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The 'Chase for the NEXTEL Cup,' ''The Chase'', is the playoff system used in NASCAR's top division, the NEXTEL Cup Series. The current version of the Chase was announced by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France on January 22, 2007. After 26 races, the top 12 drivers advance to contend for the points championship and points are reset to 5000. Each driver within the top 12 gets an additional 10 points for each win during the "regular season," or first 26 races, thus creating a seeding based on wins. The Chase consists of 10 races and the driver with the most points at the conclusion of the 10 races is the NEXTEL Cup Series Champion. Drivers who win a race, regular season or during the Chase, receives 185 points for a win, 5 bonus points for leading the most laps, and 5 bonus points for leading a single lap.
Brian France explained why NASCAR made the changes to the chase:

"The adjustments taken [Monday] put a greater emphasis on winning races. Winning is what this sport is all about. Nobody likes to see drivers content to finish in the top 10. We want our sport -- especially during the Chase -- to be more about winning."

Beginning with the 2008 season, the playoff will become known as the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" as due to the NEXTEL/Sprint merger the NEXTEL name is being phased out.

Contents

Source of the Idea

Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Tracks

Past Versions of the Chase

"The Matt Kenseth Rule"

NEXTEL Cup Champions under 2004 Chase Rules

2004-2006 Chase Results Under 2007 System

Criticism

References

Source of the Idea

Short track racing, the grassroots of NASCAR, began experimenting with ideas to help the entry-level racer. In 2001, the United Speed Alliance Racing organization, sanctioning body of the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, a short-track stock car touring series, devised a five-race playoff system where the top teams in their Hooters ProCup North and Hooters ProCup South divisions would participate in a five-race playoff, the Four Champions, named for the four Hooters Racing staff members (including 1992 NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki) and pilot killed in an April 1, 1993 plane crash in Blountville, Tennessee. The system organized the teams with starting points based on the team's performance in their division (division champions earn a bonus), and the teams would participate in a five-race playoff. The five races, added to the team's seeding points, would determine the winner. The 2001 version was four races, as one was canceled because of the September 11th terrorist attacks; however, NASCAR watched as the ProCup's Four Champions became a success and drivers from the series began looking at NASCAR rides. The idea was to give NASCAR, which was becoming in many areas the fourth-largest sport (after Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA and surpassing in some regions the NHL) attention during baseball's road to the World Series and the outset of the pro and college football, NHL and NBA seasons.

Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Tracks

'List of current Chase for the Nextel Cup tracks ''(In order in which they appear)'''
New Hampshire International Speedway Loudon, NH	Dover International Speedway Dover, DE	Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS	Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, AL	Lowe's Motor Speedway Concord, NC
Martinsville Speedway Martinsville, VA	Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, GA	Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TX	Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, AZ	Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, FL

Past Versions of the Chase

The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup was created in 2004 by NASCAR when NEXTEL started to sponsor the series. In original version of the Chase, following the 26th race of the season, all drivers in the top 10 and any others within 400 points of the leader got a spot in the 10-race playoff. Like the current system, drivers in the Chase had their point totals adjusted. However, it was based on the number of points at the conclusion of the 26th race. The first-place driver in the standings led with 5,050 points; the second-place driver started with 5,045. Incremental five-point drops continued through 10th place with 5,005 points). In addition, drivers received 180 points for winning a race, 5 bonus points for leading the most laps, and 5 bonus for leading a single lap.
'Old Points System:'

Place	Points
1st	5050
2nd	5045
3rd	5040
4th	5035
5th	5030
6th	5025
7th	5020
8th	5015
9th	5010
10th	5005

"The Matt Kenseth Rule"

The Chase has been unfairly called "the Matt Kenseth Rule" because of the season Kenseth had in 2003 prior to NASCAR adopting the system. In 2003, Kenseth won the NEXTEL Cup series championship despite winning only one race and accumulating numerous top-five and top-ten finishes. In contrast, Ryan Newman won eight races in 2003, but also failed to finish five races (DNF's) and finished sixth in points. In actuality, NASCAR had been researching since 2000 on how to adjust the points system to put more emphasis on winning races.

NEXTEL Cup Champions under 2004 Chase Rules

★ 2004 - Kurt Busch

★ 2005 - Tony Stewart

★ 2006 - Jimmie Johnson

★ 2007 - Mark Martin

★
★ NOTE: Texas Motor Speedway was added in 2005 as a result of the Ferko lawsuit; Instead, the last three races were Phoenix, Darlington (SC) Raceway's Mountain Dew Southern 500 (eliminated by the lawsuit), and Homestead.

2004-2006 Chase Results Under 2007 System

''Actual Winner in 'Bold'''
2004:

Position	Driver	Revised	Actual
1st	Jimmie Johnson	6,513	6,498
2nd	'Kurt Busch'	6,511	6,506
3rd	Jeff Gordon	6,490	6,490

2005:

Position	Driver	Revised	Actual
1st	'Tony Stewart'	6,533	6,533
2nd	Carl Edwards	6,513	6,498
3rd	Greg Biffle	6,508	6,498

2006:

Position	Driver	Revised	Actual
1st	'Jimmie Johnson'	6,475	6,475
2nd	Tony Stewart	6,459	4,727
3rd	Matt Kenseth	6,409	6,419

Criticism

The Chase format is widely derided by NASCAR fans for locking out all but 12 drivers from any possibility of a top-ten points finish in the final ten races and for concurrently locking in drivers not strong enough to finish in the top ten over the season's final ten races. The 2004 Chase is often cited in defense of the concept because the final points margin was eight, but this ignores that champion Kurt Busch was under no realistic threat of losing the championship and raced accordingly; a closer title chase entering the final race would have been raced accordingly by Busch. Also criticized is that the season champion in races won has yet to win a Chase and in fact carries no realistic points weight under the format - Jimmie Johnson outwon Kurt Busch ten wins to four in 2004, Tony Stewart was outwon by Greg Biffle six to five in 2005, and Kasey Kahne outwon Johnson six to four in 2006. However, the revised format for 2007 and beyond addresses that issue. NASCAR officials are optomistic the new emphasis on wins (during the regular season, the "seeding" for the Chase, and during the 10-race Chase) will be received more warmly by drivers/crews/owners and fans alike.
Another criticism of the Chase is that it should include a road course event. Currently, two races on the current NEXTEL Cup schedule are run at road courses, at Infineon Raceway and at Watkins Glen International Raceway. Having a road course event would, as some critics feel, show who is truly the best all-around driver in the series and force those teams in the Chase to put more time and effort into road-course racing and the subsequent car setup.

References

★ NEXTEL Cup Series Official Site

★ (2004-06) Point system explained - ''NASCAR.com''

★ It's a little complicated, but it just might work - ''NASCAR.com''

★ (2007) Changes announced to points system and Chase - ''NASCAR.com''

★ New points would have affected some title races - ''NASCAR.com''