New Chase Format Provides Something NASCAR Was Missing

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

NASCAR’s new chase format is not a perfect system and that’s okay because few things in this world are perfect. While the current system has some flaws it is by far the best system that NASCAR has used in some time to decide its champion. This new system has brought excitement, drama and emotion back to the sport and as a result of that NASCAR should not make any changes to this format any time in the near future.

There are some NASCAR fans out there that are begging NASCAR to bring back the old system of determining a champion. The old system being where a driver gets points for every race and whoever has the most points at the end of the season is the champion. This format was great and all but why have a 36-race season when the championship will most likely be decided every season come race No. 30. Under this format the majority of NASCAR seasons saw the last handful of races meaningless when it came to crowning a champion because the point lead was astronomical. Compared to the new format, this format is boring.

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It would be like the NFL crowning its champion at the end of the regular season based on which team has the most wins or has scored the most points. The same could be said for MLB, NHL and the NBA. Sure, in those four sports the team with the most wins or points at the end of the season is probably one of the best teams in the league but it wouldn’t be an exciting way to name a champion nor would it truly test the sports best teams the way a playoff environment does.

In some respects NASCAR has always been stuck in the dark ages when it comes to naming a champion as compared to the big-four. The introduction of the chase a decade ago offered hope that NASCAR was going to change that but ultimately the chase has failed up until this season. Under the older versions of the chase NASCAR would reset the points with 10 races to go and it would be a sprint to the title. In most seasons that did little to nothing in making the last few races matter because the majority of those seasons the championship was clinched come the last few races. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule and one of those is the epic showdown between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards. Unfortunately, the previous chase format was never able to deliver that kind of drama on a regular basis.

One of the things that make other sports great is parity. Yes, every season every sport is going to have teams that you know are going to be good and that’s fine. However, every other big sport also has parity which produces teams that surprise us. This past season it was the Kansas City Royals in baseball and now it is the Cleveland Browns in football. Parity is important because it gives fans the hope that maybe this year is going to be their year. For the longest time NASCAR has lacked parity and you could argue that it has hurt the product. Jimmie

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Johnson winning five championships in a row is impressive but it’s also disheartening. No fan of any sport wants to watch the same thing happen over and over.

The new chase format offers the parity that NASCAR desperately needs. If a driver wins during the regular season (first 26 races) they make it to the playoffs. If a driver is consistent and has strong finishes and avoids disasters they can make it to the playoffs on points. The new chase offers hope to all drivers which in turn offers hope to all fans. The perfect example of this is obviously Ryan Newman. At the beginning of the season nobody aside from a fan of Newman would have picked the driver of the No. 31 car to finish top-four in the points, much less contend for a title. Newman is having that season that the Royals and Browns had in the other sports, Newman is the evidence that there is now parity in NASCAR. The final-four drivers in the chase represent four different teams and three different manufacturers; it truly is a beautiful thing. On top of all that, there is going to be a first-time champion crowned regardless of which of the four drivers wins the title this upcoming weekend.

Parity aside, the new format makes all 36 races matter for the first time. The first 26 races are all important because it’s during that time that any driver could win and secure their spot in the playoff. The next 9 races matter because it takes the championship contenders from 16 to 4 and then of course the last race is the championship race which will also feature four drivers vying for a title. The new format has created emotion and drama from drivers and fans that the sport has not seen in a long time. The more drivers that think they have a shot to win a title means that there are going to be more driver (and as a result fans bases) who believe that they can win a title. That belief leads to high drama and great emotion and that has been seen time and again from drivers and fans over the last nine races. This format has essentially turned the last 10 races of the season into must-watch TV.

The new format will always have its detractors and that is fine because no sport is ever going to please every fan. While the new chase format isn’t perfect, it makes up for that by providing NASCAR with so many things that it needed and lacked over the years. If NASCAR is able to avoid there seemingly constant need to change the rules and they keep this format; it will prove to be a smart decision down the road.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.