It’s been 20 years since NASCAR first utilized a playoff system to determine the NASCAR Cup Series champion.
And while the format has varied, the purpose of it has remained constant: keep the champion from being decided before the final race.
The next-to-last race of the year has been the scene of many title celebrations. When Dale Earnhardt tied Richard Petty with his seventh Cup in 1994, The Intimidator was handed the big trophy with one race yet to be run. It was the third of his seven crowns to be wrapped up before the final checkered flag waved.
In four of the final five years prior to the implementation of a playoff, the title was mathematically locked up in the penultimate race of the year. True, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin did put on a spirited battle in 2002 that went down to the wire. But from 1998 through 2001, there’s no denying that Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and then Gordon again stunk up the show a bit.
Gordon’s 1998 was a mastery of winning races, and he simply scored the most points by finishing first the most. In fact, there was a run of six races where eventual championship runner-up Martin finished second, second, second, fourth, first and second, yet lost ground to Gordon because the No. 24 won five of those six contests. None of the championship formats used throughout NASCAR history would’ve ended with anyone else winning the ’98 title.
Jarrett and Labonte both used a more consistent approach, not only winning four races in their title seasons, but finishing in the top five and top 10 more than anyone else.
But in 2003, Matt Kenseth took stifling consistency to a whole new (and arguably undesirable) level. Kenseth only won one race that season: at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
However, through 28 races, Kenseth had only finished worse than 14th on two occasions, and those were a 20th and 22nd, respectively. Needless to say, he had built up a massive lead in the standings to that point. Kevin Harvick trailed the No. 17 by 465 points, which meant that even if Kenseth finished last in every remaining event, it would take Harvick at least three races to surpass him.
Despite back-to-back showings of 33rd and 36th, Kenseth clinched the championship in the next-to-last race at Rockingham Speedway. The lackluster title fight sucked most of the drama out of the final races, which certainly didn’t sit well with the sanctioning body.
But Kenseth and the No. 17 Dewalt team did everything right. After all, the system was designed to reward consistency. It didn’t matter that other drivers had more wins, top fives and races led than he did. Kenseth only led in 18 of his Cup starts in 2003, which amounted to merely half of them. But when he had a bad day, the team did a great job minimizing the impact.
The idea for a playoff didn’t come solely from Kenseth’s dominance, but it was certainly a contributing factor. NASCAR leaders were possibly trying to compare their championship moments with other sports in the early 2000s. This wouldn’t have been ideal, as multiple stick-and-ball leagues were in the midst of a wave of epic battles between nontraditional contenders.
For instance, it seemed the Super Bowl winner was being determined on the final play, year after year. The World Series was a revolving door of teams that had rarely ever come close to a title before. So it’s easy to see how NASCAR officials were certainly under pressure to keep up with the Joneses.
It’s hard to say how things will play out at Martinsville Speedway in regards to the 2024 championship. This much is known: four drivers will lose a shot at the title and no one will clinch it. No matter your opinion, you can thank, or blame, Matt Kenseth for that.
Frank Velat has been an avid follower of NASCAR and other motorsports for over 30 years. He brings a blend of passionate fan and objective author to his work. Frank offers unique perspectives that everyone can relate to, remembering the sport's past all the while embracing its future.
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IT IS BRIAN’S FAULT!!!!!!!!!
brian france wanted nascar to have a playoff system like college football/basketball or the nfl. to draw more fans into the sport who otherwise might not bother to look at nascar racing.
he created this mess.
I think it was primarily because Kenseth wasn’t all that popular, by comparison, to Gordon, Martin, Earnhardt Jr, etc. I remember the wailing and gnashing of teeth (primarily from non-Kenseth fans) about how undeserving a Champion he was. Did they say the same thing about Benny Parsons in ’73?
Benny won by 67.15 points! Not exactly a runaway. And if there was a DVP He would not have been able to fix his car after it was almost destroyed in a crash.
Closest points finishes up to 2003:
1970 51
1979 11
1980 19
1981 53
1982 72
1983 47
1988 24
1989 12
1990 26
1992 10
1995 34
1996 37
1997 14
2002 38
Interesting… I see the largest gaps going backwards from 2003:
2003 = 90
2001 = 349
2000 = 265
1999 = 201
1998 = 364
1994 = 444
1991 = 195
1987 = 489
1986 = 288
1985 = 101
1978 = 474
1977 = 386
1976 = 195
1975 = 722
1974 = 567
1972 = 127
1971 = 364
By comparison, the 2003 Championship was fairly competitive. It’s not like a total runaway, even though Matt pretty much just showed up for the last 2 races (I think he finished both races somewhere in the 30’s).
I mean, thank God Kenseth won it that year otherwise Jimmie would have 8 (assuming “The Chase” was already in the works and would have occurred anyway).
Ryan Newman won 8 races in 2003 and wound up 6th in the Championship!
Blast from the past, the 17 winners in 2003 were:
Matt Kenseth
Ryan Newman
Ricky Craven
Dale Jarrett
Joe Nemechek
Greg Biffle
Michael Waltrip
Terry Labonte
Bobby Labonte
Bill Elliott
Robby Gordon
Tony Stewart
Dale Jr
Kurt Busch
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Kevin Harvick
2003 was when I started seriously watching, which turned out great as I was a Matt Kenseth fan. I remember reading that Ryan Newman was feast or famine that year, as he had a lot of DNFs to go with those 8 wins. He and his crew chief also figured out they could come in and top off their fuel with one to go, and stay out later than everyone else, contributing to some of those wins.
Joey Lgono sucks
Sorry
I’d like to see a comparison of the regular points vs the chase results.
I found an article, google “NASCAR would have had 12 different champions if Playoffs never existed” and it should come up. Summary:
2004: Jeff Gordon wins (5th Championship) instead of Kurt Busch
2005: Tony Stewart still wins #2
2006: Jimmie Johnson still wins (1st Championship)
2007: Jeff Gordon wins #6 instead of Jimmie Johnson
2008: Carl Edwards wins (1st Championship) instead of Jimmie Johnson
2009: Jimmie Johnson still wins #2
2010: Kevin Harvick wins #1 instead of Jimmie Johnson
2011: Carl Edwards wins #2 instead of Tony Stewart
2012: Brad Keselowski still wins
2013: Jimmie Johnson still wins #3
2014: Jeff Gordon wins #7 instead of Kevin Harvick
2015: Kevin Harvick wins #2 instead of Kyle Busch
2016: Kevin Harvick wins #3 instead of Jimmie Johnson
2017: Martin Truex still wins
2018: Kyle Busch wins instead of Joey Logano
2019: Kyle Busch still wins
2020: Kevin Harvick wins #4 instead of Chase Elliott
2021: Kyle Larson still wins
2022: Chase Elliott wins instead of Joey Logano
2023: William Byron wins instead of Ryan Blaney
Some interesting changes.
Gordon goes from 4 to 7 Championships, and Johnson from 7 to 3
Stewart goes from 3 to 2, and Harvick goes from 1 to 4
Carl Edwards gets 2, and Joey Logano gets 0
Kyle Bush loses one / wins one, but stays at 2 while brother Kurt loses 1 to 0
You can’t compare different eras, because the drivers race differently based on each points format. The only one that was a lock was Jeff Gordon in 2007, he ran away from the field all year, but faltered in the last few races and let Johnson beat him.
As I remember it, Kenseth had the most wins in 2002 but failed to win the championship. After the point was made that the championship was based on consistency, not wins, he changed his approach and won in 2003 on consistency.
The playoff system was created after all the complaints that K had won the championship early and with few wins.