Junior: 'The right guy won the championship'

Four-time winner in 2014 endorses Gordon's suggested tweak of new format

DORAL, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't exactly have a front-row seat for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale's championship battle, finishing 14th in the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But a day later and having had some time to reflect on the new playoff format's conclusion, NASCAR's most popular driver said he thought it was an invigorating success.

"I thought it couldn't have gone any better for NASCAR," Earnhardt Jr. said Monday at the Trump National Doral, site of the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series awards banquet later that night. "I always go back to thinking about how I ran and what I could've done, but looking at the event as a whole, I thought it was great for NASCAR. I thought the right guy won the championship and I thought it was good to have a mix of different seasons, if you will -- you had the guy with no wins and all the consistency, you had the guy with one win, a couple of guys with multiple wins, youth and experience. Everything across the board was represented and we got to see it play out."

Kevin Harvick stormed to the front on fresher tires at the end of the Ford EcoBoost 400, denying runner-up Ryan Newman for the victory and the championship, as Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano also faded late in their bids for the title. But all four hopefuls spent time contending for the lead, and the rash of yellow flags at the end forced their crew chiefs into varying pit-road gambles down the stretch.

"I thought those cautions at the end changed the strategy, but they were all legit," Earnhardt said. "There was a lot of stuff happening on the race track and it was an exciting race even without the championship battle involved, but I loved the way it played out. I think that NASCAR has got to be really pleased."

Earnhardt's own path in this year's Chase ended in the Contender Round elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway, but he made the most of his ousting with his first Martinsville Speedway victory the following week. While he wasn't able to race for the title, he said that the system provided plenty of memorable moments, culminating in Sunday night's finale.

Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate and a four-time series champion, said he would like to see tweaks adopted for future postseasons, including a separate points system for Chase drivers that wouldn't penalize mistakes relative to the balance of the field, potentially awarding points for the rounds of 16, 12, 8 and 4 on a scale that equals the amount of title-eligible drivers remaining (16 points for first, 15 for second, 14 for third and so on).

Earnhardt said that such a proposal might prompt even more intensity, a tough task after a season full of high-pressure moments.

"I like his idea as far as us racing under a separate points system where you have 16 drivers and you get 16 to 1 point regardless of your finishing position, you're just graded against the drivers in the Chase," Earnhardt said. "I think that's fair and I think that would be easy and simple for the fans. I don't particularly know that it would've played out any differently, but I believe yes, it'd be simpler and not so challenging for the drivers. It would allow us a little freedom to race a bit more aggressively, knowing that well, I'm just going to cost myself a couple of points versus 20. Much different scope and you can definitely race with more freedom because I felt, at times, stymied a little bit, by my ability to go out there and be aggressive. I felt sort of hog-tied and racing with too much caution, just trying to do X instead of thinking about Y and Z.

"I like that idea a ton, and I think you still maintain the integrity of the system we have and the excitement of it."

MORE: