[DeTomaso] NPC: NASCAR turns series into lottery.

Thu Jan 30 15:57:48 EST 2014

What a load of crap.

NASCAR confirms overhaul of Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship format
*The format has undergone many changes since its introduction 10 years ago*
By: Al Pearce on January 30, 2014

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[image: Under the new system Brad Keselowski would have made the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Chase last
season.]<http://www.autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20140130/NASCAR/140139985/AR/0/Keselowski-NASCAR-Chase-Sprint.jpg>
LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC - Under the new system Brad Keselowski would have made the
NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup last season.

NASCAR has confirmed what many in the stock-car industry have strongly
suspected for about 10 days: A new format will whittle a 16-driver Chase
for the Championship field to four contenders at the season-ending race at
Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16. The best finisher among those four is
your 2014 Sprint Cup champion.

"Our new championship format puts a greater emphasis on winning. It's
simpler to understand, and it expands the number of drivers who can run for
the championship," NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said during a
Thursday press conference in Charlotte. "This appeals to everybody and
checks all the boxes. It makes winning the most important thing, the thing
everybody will be focused on, because nobody likes points racing."

"We're extremely pleased that NASCAR has chosen to implement this
format<http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140130/NASCAR/edit.autoweek.com/article/20140130/NASCAR01/140139983>.
We have long felt that there was a greater opportunity within the Chase and
are in favor of an elimination format, which has been most effective in
American sports. We look forward to bringing the Chase to NASCAR fans this
fall," said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president of league sports
programming.

The new format was leaked -- intentionally, almost everyone agrees - in the
middle of this month. When France and NASCAR president Mike Helton unveiled
the new system and discussed them in their annual "State of the Sport"
message, the changes were virtually identical to the leaked version.

It works like this:

-- Sixteen drivers start the 10-race playoff. The field is set after the
Sept. 6 race at Richmond, and drivers must have won a race to qualify. If
16 drivers haven't won by then (very likely), the highest-ranked winless
drivers also advance. A driver must have run all 26 regular-season races to
qualify for the Chase.

-- The lowest-ranked four Chase drivers after Chicagoland, Loudon and Dover
(the Challenger Round) are eliminated. The lowest-ranked four after Kansas
City, Charlotte and Talladega (the Contender Round) also are eliminated.
Four more are eliminated after Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix (the
Elimination Round), leaving four contenders for the Championship Round at
Homestead. Points are reset equally for the advancing drivers after each
three-race round.

-- In something of a surprise, a Chase driver winning during any three-race
round automatically advances to the next round, regardless of his points
position. If he doesn't win in that subsequent round, he must fall back on
his standings to advance to the next round. A win assures advancement into
the next round only, not the remainder of the Chase.

-- The Fast Final Four start the Ford 400 at Homestead with equal points,
with no lap-leader bonus points for them -- not that it matters. What
matters is this: The driver who beats his three rivals is the Sprint Cup
champion. NASCAR did that because it's possible for a lower-finishing
driver with lap-leader bonus points to outpoint a higher-finishing driver
with no bonus points.

France said he and his staff spent three years working on a championship
plan that put more importance on winning and eliminated drivers as the
playoffs progressed. "We worked with [series sponsor] Sprint, the three
manufacturers and our business partners," he said. "The vast majority of
the people we talked with really love this idea. They like and understand
the winner-take-all aspect of the final race.

"We had many options, one of which was do nothing at all. We like
consistency, but we also like risk-taking. With winning so important, and
so much on the line, teams will have to take more risks. They'll gamble
more and do different strategies and take more chances. And if it's late in
a race and you've got the faster car, expect some contact. Sure, this might
bring more contact."

Thursday's announcement was the latest in a series of changes NASCAR has
made to its championship-deciding format in 10 years.

-- The 2004-2006 Chases featured the 10 highest-ranked drivers after
Richmond, plus anyone within 400 points of the leader. The Chase drivers'
points were readjusted to bring them closer together for the playoff and
separate them further from the non-Chase drivers.

-- After several big-name drivers missed some Chases, NASCAR expanded the
2007-2010 playoffs to include the top 12 drivers (the 400-point provision
was dropped). Points were again readjusted to make them closer for the
final 10 races.

-- The 2011-2012 Chases featured the top 10 in "regular-season" points,
plus the two winningest "wild-card" drivers between 11th and 20th in
points. As always, points were readjusted to bring the field closer
together.

-- Last year's Chase featured an unprecedented 13 drivers, but only after
NASCAR took into account the shenanigans of Michael Waltrip Racing and its
finish-fixing scandal at Richmond. MWR driver Martin Truex Jr. was kicked
out of the Chase, and Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon were added.

France was asked whether the Chase changes might be confusing to fans who
were just getting accustomed to one system only to have another come along.
Or, it went without saying, old-time fans who liked the full-season system
that crowned a champion based on the 36 scheduled races without any
gimmicks.

"I don't think so, but things evolve," he said. "I think, if you look at
the other leagues, you look at how the [college football] Bowl Championship
Series has evolved. They'll be having their own championship format this
year. So these kinds of things probably shouldn't go from one place to the
next.

"They should evolve. Because evolving means you're getting the best ideas
at the moment, and if they're not good enough to make a change, then you
don't. It's not surprising that something this important has evolved versus
us just getting to the right place. The greatest risk for us was to not do
anything at all."

Read more:
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140130/nascar/140139985#ixzz2ruw88F1E
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-- 

Michael L. Shortt
Savannah, Georgia
www.michaelshortt.com
michael at michaelshortt.com
912-232-9390

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