Sprint Cup Chase (Midterm)

From the time that the “Chase” was invented, every NASCAR Sprint Cup fan has had their own opinions on whether or not it was a good change for the sport.

One blogger at http://www.racedriven.com/2008/10/5-nascar-sprint-cup-series-chases-races.html sang mostly praise for the Chase. The feel of the blog was that the Chase is an exciting format in which to decide the Sprint Cup Championship.
Another blogger at http://nascar.fanhouse.com/2008/10/27/edwards-roush-kick-off-chase-whining/#cont did not having many good things to say about the Chase format and brought to light some of its “flaws” and “flaws” that some people in racing are trying to add.
However, other bloggers, like at http://nascar.fanhouse.com/2008/09/21/chase-for-the-sprint-cups-bff-not-kyle-busch/, stick more to the facts and less about the pros and cons of the Chase and talk purely about the excitement of the 2008 Chase.

The first blog I found on the topic of the Chase was a long and detailed recap of the first 5 races in the Chase and the exciting surprises that it has held thus far. It was a good overview of the ups for drivers like Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy, Greg Biffle in the No. 16 3M Ford and teammate Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Office Depot Ford, along with the downs for such as Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M Chevy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 National Guard Chevy and Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Chevy. I agree with this blogger in that it has been an exciting, unpredictable and somewhat shocking Chase, however, I do not share the same enthusiasm about the Chase formatting.

When it comes to the formatting of the Championship I must say that I agree more with the second blog that I found in that ten races out of 36 does not mean a driver is the Champion of a season. I share this blogger’s opinion that NASCAR was thinking more about excitement and drawing crowds than Championship quality when they instituted the Chase. In my opinion, looking at the way the Chase has played out since its creation, all NASCAR has done is made a few races more exciting, not the Championship as a whole. However, I must say that it was a good move on NASCAR’s part as far as drawing attention (at least with fans that they already had) because the Chase has been around for several years now, and it is still a very hot topic with many.

This brings me to the part of this blog that was shocking to me – car owner Jack Roush wants to change the Chase format to only count nine out of ten races! Roush’s top driver in the Chase, Edwards who has had two bad finishes in the Chase, is 183 points behind points leader Johnson. I understand that Roush wants another Championship but at what cost to the sport? I think that the blogger said it best - “It doesn't happen in other sports. Monday night, the Philadelphia Phillies won't be putting eight players on the field simply because they have a three game to one lead in the World Series.”

The last blog I found talks more about Busch’s misfortune in the Chase and how after such a great season he could have such a back Chase. Which brings me to my point: is the Chase really fair? Guys, like Busch, drive their hearts out for 26 races to only have the slate wiped more-or-less clean and watch as a great season and hope of a championship end with just a couple bad races. I guess that it makes NASCAR more like other sports out there that play a regular season and then have the best compete in play-off games for the title of champions, however, NASCAR and the Chase are not like other sports and their play-offs. One very large difference is that all 43 drivers remain on the track in the last ten races (the Chase) increasing the risk of being wrecked and taken out of the Chase. Also if NASCAR is trying to be like other sports, why keep points – why not just keep track of wins and the best records, like other sports?