Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on January 23, 2007.
The Nascar Nextel Cup Chase format will change this year. Despite three years of close Championship finishes, Brian France felt compelled to tinker with the Chase format.
The first major change is that the number of eligible drivers will expand from ten to twelve. I believe this is in response to Tony Stewart's drive last year and Jamie McMurray's drive in 2004. Both drivers would have finished high in the standings if the field had not been moved so far ahead in points.
The 400 point rule is dead (the rule was that drivers within 400 points of the leader at the end of the 26th race were Chase eligible). So far, this rule had not come into play, and it is unlikely any driver would have qualifed this way.
Beginning after the Richmond race, Chase eligible drivers will "jump" to 5,000. For each win, the driver will then receive 10 additional points. These "extra" win points will be used to seed the driver for the beginning of the Chase.
During the season, drivers will also receive 5 additional points for their wins (a total of 185points). With these added points, plus 5 points for leading a lap and another 5 points for most laps led, a winner could finish 25 points ahead of second place.
Whether these changes work out or not remains to be seen. The bigger question is: Is this the last change or do we have yearly tinkerings to look forward to?
No comments:
Post a Comment