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After the final regular season race of the year at Richmond, the Chase order will be set like this. The 15 drivers with the most wins, who are in the top 30 in points and have qualified for every race, will make up the Chase field. If the leader of the points after the final regular season race does not have a win, he will be the sixteenth driver in the Chase lineup. If the points leader does have a win, he will go in order based on his wins and the next driver with a win in line will make the Chase field or, if no other drivers have wins, the highest driver in points without a win who isn't in the Chase will be the sixteenth driver. If less than sixteen drivers win during the regular season, the rest of the Chase lineup will be based on points positions before the Chase reset with drivers higher up without wins getting the extra spots. If more than sixteen drivers win a race, tiebreakers will be used starting with most wins and then, if the tie is not broken, points position before the Chase reset will be used. Chase races number 27 through 29 will be known as the Challenger Round and the field will be whittled down to twelve drivers after race 29 at Dover. Chase races number 30 through 32 will be known as the Contender Round and eight drivers will remain after race 32 at Talladega. Chase races number 33 through 35 will be known as the Eliminator Round and four drivers will remain after race 35 at Phoenix. Race number 36 at Homestead will be a battle between these four drivers and the driver who finishes highest in the race will be the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. In case you don't understand or don't want to read through this, this is what the Chase field would have looked like in 2013 had this format been used.
2013 Chase Reset After Richmond (Using New Format; Win Total Does NOT Include Chase Wins)
1. Matt Kenseth (5 Wins)
2. Jimmie Johnson (4 Wins)
3. Kyle Busch (4 Wins)
4. Carl Edwards (2 Wins)
5. Kevin Harvick (2 Wins)
6. Kasey Kahne (2 Wins)*
7. Joey Logano (1 Win)
8. Greg Biffle (1 Win)
9. Ryan Newman (1 Win)*
10. Martin Truex Jr. (1 Win)
11. Tony Stewart (1 Win; Assuming He Wasn't Injured)#
12. David Ragan (1 Win)
13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No Wins; Highest in Points Without Win)
14. Clint Bowyer (No Wins; Next Highest in Points Without Win)
15. Kurt Busch (No Wins; Next Highest in Points Without Win)
16. Jeff Gordon (No Wins; Next Highest in Points Without Win)
(*: In new system, Kahne and Newman would get bonus points for race wins unlike previous system where wild card drivers couldn't.)
(#: Had Stewart not been able to compete in the Chase, Jamie McMurray would have been the sixteenth driver to make the Chase.)
Before I jump into my thoughts on this issue, I want to point out a couple of things based on this Chase lineup. For one, all thirteen drivers who were apart of the 2013 Chase are on there. The only exceptions are Martin Truex Jr., who originally made it into the Chase, David Ragan, and Tony Stewart, who might have made the Chase if he hadn't been injured. I just find it odd that pretty much the same drivers were in the Chase using the old format as well as the new format. The second and final thing is something that I feel makes Brian France, who made the Chase move, seem like a huge hypocrite. His whole basis for this move was to make winning the most important part of the season, but here is the catch. Had this format been used in 2013 for the Chase, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have won the championship. Yes, Junior Nation, you can use that as reason to have hope for the future. The thing about that is he did not win a single race in 2013 while the actual champion, Jimmie Johnson, won six races. Those are just some odd things I want to point out about this new format right before we jump into my personal thoughts on this move.
I will start off by wanting to know exactly what drug Brian France is using. Whatever it is, it should never make its way into the public scene. I mean, this is the dumbest idea I have, honestly, ever heard. I do have one thing I like about the move. That is the addition of four more drivers to the Chase. I have always wanted more drivers in the Chase and that is a very good part of this for me. But everything else is just absolutely appalling. First, we will start off with this “winning is the most important thing” concept. If you have ever read anything of mine about NASCAR, I believe in consistency. I believe the last true champion we have had in NASCAR was Matt Kenseth in 2003 because he won the championship not only with a win, but also consistency throughout the year. I just don't believe this Chase format allows for a driver to be a champion because it is completely based on a ten race stretch instead of an entire season. Consistency should be the most important thing for NASCAR. Second, I do not like these eliminations. Yes, drivers are typically eliminated from Chase contention as the Chase progresses, but this just causes too much media scrutiny. I mean, the drivers who get eliminated will almost surely be asked the next week about being eliminated from Chase contention. If I am a driver, I don't want to answer questions about that. I want to talk about the race or anything else, honestly. Without the eliminations, it doesn't seem to come up as much because people didn't find out about about the eliminations as easily. Finally, I hate with a supreme passion this fight to the death at Homestead in the final race for the championship. You have four drivers go in there and the one who finishes the best out of this group wins the championship. Why did we even have the other thirty five races if we decide the champion in this one race? There is absolutely no reason to have the first thirty five races if you are just going to see who can finish the best in the final race. I mean, I can't even begin to describe the junk storm that would happen if the non-championship drivers raced these four championship drivers hard in the final race. Every single person in the media would just blast this driver along with NASCAR's sanctioning body. I mean, Brian France is trying to create excitement, but that final race will be like four kids running around the neighborhood with bubble wrap on and nobody can touch them or even look at them. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.
Now, I ranted a good bit in this critical article of the new NASCAR Chase format, but I will never stop watching the sport. I mean, you could have four cars in every race and I would still watch it because I have so much passion for this sport. Don't get me wrong. I know Brian France is making this move because he wants to attract newer viewers to the sport, but I would have to gear every move I make to the fans the sport already has. I guess that is the opinion of a lifelong NASCAR fan, but it is just how I feel. I thank you guys for reading through this short edition of my thoughts. If you have your own opinions of the new Chase format or about anything else mentioned in this article, please let me know in the comments down below. I know I have made a ton of these same promises, but the 2013 NASCAR Season Recap will be up tomorrow. That is an absolute fact. I have two final paragraphs to do along with a little proofreading and it will be up sometime during the day. My thoughts for this offseason week will be up on Sunday at its usual time. I hope you guys enjoyed this reading and until we meet again.
Credits:
-Full Story:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/1/30/chase-for-the-nascar-sprint-cup-championship-format-changes.html
-Full List of Questions and Answers About the Chase Format:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/1/30/chase-for-the-nascar-sprint-cup-facts-faq-new-format.html
-Chase Bracket:
http://static.nascar.com/content/dam/nascar/download%20schedule/2014/Chase%20Grid%20Horizontal.pdf/_jcr_content/renditions/original
-Image:
http://static.nascar.com/content/dam/nascar/articles/2014/1/30/main/Chase-Grid-Horizontal-main.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/original
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