I just love how History, especially NASCAR history repeats itself.
Joey Logano has been the 2024 Cup Champion for almost two weeks now. What a crazy couple of weeks it has been.
Denny Hamlin’s prediction of a social media meltdown wasn’t far off as it seemed everyone had a reaction to either Joey’s win, the validity of his Championship or the “correctness” of the NASCAR CUP Playoff system to “get it “right”.
It’s also been interesting to see the reactions that run full spectrum, ranging from “Yes it got it right” to “It got it right, but…”, to “It’s not fair”, to “It’s wrong and we need something else.”
Before the final race even went off, NASCAR showed its staunch support of the playoffs and the product it produces in its November 6th State of the Sport address:
It was abundantly clear before the Phoenix Finale, NASCAR and Playoffs are married together. And why not, it closely mimics the way stick and ball sports work, plus it creates a fantastic sports betting model for that all important revenue stream.
It was fascinating to sit back and watch how by the following Tuesday the flood of post-race ire had caused VP of Competition, Elton Sawyer to use his SIRIUS XM platform to temper that some by noting “We’re Open. We’re all ears on it” and vowed to take another beloved NASCAR “Deeper Dive” to see what they have is truly the best system, to see if there might be better options available. He noted that there were lots of smart people in the industry, “with the Teams and the Drivers…”
I sat in amazement watching some of the smart people within the industry along with those outside bombard the social media, the Sanctioning Body and anyone who would listen to their “Better System”, their New Chase.
Simultaneously, the NASCAR Talking Heads on their satellite radio channel, circled the wagons and joined in lockstep to mount a formidable defense that there was nothing wrong with the current system and it’s far superior to anything that may be out there. It has made the sport what we have today and without it, there is little hope for success.
Options ranged from adopting the F1 point system, to ditch it all and go back to the Latford System, to let’s bring back the 10-car Chase, to only winners get in, to keep what we have but make it 12 race Playoff with a three race series to decide the champ, to keep it a 10 race Playoff but make it a 7 race qualifier into a 3 race finale. Kevin Harvick proposes a bye system to further reward the Regular Season winner.
The call for a New Chase is deafening.
Me, although this season has been the biggest attack on the current System that I recall since its adoption, I don’t see it going away. I think JettMDK’s YouTube treatment entitled ““The NASCAR Playoffs Will Always Suck” does a very nice summary of how things got to where we are. But don’t let the title fool you. He does a great job going through the history of how Champions have been crowned and the issues of each. Even with that, I don’t foresee many changes on the horizon, but you must admit this has been quite the show!
As I listened to all the back and forth, a couple of things struck me. If this is the very best system to determining our Champion, why the need for NASCAR to expend all this energy to defend and justify it? If the Playoffs are so good and so right, couldn’t it defend itself? Shouldn’t that be so clear there would be no questions? Hmmm.
The second was a statement Steve O’Donnell made in the State of the Sport address that went like this…
If the Sanctioning Body truly believes that the Playoffs delivered the quality of racing seen, maybe it’s time to put up or shut up, double down and apply the Playoff components to each race itself to determine the race winner.
Here is where History repeats itself as the sport has once again completed another lap and circumstances are such that where things from the past are once again relevant. These are the same thoughts I had when the Elimination Format was announced, which makes dusting off that 2017 Race Fans Forever piece that proposed just that – applying our current Playoff format to each race to determine the race winner once again appropriate.
So, sit back and take a few moments to take a trip down Memory Lane to 2017 for this tongue in cheek favorite entitled:
TIME FOR A NEW CHASE
Brian France stepped to the podium at Chicagoland Speedway Press Center and addressed the gathered crowd.
“I’d like to welcome everyone to today’s press conference. We are looking forward to an exciting Chase for the Sprint Cup that starts here at Chicagoland Speedway this Sunday.”
“The field has been set. 10 races from now NASCAR will crown our new Sprint Cup Champion in Homestead. We look forward to what we believe will be the most competitive and most exciting Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship ever.”
“Since its inception in 2004 the Chase has undergone several modifications and tweaks and we believe we have arrived at the best, most fair and most exciting way to determine our Champion. Although nothing is perfect, we believe the current Chase format is as close to perfection as is humanly possible.”
“Racing is about winning and our Chase is all about winning. The qualifying standard of ‘win, you’re in’ is one of the things that makes our Chase so unique.
With that said, I’d like to announce at this time the biggest change to our sport since the announcement of the initial Chase for the Championship in 2004.”
“Beginning in February 2017, we will have a new Chase!”
“No, we are not making another change to the Chase for the Cupas stated earlier we believe that method for determining a Champion is as perfect as humanly possible. We are announcing today a new Chase, an additional Chase – the Chase for the Checkers.”
