NASCAR Chase format adds excitement,
During early races, Chase rules produce drama and thrills
Critics may dismiss the NASCAR Chase format as too gimmicky.
“If it isn’t broken, we’ll work on it until it is,” NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip said when changes were rolled out before the start of the 2014 season.
I was all in with Waltrip back then. Tell it like it is, brother!
Now? We’ve officially become the “get-off-my-lawn” fuddy-duddies.
The Chase format is a great deal. Cool beans, too, because the changes appeal more to a newer generation of fans and not traditionalists.
It has created, as NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France predicted, “Game 7 moments.”
We saw one last year when Kevin Harvick, facing a must-win, rallied to grab the checkered flag at Phoenix and advance to the final four. We saw it a few days ago when Harvick did the same such thing at Dover. And it isn’t just winning that matters. Dale Earnhardt Jr. grabbed third, one spot ahead of Jamie McMurray, to snag the final spot from him and move on from the first elimination round. All Game 7 moments. “If you’re not ready for it, it’ll eat you up,” said Harvick, who moved on, along with 11 other drivers, to the next round.
And now, all 12 had their points reset to the same total. After three more races, just eight will advance. After Charlotte and Kansas, who will survive the haphazard chaos of the elimination race at Talladega?
“That’s what’s so neat about this format is now everybody is even again,” said Carl Edwards, who also advanced. “It sure is pressure-packed.”
And of course it’s also gimmicky. Doesn’t every sport have such deals?
World Cup games can be decided on penalty kicks. The NFL has a quirky playoff rule that allows the team that gets the first possession in overtime to win if it scores a touchdown. That rule helped inspire the Tim Tebow “All he does is win!” narrative. Check the Broncos-Steelers box score from January 2012.
Major League Baseball is staging its one-and-done wild-card games this week.
Traditionalists cringe at all these things. But change is inevitable in everything, not just sports. No system is perfect. NASCAR has tweaked the Chase four times since it was established in 2004, with each playing out to mixed results.
But the fact remains that NASCAR has too many quirky variables. You don’t just race one-on-one. There are always going to be 43 drivers, with wild cards in the wild scramble among contenders.
But this incarnation remains the most dramatic and best of the bunch.
NASCAR has effectively eliminated racing for good points. Drivers can no longer sit back and collect points and expect to be fine. You have to be in it to win it, as Harvick was in Dover.
“The payoff when you get in these situations — the rush that you get out of these types of situations, just from the situation itself throughout the day and the moments — is something that are a lot of fun to be a part of,” Harvick said.
Harvick definitely felt the rush. So should you.