Why Is There A Chase?
Thursday, July 6th, 2006 9:42am EDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
[thumb:366:r:s=1:l=x]So we all know the deal, kind of. The Chase was created to intensify the “drama” over the last few races of the season. In order to promote the action on the track, instead of the talk being more focused on who was going where next season. With the sponsorship of the series changing in 2004, it seemed a perfect opportunity to make some adjustments.
Now as we close in on the third running of the Chase, Brian France has announced that some tweaks will be made to the format next year. But the question is still out there as to why there is even this ridiculous chase in the first place. Matt Kenseth’s coast to the championship as the final Winston Cup Champion in 2003 gets a lot of the blame. However, this is a little unfair really. Granted, it was a part of the mixture. In the end though, there’s a little more to it.
Did you know that in the 7 years prior to the chase, the driver leading the points after race 17 went on to win the Championship?
There is an exception and a half on this one. In 1997, Terry Labonte led Jeff Gordon by a mere 3 points after the 17th race, which Jeff went on to win the hardware. The other, and partial exception is in 2002. Late in September, as Sterling Marlin was in quite a comfortable lead in the points, he was injured and wasn’t able to finish out the remainder of the season. If he had, it is very likely that Tony Stewart would be a first time Champion in 2005.
Now, here’s the interesting part in regards to the Chase.
In the past 2 Chases, neither the points leader, or the driver 2nd in the points after race 17 went on to win the Nextel Cup. In both 2004 and 2005, Jimmie Johnson led the points, with Dale Jr in second in 2004, and Greg Biffle in second last year. This year, Double J still holds onto the points after the 17th race, with Matt Kenseth a mere 8 points behind. It’s a comfortable 267 points back to Dale Jr in third.
So even though there were many years with close battles down to the end, there were also a lot of Championships won before the final race. When it comes down to it, you don’t want a team winning it all until the final game. For example, the World Series, Superbowl, or NBA Finals. Hence, the Chase was born, and now after it’s had its day in court, it needs a few minor tweaks.
Something of note though, it looks like there may be a slight schedule tweak as well. We’ve been expecting a little bit of a shift around for next year, and it now looks like it’s possible that some of that movement will be during the final 10 races.
More on the Chase, and some other interesting tidbits, coming up later in the Water Cooler.
Filed Under: Damn Good Points, Nascar, Nextel Cup
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