“Starting at the 2017 Daytona 500, we will be modifying our race procedures and applying the key components from the Chase for the Championship… using elimination rounds and placing the proper emphasis on winning, to determine our race winner.”
“These are the things we have found makes the current Chase so exciting, so it is a natural, logical extension to apply those factors to each race to determine our race winners. To see how this new Chase, the Chase for the Checkers would work, each race, like our current season would be divided into five segments, divided into the equivalent of the current Chase race distribution of 26-3-3-3-1.”
“Leading green flag laps would be the functional equivalent of race wins and there would be ‘eliminations’ after each segment, thereby creating a nearly identical method to determine the winner. Think of the ‘Chase for the Checkers’ as a weekly, mini-Chase or simply the ‘Race Chase’.”
“To get a better idea how this ‘Race Chase’ would work, let’s go to Dover. The math is easier.”
“As I said earlier, the race would be divided into five segments. These segment’s lengths, in either mileage or laps would closely match the percentage distribution found in our Chase for the Sprint Cup. At our example Dover, the segment breakdown would be 260-40-40-40-20.”
“The first segment of the regular season is run like any other race, with Lucky Dogs, Wave-Arounds, pit stops and other aspects all applicable. At the end of the 260 laps, a ‘Chase Caution’ would be called with an appropriate flag displayed. All competitors would fall behind the pace car and proceed to the pits.
This would end the ‘Regular Segment’ (regular season) and end racing as we know it as the ‘Race Chase’ kicks in.”
“When the cars enter the pits it would begin a five minute caution. During this time, crews can adjust, repair or whatever to prepare for the next Segment – the Round of 16.”
“Timing and Scoring would then set the starting lineup for the next segment. It would not be how they came into the pits or how they exited. Instead, the lineup would be set like we do the current Chase. The driver who was leading at the Chase Caution gets the ‘pole’ for the next segment. Green flag leaders (winners) on the lead lap come next, lined up in decreasing order of green flag laps led. This continues until all cars on the lead lap who led green flag laps are gridded. The remainder of the field would lineup in the order they took the ‘Chase “Caution.’”
“For example, if the running order as they took the ‘Chase Caution’ was Joey Logano (led 35 laps), Matt Kenseth (led 0 laps) and Kyle Larson (led 115 laps) and in 24th Kevin Harvick, who had led 210 laps but a mistake on a late pit stop put him back deep in the field but still on the lead lap. There were no other lap leaders.
“For the next segment, the Round of 16, Logano would roll off first, P1 because he ‘won’ the Regular segment. Harvick, who led the most laps and was on the lead lap would roll off P2 because of his laps led, instead of P24 where he took the Caution. Larson, the other lap green flag lap leader would follow at P3 and then Kenseth, who was the highest finishing non-leader would roll off P4 instead of P3. The rest of the field would be set by the finishing order of the first segment.”
“Now with the starting order for the field set, at the conclusion of the five-minute caution, racing would resume. NASCAR would allow the top 16 cars on the lead lap to roll off behind the pace car and complete a caution lap or ‘Reset Lap’ while the remaining 20 now Non-Chasers would be held in the pits, eliminated from the win by being placed a lap down. To maintain this separation between the two groups, Lucky Dogs and Wave Arounds are disallowed for the remainder of the race. Non-Chasers would have no way to get their laps back and compete for the win, yet they remain on the track, racing amongst themselves for at best P17.”
“The green flag flies; they run a forty-lap segment; the Chase Caution flag flies again; everyone pits and the gridding process is repeated, with segment winner, green flag leaders and running order setting lineup for the next segment. But this time after the five-minute pit stop only the first dozen roll off to take the “Reset Laps” for the Round of 12. After the first Reset Lap, the four cars eliminated from Segment 1 followed by the remainder of the field would roll off. This would place P12-P16 one lap down and P17-end of field, two laps down.”
“The green flag flies again; they run another forty laps and repeat the process, reducing the field of potential race winners to 8. P1-8 would get their Reset Lap, P9-16 would be 1 lap down and P17 on would remain two laps down.
Repeat it all again for the Final Four. Four cars and only four cars will be on the lead lap for the final 20 lap shootout for the win, with the remainder of the field one or more laps down depending on when they were “eliminated.
And that in a nutshell is the Chase for the Checkers! That is how the race winners for the 2017 season will be determined.”
France continued, “The Chase for the Checkers provides many advantages and benefits not found in the old format of determining the race winner. Here are just a few:
First and most importantly there will be more action, more aggressive racing. Getting up front and leading laps is the equivalent of the current ‘win, you are in’ philosophy. If drivers want to win, drivers have to race.”
