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Okay, let start by saying that I want this to be a calm debate about what is happening right now in NASCAR.

A lot of people on this site have mentioned their hate for the Chase. As some of you know, I do not share that opinion. I think that the chase is a great idea that prevents a champion being decided two or three races before Homestead. Yes, Jimmie Johnson has stunk up the show for the past three years, and the winning margin for the champion has increased every year. That said, that is more than likely going to change this year.

We have great champions like Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon trying to dethrone Jimmie from an unprecedented fourth championship in a row. We have people like Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Juan Montoya who have gone winless this year who would have an outside chance in the old system now being right there in the hunt after Richmond. Let’s not forget the two winningest drivers this year in Kyle Busch and Mark Martin who would have no chance to get to Tony because of some bad luck and missteps in the season.

In the old system, the race this weekend would just be another race. With it being the 26th and final race for the regular season and the cutoff to the chase, drama could not be any higher right now in NASCAR. There are 11 drivers going for 8 spots in the championship hunt with the guy in 5th in points not having a guaranteed spot secured.

I know some people say that the guy in 12 in points should not have a chance at the championship because they have not proven to be Championship caliber. So let me set up a situation. A team in the NBA gets the 8th seed in the playoffs by just getting an above .500 record in the season. They face the previous years’ champions in the first round, and get dominated the first two games in the series. After that they do just enough in the next three games to win them. In the 6th game of the series, they hit a buzzer beater to win their fourth game and knocking of the former champs. They then go off and win the next two series by some very slim margins and miraculously pull off the upset of the century and win the NBA championship.

Do they not deserve to be champions because they under preformed in the regular season? So why is it such a big deal to give Matt Kenseth a chance when he underperformed in the regular season?

I just cannot see any reason why there is so much disdain for the chase when it has created a way to create excitement and anticipation for the next 11 races. I know I will be watching and most of you will be too.

NASCAR (or racing in general) is not like the NBA, or most any other stick and ball sport in the fact that it is not 1 v 1(or 5 v 5, you understand my point). I do not believe that a post season really works in racing, because it is not a bracket system, or anything of that sort. It does not in any way reward how well you have done in the "regular season" sans 10 bonus points for each win. Tony wouldn't go head to head in a best of 7 races with JPM.

Also, last year, both Nationwide and Trucks were closer than Cup going into the final race, not necessarily proving, but making a good case for how probable a close championship is without the Chase as opposed to it.

One more example, in 2003, when Matt Kensith dominated all year, he had a bad last two or three races and, though he had the championship wrapped up with one race to go, he only won by i think 90 points (I'm too lazy to look it up right now).

I personally think the Chase should be 5 or 6 races and you set up some sort of elimination process over the first couple races so the top 5 in points are the only ones gunning for the championship in the final race.

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TBH, even now, it still seems morally wrong to me to wipe out the points leaders' advantage to nothing and basically put the top-12 on equal footing even though 12th place was 600+ points behind the leader before the Chase. But it's the same for everyone. The rules are laid out for everyone and it's up to you to change your gameplan to maximize your performance during the Chase, like the #48 team has done. It creates a lot of excitement during mid-season as to who'll get in, and then, keeps the Championship battle going to the last race, theoretically anyway. If the #99 team hadn't made those huge mistakes at Talladega and Charlotte last year, they'd have taken it to Johnson's face easily. Hopefully, with the depth of competition this year, and no one really appearing as strong going into the Chase as the #48 was last year at this point, we'll have a 2004-esque battle coming right down to the wire at Homestead.

Just remember this. Everyone starts the season with 0 points. Everyone knows that after 26 races the top 12 points are reset. Everyone races according to this. Everyone would race different if it the were the old way.

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Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

i agree

personally i think the chase is a good idea as it keeps the best drivers close and able to fight for the championship

*i am only a vguely new NASCAR fan - do the reset the points so all the top 12 are completely equal?*

They all get reset to 5,000 points and each driver is awarded 10 bonus points for every win they have. For example, if the Chase started right now, Mark Martin would be seeded #1 with 5,040 points.

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Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

thanks

I despise the Chase. It de-legitimizes the other races, and it de-legitimizes a good season that someone may have had before, like what Tony Stewart's had this year. It's despicable to think that Tony's got a 200+ point lead, and at the end of Saturday, it'll be cut down to nothing, and Tony'll lose his point lead, in favor of some fossil who phones it in when he's got the shot to win a race, and drives like a mid-pack driver half the time. That's not right. It's not legitimate. Anyone with half a brain would tell you that a true champion would be decided because of his performance of an entire season, not over a special 10-race stretch that throws out the first 26 races. If it means the champion is decided two or three races before Homestead, so be it. The others should have tried harder to beat them.



