One simple change that would improve the Chase

You know what was cool about Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

It was only the first race in the 2010 Chase, and so many guys were acting like it was the last. How else can you explain the risky fuel-mileage gambles taken by eventual winner Clint Bowyer, hardest-luck loser Tony Stewart and fellow Chaser Jeff Burton?

Just enough

Clint Bowyer's gamble pays off, but Tony Stewart's doesn't, as 2010 Chase kicks off with eventful day at Loudon.

• Complete story
• '07 all over again
• Press Pass: Bowyer
• Victory Lane: Bowyer
• Final Laps: Loudon

So much for the well-espoused theory that you can't win the 10-race Chase in the first week, but you sure can lose it. These guys were unabashedly going for it, and it was great to see.

The race did, however, expose what is wrong with the way the current system rewards points for wins. Should Bowyer, who won for the first time all season (not to mention for the first time in 88 outings) really be able to leapfrog all other Chasers except top seed Denny Hamlin in a single bound?

The answer is no.

As compelling as Bowyer's improbable victory was -- and it was improbable only because Stewart ran out of gas with the white flag in sight -- it could be argued that he was rewarded too handsomely for it. Sure, this is the playoffs and he stepped it up. Sure, he should be rewarded handsomely for that.

But should he have vaulted from 12th in the standings to second, just 35 points off the lead being set by Hamlin? Hamlin has won a series-high six races this season. Four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, who has won five, finished 25th Sunday and fell from second to seventh in the standings -- although only 92 points and well within striking distance of the lead. Even Kevin Harvick, who led the point standings 17 consecutive weeks in the regular season and won three races, was jumped by Bowyer -- and Harvick rallied for a fifth-place finish Sunday.

Just win, baby

The Cup Series garage is full of speculation these days about what NASCAR may or may not do to spice up the Chase beginning next season. If the rest of this year's Chase races are like Sunday's at New Hampshire, there is an outside chance they will do nothing.

But the reality is they're likely to do something.

They have talked with team owners and drivers about what might work. There is talk about going to an elimination-style format and expanding the field to as many as 15 drivers. (Continued)