Richmond holds the key for several drivers looking to unlock a berth in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Credit: Autostock

What has the Chase meant to Richmond?

RICHMOND, Va. -- Quantifying any impact the Chase for the Nextel Cup format has had on Richmond International Raceway is a difficult proposition. There is no pinpoint barometer with which to measure such things, though media and sponsorship interest -- and the resulting dollars generated -- seem viable enough.

Both are rising. Annually. Significantly.

In 2003, the year before the 26/10 format was introduced and thereby redefined Richmond as Chase guillotine, some 500 media credentials were submitted nationally for the fall race at RIR.

Jeremy Mayfield raced his way into the inaugural Chase by winning at Richmond in 2004. Credit: Autostock

This year that tally rises to more than 700.

This is noteworthy for one reason: more media coverage means more sponsorship dollars. More sponsorship dollars means, well, just that.

"It's definitely raised our profile tremendously, and the significance of our event," track president Doug Fritz said. "There's no question, the Chase format has made us a premiere location on the schedule."

But for whom? Attendance has never been an issue at the three-quarter-mile Virginia track. Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 will mark its 30th consecutive sellout.

"The reality is, we've been doing something right well before the Chase got here," Matt Becherer, RIR's senior director of marketing and sales said.

"What the Chase has done is give us is give us more of a platform to showcase what we've already been doing to a broader audience."

That breadth, Becherer said, is merely the continuance of a trend that began in 1999, when International Speedway Corp. acquired RIR from the Sawyer family.

"We've always done business on a national level," Becherer said. "I'd be kidding if I didn't say we had a much bigger mid-Atlantic presence than, say, West Coast, but we're doing business with companies headquartered all over the country.

"Certainly that Mid-Atlantic deal has broadened a little bit -- New York City is in our top 10 [markets]. That surprises a lot of people. When ISC first bought the track, if you were to do a DMA breakdown of where the fans were coming from, it was the Carolinas, points south.

"In the last six or seven years we've been able to shift that focus northward. If you were to plot our fans on a map of the United States, you'd see the vast majority of them are coming from a northward-shaped 'V,' right up the East Coast -- Philly, New York."

The Chase has broadened that reach.

"Definitely," Becherer said. "But [when the Chase was introduced] we already had more than a regional and local scope. Ultimately that's what our sponsors are paying for."

And continue to.

"We always felt the venue was exceptional, but it exploded when it became the decision point for the Chase," Chevrolet motorsports manager Terry Dolan said.

The proof, again, is in the media credentials.

According to track public relations officials, some of the nation's foremost newspapers and magazines are among the publications that chose not to cover the fall Richmond event until the Chase was introduced, including Forbes magazine, Kansas City Star, Tampa Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Miami Herald, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Boston Globe, Toronto Sun, Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Le Journal de Montreal, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Times, The Tennessean and the Indianapolis Star, which previous came to Richmond only when the IndyCars were in town.

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They'll all be there Saturday night.

"It's a lot more work," Becherer said. "Anytime you've got the entire world getting into what you do, you have to make sure all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed more than before.

"And because the demand has gone up, the phone rings a lot more. We have a lot more people we have to service on race weekend. Example: two weeks out from the race, no suites, not tickets, truly no way into the race."

With so much success, it seems a foregone conclusion that Richmond would have a stranglehold on the Chase cutoff weekend.

They're confident in the product, but don't assume anything, won't rest on their laurels.

"I think this definitely puts us easily among the top-four races on the schedule, if not the top-three," Becherer said. "And I think that's a huge testament to what we've been doing the last several years. NASCAR could have put that race anywhere."

"The reaction we get from NASCAR is very positive," Fritz added. "I know they won't make any commitments beyond the year, but we feel we've been good for the sport, good for NASCAR. The drivers speak highly of this racetrack and feel it's a good fit for the last race."

Matt Borland's watchful eye helped Ryan Newman clinch the final spot in the 2005 Chase. Credit: Autostock

Nextel Cup rookie Denny Hamlin, a Richmond native that watched the first Chase from the RIR grandstands, backs that up wholeheartedly. When asked, though, if the Chase had elevated Richmond to "major" status on the schedule, he was indifferent.

"For us six drivers that are going for that top-10 spot, it's no doubt a major," Hamlin said. "For some of the guys that have been eliminated it's just like any other race.

"So it's hard to say it's really a huge event, but Richmond is probably most drivers' favorite racetrack, because it's a short track but you can race on it. It's multi-grooved. So I think it's the perfect place to end the Race to the Chase.

"If you end it on a big track, you got what you got and the cars are spread out and there's less chance of things happening, whereas everyone's on the edge of their seat at Richmond. The cars are so close together, so especially when you've got a tight points race, anything can happen.

"That's something that's been said in every single article -- anything can happen. At Richmond, it really can."

Neither Fritz nor Becherer would specify financial impact, but again, basic economics serve to tell the tale.

"It's definitely increased demand, and anytime demand goes up prices can go up a little bit," Becherer said. "But there wasn't any wholesale change where we started charging more for our sponsorships or elements here at the track. We just have more of them."

Again, there's a reason.

"From a fan perspective it's altered viewing habits and public attendance habits," Dolan said. "It's significantly elevated interest with fans to gain access to the event, much like a Super Bowl ticket.

"If you want to be close to this sport, you'd like to be present at the event that determines the ins and outs of the Chase, and ultimately who runs for the sport's championship."

Plenty of fans and industry types alike are still Chase skeptics. Initially, even those who stood to benefit the most had questions.

"At first I was a little bit hesitant, but then as I learned more about how it was going to be structured I got really excited about it," Becherer said.

"Then when we heard we were actually going to be the race where it would all be decided, we were doing back flips," Becherer said. "I can't imagine a better position on the schedule except the Daytona 500 or the final race in Miami."