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To Chase or Not to Chase

An Opinion




September 13, 2010

By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato



Now that this year's twelve man field for the Chase for the Championship has been set, a few questions arise. Has the Chase lost some of its luster and does the Chase even need to exist at all?

The countdown to the Chase seemed to fall flat this year. Usually, qualifying for NASCAR's post season contains much more drama. While a handful of drivers had a mathematical chance going into Richmond, the Chase field was virtually set by last weekend's race at Atlanta. So, should something be done to make the Chase more exciting?

There are some racing purists who long for the old point system and who hate the Chase altogether, while there are a few who like the idea of the Chase but believe that the format needs to be changed.

Both schools of thought have valid points.

The old point system rewarded consistency throughout the entire season. Yet often times, one driver would build such a substantial lead in the points that the Championship would be decided with a month or two of racing left.

With the Chase, all a driver needs to do is be good enough to qualify for the playoffs and then be consistent through a ten race stretch. It makes the first twenty-six races of the season seem pointless.

NASCAR installed the Chase for the Championship to keep that one driver from locking up the Championship too early. Also, all of the other major sport series have playoff formats that create drama at the end of their seasons, which is something NASCAR officials wanted as well.

The idea and intention behind changing to the Chase format is right, but the format itself is flawed.

Yet, there is a pundit on every street corner with ideas on how to fix the Chase. Some of those ideas are pretty good that NASCAR officials should listen to, while others are downright ludicrous.

Still, something needs to be done and there have been rumors circulating this season about possible changes coming to the Chase.

One of the ideas being bandied about is expanding the field from 12 drivers to 15, which would be a very bad idea. NASCAR already expanded the field from 10 to 12 and that didn't work. Expanding the field further would only make matters worse.

"I think we already added more guys, and I'm not sure why, to make it to where more guys had a chance," Hamlin was quoted as saying in a David Caraviello article on nascar.com. "Truly, there's no reason a guy who's 12th in points or 15th in points should have a right to race for a championship, where the first 26 races he ran horrible or mediocre. How is that fair that he gets a chance to win a championship just in the last 10?"

If officials want to keep adding to the number of drivers in contention for the Championship at the end of the year, it would make just as much sense to reset the points for all 43 drivers with ten races left.

If anything, the number of drivers that qualify for the Chase should be reduced, to eight, or even five. That way only Championship caliber teams would be in contention at the end of the year.

NASCAR has a reputation of not listening to the fans, at least not until it is too late. It's no secret that despite all of NASCAR's best efforts, its fan base is disappearing faster than tax money on Capital Hill.

If NASCAR wants to keep from losing any more of its fans, the right changes need to be made. Don't change something just for the sake of changing it. All that does is alienate the long time fans.



If you would like to learn more about Matthew, please check out his web site at matthew-pizzolato.com.



You can contact Matthew Pizzolato at .. Insider Racing News

You Can Read Other Articles By Matthew Pizzolato

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.

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