New Chase 'has created some serious drama'

Incidents that began on the track spilled over onto pit road and eventually made their way into the garage. Saturday night, side skirts weren't the only things flared. Tempers were, too.

But were the post-race altercations that involved Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth a result of the pressures created by the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format? Or were they just a couple of after-the-fact confrontations that have long been a part of NASCAR?

It could be an indication of just how important every position on the track has come to be viewed under NASCAR's re-tooled championship-determining system.

After all, this isn't the middle of the racing season when teams have months remaining to overcome a single setback. Wreck me in June and I might not retaliate, but I won't forget.

But wreck me in October?

It's the middle of the Chase, and the opportunities to remain relevant are more limited than they've ever been under previous formats. One bad race, regardless of the reason behind it, will put a team on the brink of elimination if not completely out of the picture.

All three drivers are currently still in the class photo. But a new one's scheduled to be taken after this week's race at Talladega Superspeedway. And with four teams whittled from the field after each three-race segment, not everyone will be included.

Any playoff situation, regardless of the sport, increases tension and anxiety. Mistakes are amplified. So are transgressions.

"When you see Matt Kenseth mad enough to fight, you know that this is intense because that's way out of character for him," race winner Kevin Harvick said of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

Harvick said he saw the contact between Kenseth and Keselowski on a late-race restart that resulted in Kenseth winding up the wall.

"I think that every moment matters in this Chase, and Matt Kenseth knew that that one particular moment could have been the end of his Chase," he said. "That's the bottom line. That's how intense this whole Chase is."

Kenseth fell from seventh to ninth in the points standings, leaving him among four drivers that will have to race their way back into title contention this weekend.

That probably wasn't on his mind when he went searching for Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion.

The bigger issue, Kenseth said, was contact from the Team Penske driver after he had already begun unhooking his safety equipment and as personnel were coming onto pit road.

"There's no excuse for that," he said. "He's a champion. He's supposed to know better than that."

Keselowski raced his way into contention only to finish 16th, in part he said because of contact from Kenseth just before the final restart. Contact with Hamlin came after the race. Like Kenseth, Keselowski is outside the top eight and forced to play catch-up.

The new Chase format was built to put more emphasis on winning races. Win before the Chase and increase the likelihood you'll be invited to the party. Win during the Chase and you're guaranteed to stick around for the next round.

But the format also leaves practically no time to rebound from setbacks, with just two races (if a team is lucky) to recover from a cut tire, blown engine or crash once the Chase begins.

It has competitors on edge and emotions in overdrive. The road to the championship is paved with antacids.

As runner-up Jeff Gordon noted, the new format "has created some serious drama."

And with just five races remaining, it's not likely to subside anytime soon.

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