NASCAR Updates Championship Format
NASCAR has revised the Chase for the Championship format
Earlier this week, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France officially proclaimed the amendments to the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship format.
The much anticipated announcement was also somewhat predictable. Anyone who surfs the Internet for their NASCAR news was well aware that the alteration would entail placing the top twelve drivers in the Nextel Cup standings after the 26th race of the season into the Chase for the Championship instead of only ten, which was the case in 2004, 2005, and 2006.
Furthermore, instead of seeding the top twelve by how they were in the championship standings prior to the 27th race of the Nextel Cup season, the dirty dozen will all be reset at 5000 points, and each driver will receive 10 bonus points for each win they accrued throughout the first 26 races. The superfluous 400-point cutoff that never had a bearing on the Chase for the Championship has been deleted from the rulebook.
Never before in recent memory has winning a Nextel Cup race been as significant as it will be in 2007. NASCAR will award five additional points to the winner of each Nextel Cup race. Finally, NASCAR will reward winning, something that was lacking in the previous two championship formats.
While there are skeptics who query the switch from 10 to 12 championship chasers, may are pleased with the decision to put more emphasis on winning races. "I'm happy to see NASCAR increase the points for winning a race," NASCAR team owner Richard Childress said. "It makes winning that much more important. ... After all, winning is what this sport is all about."
Brian France disclosed that the motive of the championship modification was the desire to give the drivers even more of an incentive to win races. “The adjustments (to the Chase for the Championship) taken put a greater emphasis on winning races," France said at the Monday morning press conference. "Winning is what this sport is all about. Nobody likes to see drivers content to finish in the top 10. We want our sport -- especially during the Chase -- to be more about winning."
But what about consistency? Consistency has been the backbone of many championships won in recent years, just ask Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch. This revised format takes away a lot of the impact that consistency once had. And now that the top 12 qualifies for the Chase for the Championship, you don’t even have to really win or be consistent to get into the championship hunt.
Greg Biffle didn’t win very often, nor was he consistent in 2006, yet under this format, he would have made the Chase for the Championship. Perhaps NASCAR should continue seed the drivers by how they were in the standings after the 26th race, and then add the ten bonus points for winning a race. This would be the ultimate balance between winning and consistency.
