NASCAR Fails to Provide a Quality Playoff System

As Jimmie Johnson clinches his record breaking 4th championship. I can't help but sit back and think about what is the purpose of the Chase Format? The format has become more of a filter in which it seemingly always brings Johnson to the top of it.

We look at the playoff system in comparison with others and we see a clear difference amongst the sports. Baseball, football, and Hockey all contain the basic ingredients for a competitive atmosphere. These ingredients include home field advantage, a short amount of of time for playoff completion, and an elimination from each round in the playoffs.

NASCAR has none of these instead opting to go with a points system, no home advantage of any kind, and most importantly no elimination from any of the races. The NASCAR playoffs, also known as the Chase for the Cup, is not working, and is not achieving a true playoff system in which NASCAR set out to do.

I would propose a possible solution to NASCAR in the following ways. First, Shrink the amount of races down to 5 races. Second, Only allow 7 drivers into the chase. Third, Have the chase races selected by drivers 1-5 at the end of the regular season. Fourth, wipe all points down to zero. Fifth, eliminate the lowest ranked driver of each race except if the top two seeded drivers are among the lowest. They would earn a one time chase save. Sixth, every race starts off One through Seven according to regular season standings.

Shrinking the race down to 5 causes a more sense of urgency, which is a must in any sports playoff format. It also allows little room for error. Allowing 7 drivers into the chase creates more planning and strategy during the regular season. Drivers in the 6th and 7th position would be eliminated from the playoffs if at any time they finished last out of the 7 that are in the chase.

At the beginning of the season drivers would all submit a favorite track, this information will be used in order to set the playoff schedule when the chase arrives. All the race tracks must be on alert and ready to host a NASCAR race. I know their are many logistics involved in this, but every sport that has a playoff does it now. When the chase arrives the order will be set according from what drivers 1-5 had listed at the beginning of the season. In the event a same track is selected, then the remaining tracks would be selected with the drivers second favorite track.

Resetting the points system is needed desperately at a playoff level. Every single sport wipes the slate clean entering a playoff. The playoff teams better record is what earned them home advantage. The same is needed in a NASCAR Playoff. Points would be earned according to finish in each race. All positions awarded points with the exception of the last place car out of the chase drivers. They would receive an elimination, unless they are seeded number 1 or 2 in the playoffs. This structure would create a very exciting atmosphere and a very competitive environment for the final 5 races.

Every single one of the chase races would start according to regular season standings for the positions 1 through 7. 8th place and on would be determined by qualifying. Cars seeded 1 through 7 would still need to qualify, and if any of them manage to record the fastest time during qualifying, they would be awarded bonus points for the race.

All these changes would benefit NASCAR and their legions of fans. This would create a real playoff format and is needed for a sport that has never had a true playoff system. As the Chase stands now, it has too many constants, and constants will always produce consistency. This is what we are seeing now with Jimmie Johnson winning his 4th chase in a row. The driver who knows how to plays the constants the best, will always win. This does not exist in any other playoff system.

Every professional sports league revamps their playoff structure to bring a more competitive environment to the sport. I believe, as many fans of this sport do, that NASCAR needs to make this change immediately.