Head2Head: A new Chase

The new Chase system is exactly what NASCAR needed to bring life into the final four to six races before the playoffs start at New Hampshire. Just think of how utterly boring this past month would have been last year.

Sure, we would still have the "Can Junior make the Chase drama," but that would be it. Jeff Gordon would be the top dog, guys like Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson would not have much to race for, and races at Watkins Glen, Michigan and California would have been a bore.

Think back to The Glen, Gordon and Stewart battling lap after lap, turn after turn, all for 10 bonus points when the Chase starts. Do you really think we would have seen Gordon up on the wheel, getting everything he could out of his car, ultimately risking a top-10 finish if this was last year? No, Gordon would have driven hard, but if Stewart had a run, Gordon would have been just fine with a second-place finish and the 180 points that come with it.

Instead, Gordon is ticked after the race, not because he finished ninth, but because the win gave Stewart three on the season and pushed him 10 points closer when the Chase starts.

Last week at California, Greg Zipadelli, Stewart's crew chief, tells him to pit under green with the leaders and he'll be able post a respectable top-10 finish. Smoke comes back with this: Let's stay out and go for the win -- a top-10 doesn't do us a thing.

That's what I want to see at the track -- guys going for the win.

That's exactly why the changes were made. Matt Kenseth won a championship by posting top-fives and top-10s, and the fans were upset so NASCAR invented the Chase. But that was still points driven, and top-10s were just as good as they were before. So now, the top 12 start on an even playing field and the more wins you have, the better off you are. Isn't that what racing is about -- the wins?

Is it fair that Gordon, who dominated the season, could start 10 points behind teammate Johnson? Probably not, but really, who cares? You want to start the Chase up front; I guess you better win more. In team sports, you want home-field advantage in the playoffs -- you better win more, it's the same thing.

One thing is for sure, the fans are the ultimate winners in all of this. No more do the top teams settle for a mediocre finish. When New Hampshire comes, all the drivers are even and that makes for better, more aggressive racing which is what the fans ultimately deserve -- and get.

The Chase was flawed from its inception -- and version 2.0 is proving to be a step even further backwards.

The comparison to "playoffs" was inevitable; however, stock-car racing is not a stick-and-ball sport. No matter how much "excitement" is created by wild-card races in other sports, it does not translate to NASCAR.

In other sports, the best team earns a bye or home-field advantage by its regular-season play. This year, the Chase punishes a driver for dominating the first 26 races: Jeff Gordon has four wins, 14 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s -- and a 317-point advantage over second-place Tony Stewart. Even if Gordon wins Saturday night at Richmond, he will be tied for first place when the Chase begins.

Sure, that makes for great storylines when trying to get your playoffs on SportsCenter or on the front page of USA Today. What it means is the sport can play to Madison Avenue. But race fans -- the engine that drives the sport -- know better.

More likely, Gordon will start the playoffs at least 10 points behind Jimmie Johnson -- and possibly 20 points behind, because of a system that rewards drivers after the fact. ... Never mind that Johnson is currently sixth in points, which makes a mockery of the Chase 2.0.

And with eight drivers already locked into the Chase (and two others only needing to flip the engine switch on Saturday night), the races leading up to Richmond have become neutered in the sense that drivers aren't racing for wins, rather racing for positions to remain in the playoff picture.

The page that NASCAR could have taken from other sports is a true playoff -- where the postseason teams play among themselves. When the Yankees and Red Sox play in October, the Royals aren't pinch-hitting or warming up in the bullpen.

If the Chase must remain the final 10 races, the 10 playoff drivers should have their own points system -- even if it's within the 43-car field, since there's not a snowball's chance to get the regular season knifed to 26 races with today's sponsorship dollars.

Nonetheless, the points system needs to be addressed -- and not with gimmicky bonus points, such as for leading a lap (under caution, no less) or snaring a better seed in the Chase based on a win six months ago.

Consistency should be the hallmark of the points system, both in the regular season and in the Chase. And that should be enough to get race fans excited as the best battle it out on an even playing field.