New Chase era,
Changes make comparing eras nearly impossible
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. It used to be much simpler for drivers to determine what a good year looked like.
Whoever had the best overall season — signified by total points accumulated after all the races — was the best driver. Then came the original Chase for the Sprint Cup, which had 10 drivers competing over 10 weeks to see who tallied the most points. The Chase later expanded to 12 drivers, then got a total overhaul in 2014 to the current system.
After two years of the 16-driver, four-round, elimination-style playoff format — or as Brad Keselowski calls it, the “Powerball factor” on the standings — drivers are divided on what makes for a successful campaign.
The last couple of years have been so drastically different from anything before that the record books could use a dividing line.
New Chase Era: 2014-present
“It’s hard to compare pre-Chase champions with (original) Chase champions and now today’s Chase champions,” Matt Kenseth said. “It’s just totally different. Two years ago, you could have had a driver who didn’t win a race (Ryan Newman) win the championship. Last year, Kyle (Busch) ran half the season and won it. So you can’t even compare it. You get to the end of the year and you have five wins, and that doesn’t buy you anything.”
Joey Logano had a series-high six wins in 2015. The Team Penske driver had more top-fives and top-10s than Jimmie Johnson did in any of his six title seasons. Logano’s average finish (9.2) was better than any Cup champ in the last 15 years. Yet he finished sixth in the standings.
“We won the right amount of races, we had the right amount of top-five finishes, we had zero DNFs (did not finish) — zero! — and we finished sixth,” he said.
Sixth place isn’t that great. Six wins is. So in this New Chase Era, how does anyone define a good year anymore?
“I think these days if you don’t win, it doesn’t really matter,” Logano said. “If you don’t win the championship, it doesn’t mean a whole bunch after that.” DIFFERING VIEWS It seems like it. But not everyone in the garage shares that view.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said a good year is defined by wins. Kurt Busch said it’s wins and making the top eight. Johnson and Kevin Harvick said it’s making the final four.
“The sport defines a good season by a championship,” 2012 Sprint Cup champion Keselowski said. “I don’t think the drivers necessarily define it that way. I think the drivers define it by how competitive you are, how many wins you have and how close to winning races you were.”
How little does the actual points position matter now? In December, two weeks after the season ended, Earnhardt insisted he had no idea where he finished.
He asked a nearby public relations representative, who told Earnhardt he placed 12th.
“So I finished 12th,” he said. “And I don’t even give a (crap) about it.”
What does he care about? Sta- tistics such as wins, average finish, top-fives and top-10s. Last season Earnhardt tied career highs in the latter two categories.
“With the way this Chase chews you up and spits you out, if you’re not the champion, it doesn’t even matter where you end up,” Earnhardt said. “I used to take personal stock in where you ended up in the points because it was earned over a large part of the season. … (Now) I look at those (other) stats and decide whether I feel good about it.”
Three-time champion Tony Stewart said the new Chase was exciting for fans and the right move for NASCAR, but he said looking at the different eras was comparing apples and oranges.
“The old system where you ran all year and the points you got decided the champion, that’s what defined a true champion to me,” he said. “It’s not somebody that can go out that last race and win one race. That’s not what defines your year.”
Even Johnson said his six titles can’t really be compared to a championship won under the current system. But Earnhardt argued the new format doesn’t mean the champion somehow is unworthy. NASCAR still creates a deserving winner, he said.
“It’s changed so much that the past is a bit of a blur to me,” he said. “It’s a bit lost. But I like what we’re doing, and this is what we have to do, and it’s the new norm. It’s bringing a lot of excitement — and that’s really what matters in the end.”