July 10, 2010
By Jim Fitzgerald
This weekly spectacle we call the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is a living, breathing, and ever changing entity. A rule change; a new track; a revolving door of drivers…there are few weeks in the span of the Sprint Cup Series season that remain static. Even with all of the changes happening on any given weekend, sometimes the sport takes on a bit of a stale state, especially when The Chase is winding down, with only the race at Homestead left, and the leader of points needs only to finish twenty-eighth or better to secure the season title.
In years gone by, gauging the effectiveness of the final race as a means to determine the champion was a bit if a Swiss cheese approach. The early season favorites were listed, and as the season progressed, the pretenders would fall through the holes. Sure, all of the newspapers and magazines that could be bothered to have an opinion on it way back when would have their season preview.
They would tell you exactly who they thought would walk away from the final race of the year with the Championship, and some other extraneous information, but it was never an exact science…and it still is not. Even if they were right, it still did not solve the problem of whether or not NASCAR would have a thrilling end-to-the-season championship day.
Many times…MANY times…the Series Championship was determined long before the final race of the year.
Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, and many others were in a position where they either had the title wrapped up before the final race, or needed only to take the green flag to secure the bragging rights of being the most recent Winston Cup/Nextel Cup/Sprint Cup Series Champion.
Apparently NASCAR is looking at changing The Chase once again. One of the rumored ideas is an elimination style system that would weed out the weaker performers and, be in on a race by race or multiple race schedule, eliminate the from The Chase competition. The series already has this in place…it is called “having a bad race.” If you smack the wall and finish in 39th place at New Hampshire, Dover, Kansas…or any other Chase race place, unless everyone else in The Chase has a bad race, you are DONE. So, eliminating drivers on a weekly basis happens occasionally. What does NASCAR have in store for us in the future Chase rules?
Who knows? But here is an opinion on what they could do…
Expand the Chase field to 15 drivers.
The top twelve in points after Richmond
Race winners who are not in the top 12. (This puts more of an emphasis on winning)
If there are more than three race winners not in the top twelve, grant them access to the Chase by hierarchy of points.
If there are less than three race winners not in the top twelve, grant access to those winners and then continue on with the point standings. (13th, 14th, etc.)
Reset the Points. Start the winner of the “regular season” with 6000 points, and subtract five points per position, leaving the 15th placed driver with 5930 points, seventy back from the leader.
THEN you add in the ten point bonuses for winning races throughout the season. 260 extra points up for grabs. Let’s not set the first Chase points by wins only. The sport is also about consistency, so let’s acknowledge the regular season points as something other than a pass to get into the Chase. Make them worth something. Once the bonuses have been added in, then you reset the standings.
Example: Let’s use this season, and assume the regular season ended last week, and we’re setting the field for the Chase.
Top 12 in points
Kevin Harvick
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Kurt Busch
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch
Matt Kenseth
Jeff Burton
Tony Stewart
Greg Biffle
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (and the crowd goes nuts)
Carl Edwards
Now, add in the top three point scoring race winners outside of the top twelve.
Ryan Newman (Phoenix)
Jamie McMurray (Daytona)
Since there were only two race winners not in the top 12 in points, we go back to the points, and look at the thirteenth spot, adding Mark Martin to the field.
So, your Chase field, and resulting points would look like this:
Harvick 6000
Gordon 5995
Johnson 5990
Kurt Busch 5985
Hamlin 5980
Kyle Busch 5975
Kenseth 5970
Burton 5965
Stewart 5960
Biffle 5955
Earnhardt Jr. 5950
Edwards 5945
Newman 5940
McMurray 5935
Martin 5930
Now, you add in the bonuses for wins, and your points to begin the Chase look like this:
Johnson 6040
Hamlin 6030
Harvick 6020
Kurt Busch 6005
Gordon 5995
Kyle Busch 5995
Kenseth 5970
Burton 5965
Stewart 5960
Biffle 5955
Earnhardt Jr. 5950
Newman 5950
Edwards 5945
McMurray 5945
Martin 5930
Begin the eliminations…not at New Hampshire, though. Give the field a week to get into it. Eliminate the first driver after Dover. Whoever is 15th in the reset points…gone!!
Eliminate one driver after Kansas, California, Charlotte, and Martinsville, leaving ten drivers left in The Chase.
RESET THE POINTS.
Same as above, only this time bonus points for wins are awarded only for CHASE wins, so a maximum of 50 bonus point to be handed out.
After Talladega, begin eliminating TWO drivers per week. Two after Talladega, two after Texas, two after Phoenix, leaving four drivers remaining to go at winning the championship in the final race of the season.
Sure, it may have a flaw or two, it may be too extreme for some, too conservative for others, and the schedule is likely to be jumbled around in the coming seasons. The truth is, the power is in the hands of only a few, and those few hands belong to NASCAR. And with great power, comes great responsibility…
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Jim at.. Insider Racing News
