09/02/26 02:34:00
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09/02 14:33 CDT NASCAR drivers in favor of return to Chase format, saying it
will yield a more legitimate champion
NASCAR drivers in favor of return to Chase format, saying it will yield a more
legitimate champion
By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) --- Denny Hamlin has never won a Cup Series championship.
This may be the 45-year-old's best chance based on his overall body of work
this season.
Hamlin enters NASCAR's modified 10-race playoff format known as "The Chase"
with a 25-point cushion over second-place Ryan Blaney and an even bigger
advantage over the rest of the 16-driver field after finishing the regular
season with the most driver points.
The new format --- which was last used in 2013 --- is designed to reward
performance throughout the entire season and provide a larger sample size to
determine a champion. Fans have been clamoring for its return because of its
simplicity.
And the drivers love it.
Hamlin, speaking at Wednesday's playoff media day in Charlotte, called it a
"giant leap forward in crowning a champion."
"I think all of the drivers would tell you it's a more fair way to do it,"
Hamlin added.
Chase Briscoe agreed.
He said the format feels like it will produce a more "legitimate" champion.
"I'm not saying the past champions weren't legit, but before, you could win the
first 35 races and go to Phoenix (for the season championship) and blow up and
finish fourth in points," Briscoe said. "It's not going to be like that
anymore. I think this says so much more about your body of work."
Unlike previous years, there will be no elimination rounds. That means no
points "reset" midway through the playoffs.
The champion will be determined by which driver amasses the most points over
the final 10 races.
Hamlin begins with 2,100 points, 25 more than Blaney and 35 better than
third-place Tyler Reddick based on the new format.
Fourth place starts 40 points behind Hamlin, fifth is 45 points back and so on
in descending 5-point increments down to 16th-place Ryan Preece, who starts 100
points behind.
Kyle Larson, who starts in seventh place, won last year's Cup championship. But
even he is good with the change.
"For the sport, I'm happy with the change for sure, and I think this format has
proven to be very exciting," Larson said referring to Preece's dramatic win
last weekend at Daytona, which allowed him to qualify for The Chase.
Larson is more concerned with catching up to the speed of the Toyota cars,
which have been running faster all season than the Fords and Chevrolets. Of the
top six cars entering the playoffs, five are Toyotas.
One notable change to this year's format is that wins are weighted heavier.
Drivers get 55 points for a race win, a substantial increase from the previous
structure of 40 points.
The remaining positions pay the same points as the regular season (35 for
second, 34 for third, 33 for fourth, etc.) and stage points also are the same
(10 points for first, nine points for second, eight points for third, etc.).
While wins are rewarded, consistency is the key to winning a championship,
Christopher Bell believes.
"The previous format and system, it was just three races at a time," Bell said.
"And if you had a bad race, it's like just survive. Just gotta get above the
cut line. Once you get above the cut line, you're like, ?OK, we're in great
shape now.' Whereas now, there are no freebies. You can't have a bad race and
get a reset in three weeks. So, you're going to have to perform every week."
The Chase begins Saturday at Darlington.
Hamlin and Joey Logano are the only drivers still on the Cup Series circuit who
were around the last time NASCAR used this playoff format 13 years ago.
Logano said there isn't much he can take overall from the experience. But he
said it harkens back to something seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson
once told him.
"Jimmie would say, 'It's 10 weeks of hell,'" said Logano, who is going for his
fourth Cup title after a late-season push to make the playoffs. "And it's
pretty true. It's a grueling 10 weeks. But hey, there is a pretty cool trophy
at the end of it.
"The feeling of winning the whole thing is worth the grind," he added with a
smile.
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