On Monday afternoon, NASCAR unveiled the new format for drivers to win a championship. And, as reported by Heavy.com last week, the sanctioning body is going to reward consistency over winning starting this season across all three series
Gone is the “win and you’re in” of the Playoffs format used the past several years. The Chase is back with the new points system rewarding consistency. At the end of the NASCAR Cup Series season, the top-16 drivers will move on to The Chase. For the final 10 races, the driver with the most accumulated points when the checkered flag flies after the finale at Homestead Speedway is the champion.
For the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the top 12 drivers will move into The Chase through a nine-race battle and top-10 points earners will do the same in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series through seven races.
Consistency is King Again
Fans have been very vocal regarding how the Playoffs were no longer working with attendance and viewership declining through recent years as proof. Now, a driver can have a few bad races in the early going but will have a chance to gain back lost points in the remaining races and to once again be a contender.
““The biggest thing was looking at who we wanted to be as a sport going forward, and that included really a focus on our core fan base and who had been with us for a long, long time and gotten the sport to where it was, said Steve O’Donnel, President of NASCAR. “So we wanted our future format to reflect that.
“A lot of things you’re going to see and how we talked to the fans, from an overall NASCAR standpoint, was going to really embrace that hardcore fan, and so we felt like the format needed to absolutely reflect that.”
More Points Rewarded for Victory
Also revealed during the announcement held at the NASCAR Production Studios was, a race winner will now receive 55 points instead of 40 as in year’s past. Points for all other positions will remain the same.
Points will be reset at the end of each regular season with the top earner having a 25-p0int advantage at 2,100 points, second will start at 2,075, third at 2,060 and with a five-point difference down the line to 16th.
The field sizes for The Chase remains the same with the top-16 drivers in the Cup Series, 12 in O’Reilly through nine races and 10 drivers through seven Chase races in Trucks.
Drivers and Fans Were Heard
O’Donnell revealed the decision process was done through 1.5 years of panel meetings and discussions. Besides O’Donnell, also on hand was NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Mark Martin, who were also part of the deciding discussions. Joining them were current drivers Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott.
“I think this as close as you can get to the full 36-race format,” Earnhardt, Jr said. “What I believe it does is makes it simpler for our fans to follow. I’m a fan of the sport and now I’m compelled to plug in every single week because I know there is a long-form objective to accomplish.
“Even though he had success in the early part of the season, that doesn’t ensure he’ll have success in the post season. Now, it’s critical these drivers have success every single week.”
For the fans screaming for consistency, O’Donnell said their concerns were heard and considered throughout the process.
“As discussions continued to flow about what we wanted to do,” he said. “The core elements were we wanted it to be something the fans would embrace, we wanted it to reward consistency throughout all of the 36 races, but it was also really important for winning to matter. We didn’t want that to go away.
“So how do you marry all of those together, and where we landed, we think, is the best of both worlds that it has that element of every race matters. All 36 races matter, but you’re also able to include The Chase and our form of a playoff, so to speak.
“But going back to The Chase, it was unique to NASCAR. It’s something we believe the fans will embrace. It’s 10 races, with every race mattering and still being very simple to explain to the fans. One set of points, easy to explain, and the best driver at the end of 36 races is ultimately going to win the championship…if they can perform for those final 10 races.”
New NASCAR Championship Format Reveals The Chase is Back