The annual tumultuous finale to the NASCAR season has begun. It is called “The Chase” which is actually a pretty good title since that is what these guys do all afternoon. Chase each other around an oval track. Left turn after endless left turn. That is the NASCAR that we all know and love. NASCAR racing is now one of the most popular sports in America with millions upon millions spent on equipment and promotions each year & millions of fans following the action.
What is the Chase? The top 10 drivers in the point standings after 26 races — plus two wild-cards — compete for the Sprint Cup championship during the final 10 races.
The wild-card spots go to the two drivers outside the top 10 — but inside the top 20 — who’ve accumulated the most wins during the “regular season.” If necessary, ties are broken by points, and then second-place finishes, third-place finishes, etc. Before Race 27, the points are reset to 2,000 for all 12 drivers who qualified for the Chase. The top 10 receive an additional 3-point bonus for each win earned during the regular season. Therefore, a driver can conceivably sit 10th in points after 26 races, but begin the Chase with the points lead if he has the most victories. The two wild-card drivers do not receive bonus points for their wins. Current Chase leaders include:
Brad Keselowski, perennial champion Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin.
It doesn’t take long for the pretenders to be separated from the contenders in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Sometimes, through bad luck or mediocre performance, a driver leaves the Chase opener sentenced to an also-ran status for the remainder of the season. This season may be an anomaly – the field is too stacked to start crossing names off the list of legitimate title contenders. That could be good news for Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon, who each had mechanical problems in the Chicago opener. Kenseth had a shock fall off his car, Gordon crashed after his throttle stuck and the two head to Round 2 of the Chase in New Hampshire ranked 11th and 12th in the standings.
“I think even Jeff Gordon, even though he had a disappointing finish, he still can’t count himself out,” said defending champion Tony Stewart. “Everybody can have a bad race, so it’s way too early to predict after one race.” So nobody is expecting the champion to have a flawless 10-race run. The competition is just too stiff at this level of racing. What goes around comes around!