I have an extreme dislike for the Chase because that "excitement" and "anticipation" is artificially produced. I sincerely doubt that there was anything artificial about the last race of 1992. That was a legit points battle, and it was settled on the track, not because of some rules that some crackhead wrote up.



Nah, I won't. Unless Tony gets his points lead back, that he shouldn't even be stripped of in the first place, I'll be watching the NFL. I'd much rather watch the Patriots blow out the Lions, 75-0, instead of some boring-ass Chase race at Kansas. If it's a Saturday race, I'm sure that there's some college games on. The only two races I intend to watch at all during this Chase is Loudon (to see if Tony gets his lead back), and Talladega (for obvious reasons).

NASCAR officials must have been really high on some strong shit when they came up with the Chase.

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-Joe.
Atlanta United FC | Cincinnati Reds | Atlanta Falcons | Tennessee Titans

Don't forget...1987...Dale Earnhardt won the championship by 489 points over Bill Elliot.

By that logic, the Chase would have been implemented by 1988, but Bill France Jr. is too smart of a man to implement such a system, especially when Earnhardt had 11 wins that year.

Instead, Matt Kenseth won only one race (that probably no one cares about anyway), yet he maintained the points lead throughout the season. Why? Consistency. Everyone knows that consistency wins championships. Through the 36-race season, not 10 races. 10 races is not enough races to determine if the guy deserves it. We all know that Jimmie Johnson has the consistency through that ten-race span, and I doubt that he's much of a contender for the first 26 races. Brian France just got a knee-jerk reaction and implemented the Chase in which it is flawed in itself. I bet you that if someone has a 11-race winning season and leading the points by under 500 points under the old system, Brian will decide to implement the chase because of that.

Oh well, there's football and hockey season to look forward to.

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Ducks Angels Sounders Spurs

I think I know already, but I'll ask anyway. Does anyone think Brian France will switch Cup back to a legitimate points system?

The answer is obvious: no

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Ducks Angels Sounders Spurs

I want to see someone win the Championship who didn't win a race all year.

Here's what needs to happen if we want to see it go back (still doubtful). Earnhardt Jr needs to dominate the first 26 races, have a 500 whatever point lead, then implode like Kyle Busch did. Then, we might get a change.

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Gael

I personally want to see someone dominate so comprehensively that they win the title with a race or two to go in the season.

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-Joe.
Atlanta United FC | Cincinnati Reds | Atlanta Falcons | Tennessee Titans

Only Jimmie can do that

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Ducks Angels Sounders Spurs

You can write all about which is better chase or no chase.

At the end of the day I'm still more likely to watch football.

If NASCAR so despertly wants to have good ratings at end and create an "exciting championship" shorten the damn season.

And to think that some people want a Chase system implemented in other categories...

Personally I don't like the Chase, I'd much rather someone win a championship by 500 points over a full season rather than someone winning a championship by 2 points over the last 10 races. I thought a championship was across all the races, not the last 10, making the first 26 seemingly useless.

I pretty much agree with Joey's post. I have much more interest and respect for a championship that uniformly rewards the team that performs the best over the entire span of the season as opposed to anything playoff-related whatsoever. NASCAR is such a vastly different sport than the so-called "stick and ball" sports that have had mainstream success for so long. NASCAR is a newcomer in the mainstream compared to these other sports and it gained such a strong position through being a unique entity in so many ways. I don't understand NASCAR's burning desire to conform to the ways of other sports in the face of all its great successes of the past. I know it's been five years and I've come to accept that the Chase is here to stay, but sometimes when I dwell on it a little too much it still feels like a bit of a slap in the face, to use a bit of a melodramatic expression.

That being said, I'm still watching the races of course. Still infinitely more interesting to me than football. Hell I'd rather watch some shitty Michael Bay movie than an NFL game.

For a season as long as they run, a playoffs system is good to keep the fans watching. The major beef I have with it is why they continue to run with 43 cars through the final races, it should be cut back to 30-35.

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Vorsprung durch Technik.

I'd still treat any Chase race like its any other race on the schedule, even Talladega (that track jacks me up more than any other).

I liked the Chase at first (because of the great battle during it inaugural season in 2004 and Stewart holding off Jimmie Johnson and then-surprising Carl Edwards), but ever since 2006, Johnson has made that 10-race stretch his own personal playground. If he four-peats it, then I can only hope that Brian France can Jimmie-proof the Chase.

Otherwise, get rid of it.