Examining the NASCAR Chase

Beginning with the 2004 NASCAR season, the system to crown a champion changed. Prior to that season, NASCAR drivers accumulated points for the full season with the driver at the end of the season with the most points crowned champion. It was a system that had been in place since the early 1970s. There had been many close championship races and some that were quite the opposite, with some championships being settled two or three races from the end of the season.

Concerned that they may be losing some interest toward the end of the season, NASCAR decided a "playoff" format would be best. They would use the final ten races of the season to settle the championship among the top ten drivers at that point. Thus, the NASCAR Chase was born, although it expanded to the top twelve drivers a few years later.

I have been a fan of NASCAR racing since the 1976 Daytona 500 when David Pearson and Richard Petty collided coming to the finish line, with Pearson able to limp his car across the line to win the race. From that time, I was excited to watch each race and follow the championship to each end, exciting or not. When the format changed to the Chase, I was skeptical, and still am. I think there are some things that work with the Chase format and some things that don't. I'll try to enumerate them and let you decide if it was a good move by NASCAR, or not.

Let's look first at what doesn't work in the Chase format for NASCAR. By changing the format, NASCAR effectively made the early part of the season a race to get in the top twelve, not a race for the championship. Drivers don't talk about what they can do to catch the leader, but what they can do to stay in the top twelve. This leads to teams taking fewer chances to win races, as they just need to salvage points. Although wins help in the seeding of teams once the Chase begins, this can lead to teams chasing twelfth, not first. "Points racing" was a component of the previous format, but has become more prominent in the Chase.

Next, with such emphasis placed on making the Chase, some fans are turned off from the final ten races if their favorite driver fails to qualify. This is due in part because of the success of the format. Once the Chase begins, the media coverage concentrates on the twelve drivers in the Chase. This can lead to popular drivers receiving little attention. Personally, I'm less concerned with this. If a driver cannot make the top twelve cutoff for the Chase in twenty-six races, they are not having a good enough season to warrant much attention. It does, though, disenfranchise many fans, as it has in the past when some of NASCAR's most popular drivers, such as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Kyle Busch failed to make the Chase.

One other argument against the Chase would be that, while it places an importance on winning for seeding in the Chase, winning is not ultimately important. The argument against the old format always dealt with its importance on consistency rather than winning. In 1983, Bill Elliott won thirteen races, but finished second in the NASCAR Championship. His lack of consistency in the races he didn't win cost him the title. In the Chase format, a driver can win the most races, but be left out of the championship, such as Kyle Busch in 2009. The alternative would be to include winners, but that might leave out good, consistent drivers. There wouldn't be much reward for a good season that way, either.

The final argument I feel is against the Chase would be that it ultimately results in a ten race season. A driver only needs to be decent to qualify. They then focus on the final ten races, and they are crowned season champion. Most good teams can put together a quality ten races, but the season is supposed to be thirty-six races. A team can cruise all season to make the Chase, then put all their resources into those final ten races and be crowned.

There are some good things about the Chase format, though, that benefit NASCAR. These aspects most likely bring in more viewers and fans than leave due to their favorite driver not being in the Chase. They ensure that each race of the final ten is important and that the drivers race to the very last race.

The first good thing about the Chase would be that after twenty-six races, no matter how big the lead is, it evaporates to next to nothing. If a driver has been widening his lead throughout the season, that lead is gone at the start of the Chase. In fact, if he has not won the most laps, he is no longer in the lead. History has shown that this Chase format leads to an exciting finish to the NASCAR season.

This means that no race in the final ten is unimportant. The Chase tracks benefit in increased ticket sales and viewership on television. Under the former format, those tracks with races toward the end of the NASCAR season were never guaranteed an exciting conclusion to the season. Since the introduction of the Chase, that has not been the case. Each Chase has gone down to the final race of the season.

Another thing that works about the Chase is the seeding. Fans have always wanted more importance on winning. NASCAR fans have always felt that winning is what the sport should be about, yet any possible points system rewards consistency. The reseeding at the beginning of the Chase, rewards winning throughout the season by giving drivers bonus points for wins during the beginning of the season. This can, and often does, lead to the driver at the top of the standings after race twenty-six not being the leader at the start of the chase. This places more importance on winning, just as fans have always wanted.

In the end, NASCAR is happy with the results they have gotten from the Chase format. Ultimately, that happiness is well deserved. Even in years when my favorite driver hasn't made the Chase, or when my least favorites have, it has added an element of excitement that may not have been there otherwise. NASCAR, the tracks and the drivers have reaped the benefits, and most likely will for some time to come. Just as the previous format survived over thirty years without revision, this format may do the same.