The Chase is back, NASCAR announced Jan. 12.
It resembles the championship points format that was used from 2004-2013, where every race matters.
The NASCAR Cup Series will have 10 races in the postseason, where whoever has the most points at the end of those 10 races will be the champion. In the NASCAR O’Reilly Series it’s the final nine events of the year, and in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series it’s seven races.
There is no more “win and you’re in.” Instead, winning drivers will get 55 points. The top 16 Cup drivers in points at the end of the regular season will be in the Chase (12 for O’Reilly; 10 for Trucks).
Additionally, the top driver at the end of the regular season will get a 25 point-cushion over second place entering the postseason.
Here’s the seeding for the Cup Series Chase drivers (with O’Reilly cut off at 12 and Trucks at 10):
“As NASCAR transitions to a revised championship model, the focus is on rewarding driver and team performance each and every race,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR President, said. “At the same time, we want to honor NASCAR’s storied history and the traditions that have made the sport so special. Our fans are at the heart of everything we do, and this format is designed to honor their passion every single race weekend.”
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
Better–now get rid of stages.
Stop making sense.
We are all too stupid to enjoy a race without periodically creating artificial excitement. We would all get bored and stop watching if the fastest car were to lead more than five consecutive laps, as we are idiots, and do not consider this excitement. We need periodic double file restarts, so we can have more crashes and excitement. Without stage breaks, there may be strategy, and we are not intelligent enough to understand strategy, so strategy would not bring excitement. Without stage breaks, drivers may have to show the ability to manage their tires, proving their skill, which for stupid people like us, is not a form of excitement.
There’s so much excitement, my heart just can’t handle it, and I guess I’ll just have to watch other forms of racing, which reward consistency and excellence rather than random luck, which will bring me less excitement. Otherwise, I may have a massive coronary due to all of NASCAR’s excitement.
Better, but I really, really, really, really, hate stage breaks. The fact that a driver can walk away after a race with more points than the winner because he happened to lead the race at an arbitrary point in the event is absurd.
Or, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe all the other sports are wrong, too. Maybe the NFL should award two points to the team leading at the end of each quarter. Maybe the MLB team leading at the third and sixth innings should get a couple of bonus runs. The NBA can… well, you get the point.
I really, really, really, really, hate stage breaks.
I’m sure the NFL and MLB will consider your suggestion. And maybe the NHL can consider awarding a goal to the team with the most shots at the ten minute mark of the second period?
Although I’m not sure how long the considerations will take!
Well said. I also really, really, really, hate stage breaks.
While we’re at it, other sports should make sure that any trailing team which is far behind in points should be brought back to within striking distance, somewhere around 2/3 of the way through the game. Otherwise, the end of the game might not be exciting. Never mind the leading team earned that advantage.
Minor nitpick, but under the new points system, the race winner will always have more points than everyone else. I believe the best another driver can do is tie.
I also agree with you about the stage breaks. I think a lot of people would have been happy if they eliminated those. You knew it wasn’t going to happen though. $$$$$$$
POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS!!!!!!!
It still comes down to POINTS!
They could have just added more POINTS to the winner.s total in the Latford system!
Not quite as bad as it was but it still sucks. It should be a full season championship. All races should be equally important. It will not entice me to start watching again.
It’s better than what we’ve had for a long time, but not the season long championship many fans including me wanted. I see no need for playoffs or a “chase”. I doubt playoffs and such would be that important to the younger people they’re always chasing after instead of trying to please the long time fans.
I assume we’ll still have the ridiculous stage cautions to break up the race. I have no interest in these built in commercial breaks or GWC finishes.
Still deciding whether I’ll devote any time to NASCAR this year or not. I’m honestly just fed up with it still.
Agree on all fronts. The interesting part is it seems NASCAR underestimated their younger fans as well, thinking they’d want contrived action all the time. NASCAR thought everyone was stupid, and wanted Playschool’s My First Racing Series every week.
We were all young once, and just because we’ve learned a bit over the years doesn’t make the younger fans stupid. Many see this nonsense for what it is, and have rejected the product.
Sure, they may be more interested if the races were a bit shorter, but they don’t want “entertainment racing”. They want actual racing.
Still too many drivers qualify. Top 5, maybe top 8 would be better. Drivers outside those have had mediocre seasons and shouldn’t even have a shot.
The chase format is arguably better for deciding a champion than the one race between four drivers format, but still won’t induce me to care any more about NASCAR and the championship. Nor will it induce to watch more NASCAR events.
good luck with that.
👎