AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Brian France, the chairman and CEO of NASCAR, is certain that the Chase to the Nextel Cup is working, and that the tweaking to the Chase system that occurred prior to this season has been a boon to the sport.

But one of the sport's top drivers, Jeff Gordon, isn't so sure. He didn't question the system on Friday so much as he questioned the system's impact on the long-term legacy of stock-car racing.

Gordon, who led the points race virtually all season, recently was overtaken in the Chase by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, who has won the last three races. That has given Johnson, with a series-high nine victories, a 30-point lead heading into this Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the next-to-last Cup race of the season.

The season finale will be Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Miami, Fla.

It was pointed out to Gordon that if he finishes less than 20 points behind Johnson, he will have beaten Johnson by 430 points in the 26-race regular season and will have beaten him head-to-head in points during the 10-race Chase as well -- but he will not have won the championship.

"I don't think anything is unfair because you know going into it what it is," Gordon said. "You knew that they were going to get bonus points for winning races in the regular season, and those guys earned those points. We know what we've got to do. We've been ahead by enough points to get it done, and I think we're still in position where we can get it done.

"The points are whatever NASCAR decides when it comes to racing for a championship. The one issue that I've got is that there is no way you can write history or compare history if they are constantly changing it. There's no way you can compare a champion back before the Chase started [to one now], and there's no way you can compare a driver in the Chase when they're constantly make changes. That makes it hard to write history."

France argued that history is a moving target rife with many changes through the decades.

"The truth is that it's had lots of changes over the years," France said. "We used to have 50, 60 races a year. There are lots of things that are different from year to year to the modern era. There are lots of different periods in our history where it would be hard to compare apples to apples anyway. That's just the nature of it."

France also disputed the notion that having teammates such as Gordon and Johnson at the top of the points standings with two races to go is a problem. It may not be exactly what he would want if he could write a script, but he said it is too hard to predict and acceptable nonetheless.

"Our preference is to see as many non-team members compete [in the Chase] as possible," France said. "But that's the nature of some of the teams that have multiple talented good drivers. There's nothing you can do about it.

"I actually think Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, because of the last two tracks, are going to make it very interesting. I think Jeff is going to run better here -- and I think it could be very, very close going into a week from Sunday [at Homestead]. All things being equal, would we like to see 12 different drivers from 12 different teams? Sure. But that's not how it always works."

He also said that constantly tweaking the format isn't necessarily the answer to achieving the goal of a more diverse Chase field. This year the 12 Chasers were comprised of three Hendrick drivers, three Richard Childress Racing drivers, two Roush Fenway drivers, two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers and one driver each from Penske Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc.

In addition to Gordon and Johnson, the third Hendrick Chaser, Kyle Busch, sits in fourth.

"We can't predict who's going to be good and talented in a given year. We just can't predict that. That's why they race," France said.

He said this year's system, which awarded 10 bonus points for each victory during the regular season and thus worked to Johnson's advantage, was a success.

"I think it's worked. We made [winning races] a little more important," France said.

He said this was never better illustrated than last Sunday in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, when Johnson, who could have laid off and settled for second, battled Matt Kenseth door-to-door down the stretch and outdueled him for the victory. Even though victories in the Chase are worth the same amount to all Chasers, France's belief is that the Chase itself has produced such a tight race between Johnson and Gordon that Johnson figured he had no choice but to get as much as he could without backing off.

"I actually called Jimmie Johnson on the phone and told him that [afterward]," France said. "By going after that win, he risked a lot -- because he knew how close it was and he knew that those bonus points were maybe going to be necessary to win it all. I think in the old days, a couple years ago, somebody might have settled for second. He took a lot of chances. I hope it's because the rewards were such that it counts."

Furthermore, France said he feels as if the Chase to the Nextel Cup format is unique enough that NASCAR can claim it exclusively as its own.

"The Chase format we know works well," France said. "We know that's something we can build on -- our own playoff system."