AVONDALE, Ariz. – Jeff Gordon said he thought they were joking.
A 10-race, season-ending playoff to determine the champion? Yeah, right.
Turns out, NASCAR officials weren't kidding.
"The one thing that I will never forget is the moment that I was standing on the dock in Key West, Florida, on a NASCAR boat trip with (NASCAR Chairman and CEO) Brian France and (Vice Chairman) Mike Helton and they told me what they were planning on doing with the Chase format and I laughed in their faces because I thought that was the most hilarious thing I have ever heard of," Gordon said Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, which will be renamed Jeff Gordon Raceway for Sunday's race. "Because I thought it was a joke, then I quickly realized that was not a joke and I was pulling the laughs back into my mouth. I was like, 'Are you serious?' And they said, 'Yes.' Of course I didn't like it. I felt like point system was just fine for me."
Little wonder. Before the arrival of the Chase for the Sprint Cup format, Gordon had won four championships, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver narrowly missed a fifth by just 37 points. A season-long battle to determine the championship suited his driving style, and his team, just fine.
Since the inception of the format, Gordon has failed to bring home the series' biggest trophy. He'll try to remedy that situation next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of the Ford EcoBoost 400 and the championship-determining race. The 44-year-old, who will retire from full-time competition at season's end, earned one of the four available spots in the finale by virtue of his win at Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway last month.
"There is no doubt in my mind that it suited my driving style," Gordon said of the pre-2004 format. "The reason I was able to win at so many different tracks was the consistency that our team had and that I had at all the different tracks. That paid off when you were trying to win the championship under a 36-race schedule.
"I didn't want to see it come down to that final 10, because some of those final 10 were not tracks that suited me. It actually suited others pretty well and so I felt like it was not benefiting me. So of course I wish it hadn't changed."
Would he have won more championships had the format remained unchanged? Gordon isn't sure, but he says it's not something on which he dwells. Different formats create different circumstances, which often lead to drivers making different decisions.
"Everybody races differently under each point system and does what it takes," he said. "So I don't know if we can all sit here and speculate and talk about things and wonder what could have been if the old point system would have stayed the same."
His success didn't entirely disappear with the arrival of the Chase – 29 of his 93 career victories have come since 2004. But others have taken advantage of the move, and none more so than Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson, who has won six titles under the format.
Kurt Busch (2004), Tony Stewart ('05, '11), Brad Keselowski ('12) and reigning champ Kevin Harvick have won championships under the Chase setup, as well.
"When I look at the sport from 10,000 feet I love it and think it is exciting," Gordon said. "And with this new (elimination) format, I think it is even better.
"I will continue to support it, always have, even when it hasn't suited me. I think that I try and not be that selfish and think of what is best for the sport. At the end of the day, what is best for the sport is best for me, best for the team, best for all teams."
Of course, that doesn't mean there wouldn't be an extra sense of satisfaction should he win a fifth title, a final one under a format that seemed to suit others more than the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet.
"That would be the ultimate, most poetic justice ever," he said.