Changes coming for races and playoffs

The biggest change to the new race structure will be splitting each event into three stages, with points up for grabs in each stage.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. >> NASCAR is taking a progressive approach to modernizing its series with a radical new format.

It’s complicated and confusing to explain.

But the panel that spent the last seven months on this overhaul promised it’s going to be the best thing to happen in NASCAR in a very long time.

“Wait until you see it on the racetrack,” said 2012 champion Brad Keselowski. “If you are watching right now, please trust us. When you see this on the racetrack, this is going to be the best racing you’ve ever seen.”

The overhaul announced Monday assigns three stages to every race. The top 10 drivers at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2 will be awarded points on a 10-through-1 scale. The third portion of the race will be for the overall victory, and although traditional point scoring will be applied for that stage, the win will be worth 40 points. The rest of the field will be scored on a 35 to 2 scale, and positions 36th to 40 will only receive 1 point.

All bonus points accumulated through the 26race regular season can be used in the 10-race playoff, which will no longer be called “The Chase.”

“You still have the start of the race, you still have the end of the race, and in between, there’s going to be a lot of moments,” said Denny Hamlin, leader of the driver council.

“I think that there’s a lot of different things within this — you don’t necessarily need to know how a watch works, you just need to know what time it is. I think you’re going to see better racing on the racetrack, and that’s all that matters.”

NASCAR worked with a wide range of industry stakeholders to come up with the changes. Heavily involved were the television networks, retired drivers Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton, current drivers from the driver council and team and track executives. Monster Energy, which signed last month as the title sponsor for NASCAR’s top series, was only informed of the changes in the last few weeks.

The new format begins with the Feb. 26 seasonopening Daytona 500.