The chase needs to be revamped. I do not have the answer, but this current format is hurting the sport. Maybe having a 10 race season? Curious to what others think. I am a Hendrick Motorsports fan, but the excitement is gone, and I have been a fan for many decades.
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2003 & 2005 P-10 CHAMPION 2008 P-10 BUSCH CHAMPION 2007 & 2008 MEMBER LROC TEAM CHAMPION 2009 LUCKY DOG RACING NATIONWIDE ROTY 2010 LDR NATIONWIDE CHAMPION 2010 COOL POOL NATIONWIDE RTY 2013 COOL POOL CUP SERIES CHAMPION
How can you change it? This is the closest race ever, 3 drivers could have taken the Championship in the final race. Hamlin and Harvick just didn't have what it took to beat Johnson again.
I absolutely hate it! I am a Hendrick fan as well and it still does nothing for me. Even with the chase being as close as it was, I still didn't feel any excitement. In my eyes, you have to be mediocre to good for 26 races, and then be good to excellent for 10! I don't have the answer on how to fix it, but when nascar.com puts a poll up about the chase and the most selected answer is, " I don't care how close the Chase is, I still hate it", maybe they should take a hint.
Remember when it was the old way..........everyone hated it when Kenseth won the title with only winning one race.
I liked the old system better because you had to prove yourself all year long. (Harvick would have won this year by 229 pts under the old system)
Maybe the answer is go back to the old system except reward race winners by a greater margin.
JJ has done so well these past five years because he and his team are so well suited for the tracks that come up in the last ten races. He definately wouldnt have won the last two if it wasnt for the Chase, maybe more.
Chase isn't bad, but it isn't good either. They (NASCAR) traded one bad system for another in my opinion.
The Chase is 10 x better than watching someone clinch with 3 races to go in the season. The problem I think is they need to shake up the tracks for the final 10. Throw Bristol in there. Throw a road course race in there. There are too many 1 to 1.5 mile tracks in the Chase.
I agree... there was much more drama in the Cup series then the other three series this year. You knew for most of the season that Keselowski would be winning Nationwide and Bodine would be winning the Truck title. Not much guessing there.
They do need to award the winners more, maybe give them 25 or 50 bonus points or something. That would encourage the drivers to win more instead of playing it safe with a top 10 finish. Mixing up the tracks wouldn't be a bad idea either.
As for changing tracks, I think they should rotate so that every track eventually gets a chance to be a chase track. That will add something like a Chicago or Michigan in the fall. Harder for set ups. That would mean that a driver wouldn't always have their favorite or worst track every year.
