October 6, 2008
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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Love it or hate it, NASCAR’s playoff format is here to stay. However, some NASCAR purists saw nothing wrong with old system and wish it hadn’t been changed.
Under the old format, a driver with a lot of success early in the season could build up a significant lead and run away with the championship. In several instances, a driver could have not participated in the last several races and still would have won the title. At best under the old format, only two or three drivers would have a realistic chance of winning at this point in the season.
Still, there are those that like to argue about could have been. If not for the chase, Jeff Gordon would have two more champions under his belt giving him six total, one shy of tying the great NASCAR legends Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, a feat that more than likely never will be accomplished given NASCAR’s new points format.
NASCAR’s Race for the Chase is comparable to the NFL playoffs. The first 26 races are the regular season and drivers should prepare for making the post season.
Kyle Busch had phenomenal success early in the year, winning eight races and posting dismal results in every Chase race so far, dropping him completely out of title contention. As of the Kansas race, Busch is 12th in the standings and under the old format would be third, just 124 out of the lead. Yet, Greg Biffle won the first two races of the post season without winning a single race during the regular season.
Much like the New England Patriots of last year who went undefeated during the regular season and choked in the Super Bowl, most people were ready to crown Kyle Busch as the next NASCAR champion.
The beauty of NASCAR’s new format is that more drivers have a chance of winning the title. With the old format, the gap from first to 12th place is 671 points whereas instead it is only 311. In the old format, Dale Earnhardt Jr., would be in 4th place, 323 points behind, more than Kyle Busch currently is in 12th place under the current format.
Realistically, only three drivers would have a shot at winning the title this season under the old points system: Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch. And Greg Biffle, winner of the first two chase races wouldn’t be anywhere near the top of the standings. Biffle would be in 6th place 361 points behind instead of the 30 he is behind now.
Consistency pays during this point in the season a lot more than it does during NASCAR’s regular season. The current top three drivers have been dominating most of the races lately, but just a little bad luck from any of them and the championship is thrown wide open again.
The argument that most drivers have with the current format is that with one bad race, you fall so far behind it is difficult to make up any ground with so many other drivers ahead of you. And you can’t expect all of the drivers ahead in the standings to have bad races.
Still, NASCAR’s new format has achieved it’s intended purpose, giving more drivers a chance to win the Championship in a format that will more than likely come down to the final lap of the final race.
New Points System (Current Points After Kansas)
1. Jimmie Johnson 5575
2. Carl Edwards 5565 -10
3. Greg Biffle 5545 -30
4. Jeff Burton 5454 -121
5. Kevin Harvick 5439 -136
6. Jeff Gordon 5432 -143
7. Clint Bowyer 5411 -164
8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 5385 -190
9. Matt Kenseth 5383 -192
10. Denny Hamlin 5332 -243
11. Tony Stewart 5320 -255
12. Kyle Busch 5264 -311
Old Points System (Points After Kansas)
1. Carl Edwards 4186
2. Jimmie Johnson 4111 -75
3. Kyle Busch 4062 -124
4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 3863 -323
5. Jeff Burton 3828 -358
6. Greg Biffle 3825 -361
7. Kevin Harvick 3722 -464
8. Jeff Gordon 3653 -533
9. Tony Stewart 3605 -581
10. Denny Hamlin 3557 -629
11. Clint Bowyer 3517 -669
12. Matt Kenseth 3515 -671
If you would like to learn more about Matthew, please check out his web site at matthew-pizzolato.com.
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