Chase expansion has diluted championship field (cont'd)

Last year it was Biffle and Vickers, who wound up seventh and 12th, respectively. Two years ago it was Kenseth and Bowyer, who finished 11th and fifth. In 2007, it was Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick, who came in 11th and 10th. No question making the Chase benefits a race team, which can check off a box on its list of preseason goals, and gets a chance at a bigger cut of the year-end points fund. But expanding the playoff field hasn't enhanced the championship hunt; it's watered it down. Adding more Chase spots has only let in programs that should be tinkering and experimenting with ways to become true championship contenders for the next season, rather than laboring under the illusion that they are now.

Which is why the idea of further Chase expansion so riles so many in the garage area, especially those at the top of the food chain who don't see the sense in letting in more programs that simply aren't in any shape to contend for a title. NASCAR chairman Brian France has mentioned Chase expansion as a possibility, and although things have quieted down on that front since he last spoke publicly on the topic in late July at Indianapolis, indications are that the potential for Chase changes remains very much alive. NASCAR is still studying options, one of which is leaving the current system as-is.

“

I have to get in that Chase, because I know that we can perform when we get in that Chase. I've seen me do it before.

”

-- CLINT BOWYER

Contraction, going back to a 10-man, 10-race Chase that seemed so ideally symmetrical, seems to be off the radar. Such a move would be quite unorthodox, given that once sports leagues start expanding their postseason fields, the practice is to keep expanding -- baseball and football aren't getting rid of their wild cards anytime soon. But in those sports, the last teams in are often capable of winning it all. In NASCAR, they haven't been, at least not yet. Sometimes, they're terribly far off. And if a 12th-place team can't contend for the championship, why do we have any reason to believe that a 14th- or 15th-team can?

"I think we already added more guys, and I'm not sure why, to make it to where more guys had a chance," Hamlin said earlier this season. "Truly, there's no reason a guy who's 12th in points or 15th in points should have a right to race for a championship, where the first 26 races he ran horrible or mediocre. How is that fair that he gets a chance to win a championship just in the last 10?"

Bowyer, even as a potential 12th-place driver, believes he can be the exception. No question, he drives for a Richard Childress Racing organization that's shown great overall strength this season, and his No. 33 car is powered by Earnhardt-Childress engines that have proven themselves among the best in the sport. He did his best to crash the party in 2008, and finished third overall in 2007 after getting into the Chase as the ninth-place driver, but starting last after the field was re-seeded on victories. He likes his chances.

"Absolutely," he said. "For one reason, those Chase races have always been good race tracks for me. They are some of my favorite race tracks and my best race tracks finish-wise. Looking at the future here, I'm excited. I have to get in that Chase, because I know that we can perform when we get in that Chase. I've seen me do it before. I've seen our team do it before. Some of our best runs were in that last 10 races even last year when we weren't a part of that Chase. Those are good race tracks for us, and if we can be a part of that group, I really feel like we can be somewhere in the top five. Now, I don't know where that will be. I don't know if that is fifth or a championship, but I feel like we can contend and as a top-five team in those last 10 races."

On the surface, that seems a lot to ask of a driver with an average result of 15.0 this season, who hasn't strung together more than two consecutive single-digit finishes since the opening three weeks of the year. But results over the next 10 races will speak for themselves. Come next week, the opportunity will be there for Bowyer -- and by extension, every 12th-place driver in the standings -- to prove he truly belongs.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Related:
• Biffle, Bowyer close in on final two Chase spots
• Chase-only point system wouldn't alter status quo
• Five questions as the regular season wraps at RIR