. France created NASCAR’s playoff system in 2004. The Chase originally only consisted of the top 10 drivers in the championship standings. France first modified the Chase in 2007 by expanding the playoff field to 12 drivers, and changed the way drivers were seeded for the final 10 races, by awarding bonus points for each win in the regular season. In 2011, France implemented “wild-card” spots where the final two Chase berths would belong to the drivers with the most wins outside the top 10 in points. He also simplified the point system that year.
Now, in what some have called the “Jimmie Johnson rule,” France has revamped the Chase again, and has added some spice to it. There will now be 16 drivers in the Chase. In addition, the third, sixth, and ninth races in the Chase will be elimination races. Four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention in these races.
Winning races will now become more important than ever. The 15 drivers with the most wins in the regular season all advance to the Chase. If the points leader after 26 races, does not have a win, then they receive the final playoff spot. Otherwise it goes to the 16th driver with a win, which according to USA Today, is highly unlikely given that there were only 17 different winners last year, or to the next highest driver in the championship standings. Also, any Chase driver who has not been eliminated, and wins a Chase race advances to the next round.
The final race of the season will not use any points to decide the champion. To win the title, it’s simple. Finish ahead of your competitors. In other words, the highest finishing driver of the final four wins the title.
When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series traveled to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., ESPN asked their readers, “Should a road course be in the Chase?”
Many fans believed there should be, and I am with them. NASCAR.com’s David Carraviello pointed out this week that Johnson’s stats at some of these tracks are incredible. When looking at the driver averages page on Motor Racing Network’s website, stats show that Johnson has an average finish of tenth place or higher at seven of the ten Chase tracks. Johnson and his crew have mastered those tracks. If you want to make the Chase more challenging, then switch up the schedule every year.
Why not throw in a road course such as Watkins Glen, Road America, or the newer Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tex? When crowning a champion in racing, the driver should have to prove that they are the best on every type of track. While we are at it, let’s throw in the tricky triangle (Pocono Raceway) as well. Their two races are too close together on the schedule anyway (one in June, one in August). I understand that one of the reasons why tracks such as Chicagoland and Dover are on there are because they are having trouble selling tickets. However, the product at these tracks is not attracting viewers either.
My dad also proposed an interesting idea. Run a different configuration on some of the tracks like say the the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It would throw a curve at the teams, as I doubt they have notes on a configuration they have never raced on.
Adding more drivers does make it more exciting, but only to a certain extent. If the tracks never change, then chances are there will be another dynasty.
The Pace Car 