NASCAR ponders tweaks in Chase for Cup

Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

NASCAR is considering tweaking the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, with chairman Brian France wanting to create more drama to the title-deciding format.

“We want to make sure [the Chase] is giving us the biggest impact moments it was designed to do,” France said Friday. “Everything, to us, means pushing the winning envelope to mean what it needs to mean in our sport.

“We’re happy with the Chase, [but] if we can enhance it in a pretty significant way, we may do that.”

The Chase was one of several topics France covered Friday at Daytona International Speedway during a question-and-answer session.

Also under consideration are changes to the second-tier Nationwide Series that could affect the participation of Cup drivers, and scheduling requests made by track operators International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc. for the 2011 season.

But it was the Chase that received the most attention as France admitted NASCAR is continuously trying to improve its championship system.

Introduced in 2004 as a radical new system for crowning the Cup champion, 10 drivers competed over the final 10 races of the season. The inaugural year was a smashing success, as five drivers went into the season finale in mathematical contention to win the title that ultimately went to Kurt Busch, who beat Jimmie Johnson by eight points in the final standings.

Two years later, Johnson began his run of four consecutive titles, even as NASCAR widened the field to 12 drivers and created a seeding system based on bonus points earned through “regular-season” victories.

Now, as NASCAR goes through a self-evaluation period designed to renew interest in a series that has suffered through sagging attendance and television ratings, changes to the Chase are again on the table.