NASCAR officials still debating changes to Chase, leaning toward eliminating drivers
NASCAR Chairman Brian France discusses possible changes to the Chase. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Illustrated
INDIANAPOLIS – NASCAR officials are still debating several changes to the Chase For The Sprint Cup format for next year but are leaning toward a system that would eliminate drivers from the playoffs, NASCAR Chairman Brian France said Sunday.
France didn’t give much insight into what could be changed. He said he will attend focus groups with fans in two weeks to get their input and is still cultivating reaction from the NASCAR industry to a variety of proposals.
“Regarding the options that we have on the table, the only ones we would consider are ones that would make winning at a given moment more important than they are today,” France said Sunday prior to the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“How you do that? There’s a number of ways to do that. It comes with some version as you go along where certain races in the Chase, you have to win or do very, very well, to in fact move on. When you peel that back and look at it, it’s not that different,”
Under the current format, the top 12 drivers after 26 races make the Chase and have their points adjusted to 5,000, with a 10-point bonus for each win. Points are awarded during the final 10 races just as they are for the first 26, and the driver with the most total points wins the championship.
Drivers that have trouble early in the Chase, while mathematically still alive, are often virtually eliminated, so France said the new format could make that more formal. He said the new format is not being changed to keep four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson from winning.
“If we had the perfect Chase that [we] would love to see, it would be just like every commissioner would tell you – they’d love to see great playoff events, as many Game 7 series as possible,” France said. “And when they get Game 7 or the final of the NCAA Tournament or the Super Bowl, whatever [is] their sporting event, they’re going to tell you it’s an action-packed, close game, lots of story lines, and that’s what they’re after and that’s what anybody is after.
“We’re no different. … [We want] our format to be more consistent with delivering those results and still have the flavor of NASCAR, which we obviously have 43 teams on the same field at the same time and different dynamics than anybody else has. We’ll figure it out … but whatever we [decide] is not going to be all that much different in that every formula we run, Jimmie Johnson would win anyway. Winning and being the best [overall], we’re going to balance that out correctly.”
It is possible no changes will be made, France said.
“We haven’t made a decision. We may not think the timing is right. … Not changing the Chase is definitely a viable option,” he said.
“The Chase, although we haven’t seen the results of that as often as we’d like, is certainly better than the total consistency model that was in place for so many years.”
France said NASCAR considered changing the Chase last year.
“We’re going to make changes in the Chase that we think will serve us well for many, many years,” France said. “That means it’s not something we’re reacting to, whether it’s more ratings that we want or something like that. We look at these things annually.
“We looked at them very hard last year, almost a similar format change that is being proposed. There are a few, but one in particular, that we didn’t think the timing was right. We were making changes in lots of other areas. There’s only so much you can do.”
Not all the drivers are in agreement with what should be done.
“They’re competitors,” France said. “I don’t know if there’s anything we can present to Jimmie Johnson – I don’t blame him by the way – on a championship format that he would think is as good as we have now. That’s not surprising. We take all of that into consideration.”
