# NASCAR announces new Championship chase format

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-announces-new-championship-chase-format/680170>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [January 30, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-announces-new-championship-chase-format/680170 "2014-01-30T22:51:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-announces-new-championship-chase-format/680170/1 "2014-01-30T22:51:57Z")

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[Story here

> [@](#):
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> The field, expanded from 12 to 16 drivers, will be whittled down to a final four through eliminations after every three races of the 10-race Chase. The remaining four drivers will go into the season finale with an equal chance to win the championship: The first of the four to cross the finish line will be crowned Sprint Cup champion.
> 
> “No math. No bonus points. It’s as simple as it gets,” France said.

]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CAR\_NASCAR\_CHASE\_CHANGES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-30-17-43-06](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CAR_NASCAR_CHASE_CHANGES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-30-17-43-06))  
Right now my initial reaction is “wow, they found a way to make this whole Chase thing even worse”.

After a couple minutes reflection, I’m not sure this worse than the previous 3 Chase formats. I mean, I still think the whole notion of a playoff in racing is stupid as hell, but this may not be worse than before, it may just be bad in a different way. Certainly it seems to encourage racing as a contact sport:

> [@](#):
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> Last August, Brad Keselowski chased Kyle Busch around Watkins Glen and declined to aggressively move his rival out of the way. Keselowski settled for second, racing for a good points day and declining to inflame his touchy relationship with Busch. But in doing so, he failed to win a regular-season race and missed the Chase, making him ineligible to defend his title.
> 
> Under the new format, a winless Keselowski would have no choice in that same situation but to bang fenders with Busch and go after the win.
> 
> That’s exactly what France wants to see on the track each week.