“The Race Chase will provide better racing… since the crews have time to make adjustments and repairs during the extended segment pit stops, the cars are in the best condition possible to race. We should have fewer pit road penalties affecting the race outcome. The extended pit stops should minimize the occurrences of speeding, equipment leaving the pit box and other penalties which often knock a leader from the win.”
“Races will be won on track, not in the pits. Gone are the days of logging laps and riding until the final pit stop so your crew can put you out front in clean air for the last twenty laps. This may not be the best path to Victory Lane in this format, as a driver doing this could easily be eliminated in an earlier segment. The safest strategy is to race to the front and lead laps. The format essentially provides for shorter races, which has been recommended by everyone from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Bruton Smith.”
“On any given race day, you are getting one ‘regular race’ that is shorter than what they compete for now, plus four eliminations or ‘mini-races’ for the focus challenged. We will have longer, scheduled breaks. The five-minute pit stops between segments allow viewers and fans time to take care of business without missing a moment of the action.”
“Viewers should have fewer commercials to deal with during racing action as the numerous five-minute breaks between segments will allow networks to consolidate some of the commercials in there. This should significantly improve the race broadcast. We feel the TV coverage for Race Chase format races will improve dramatically as the decreasing number of competitors for the win will allow a more focused coverage as the race progresses.”
“Gone are the fuel mileage races. Under the ‘Race Chase’format we will no longer have cars running at significantly slower speed to save fuel and steal the win. A team might try it for the first segment but with Chase segments shorter than the fuel window it isn’t a viable strategy for the win. If you want to win you have to race. The Race Chase format solves the ‘Lug Nuts Issue.’ This season’s issue goes away as officials can make sure everyone has all of the lug nuts in place at the start of each segment. More importantly, since the running order is set by on track performance rather than pit crew performance the temptation to take shortcuts by not placing or tightening all lug nuts is eliminated.”
“These are just a few of the benefits we see for our 2017 races. There are too many to list at this time.”
“To add to the excitement and to kick the season off properly we have already been in contact with FOX TV analyst and three-time Cup Champion, Darrell Waltrip. With the new race format, we have asked him to develop new signature ‘Boogity, Boogity, Boogity’ phrases for each of the four new segment restarts. We feel …”
“Arrrrrggghhh!”
The next thing I felt was my wife shaking me awake.
“Honey, what’s wrong? You must have been having a bad dream.”
That’s an understatement if I ever heard one.
I thanked her for waking me, apologized for waking her and told her everything was fine and to go back to sleep.
As I sat on the edge of my bed, trying to get my heart rate down and collecting my thoughts about this bizarre but very realistic dream, and the realization hit me that a “Chase for the Checkers” is not as far-fetched as it sounds.
As a matter of fact, it is quite possible.
The very thought of applying the Cup Chase format to each and every race is frightening, but as Mr. France said in his “announcement”, it is just a natural, logical extension of applying the current accepted method used to decide a season champion to decide the race winner.
And if it’s good for one, why is it not good for the other? If it is the best, fairest, most exciting way to declare a season Champion, why wouldn’t it be used for all races to achieve the same outcome?
Conversely, if it isn’t used to determine your race winner, should it be used to determine the season Champion? I don’t know the answer to those questions but there are several things that scare me.
First, nothing about racing is sacred or off-limits these days, so a Chase for the Checkers is a possibility.
Next, current management will do whatever they want to do and do it however they want to do it. Under the current “Golden Rule – The man with the gold rules”, this will be the case as long as he has the gold.
The thing I take comfort in is with all that has been said, the “Chase for the Checkers” or some variation of it will probably never be implemented. I say that with some confidence because if past performance is any indication of future actions, suggestions made by regular fans are rarely implemented.
Just look at the Chase. Look at the sport. Deeply caring fans have made suggestion after suggestion on how to improve things only to have them apparently fall on deaf ears. Since the “Chase for the Checkers” came (tongue in cheek) from a regular fan … I think we’re safe from its implementation.
Long way to say, I only wish a fan had suggested the Chase for the Championship before that fateful day in January 2004.
Things would sure be different today.
As you read this from 2017, has anything changed? Yeah, Brian France is gone from leadership and a couple of drivers have retired, but other than that, is it dated? We still have Playoffs and Eliminations. Who can qualify, advance and win is still the same. Fuel mileage racing is an issue. Lug nuts are an issue, except now it means lost tires. NASCAR may listen to fans, say they listen to fans, but do they truly ever adopt what the fans want? The Golden Rule still exists, even more today than back then.
So is a “Race Chase” in our future? I doubt it… but then again, I never expected what we have now, yet here we are.
All we can do is watch and see what this Deeper Dive produces. Till then…
Thunder On… and Stay Safe!
David Nance