RELATED: Learn more about the changes
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A seven-race Chase format and revamped Dash 4 Cash program will greet XFINITY Series teams for 2016 as NASCAR rolled out major changes for two of its three national series Tuesday during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“When you get down there to Homestead, you don’t … go down there and run 14th. You’re going to have to run your tail off,” XFINITY Series director Wayne Auton said of the adoption of a Chase format for the series.
“I think we’ll see a different style racing, everyone focused on getting that first win as we saw with the Sprint Cup Series. We feel like it’s going to highlight the XFINITY Series drivers, which is what we need to do and (boost) the “Where Drivers are Made.” It’s just another way that we know we will get these young drivers out in front of everyone.
“When we get to Homestead, I don’t know who will be more nervous, them or myself. Because you want to … make sure everything is right. But the fans are the ones that are going to win.”
Similar to the format currently used in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the XFINITY Series Chase will consist of the season’s final seven races. It will feature a 12-driver field, two three-race elimination rounds, and conclude with four finalists competing for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“For me, I’m 100 percent in favor of that,” Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota said on Tuesday during JGR’s portion of the media tour. “I think it’s going to be more fun, and more exciting for us, for the fans, for NASCAR. We are going to add some pressure on ourselves, which I think is going to be good. When we get ready to make the step to the Cup level, we are going to know what to expect from all this pressure in this system, so it’s going to be fun.”
To qualify, a driver must have either finished among the top 12 drivers or won one or more of the season’s first 26 races — provided he or she is in the top 30 in points and has attempted to qualify for each race. Any driver winning two Dash 4 Cash bonuses will also earn a Chase berth.
The first round will consist of races at Kentucky, Dover and Charlotte, with the top eight advancing. As with the Sprint Cup format, winning an XFINITY Series Chase race automatically advances an eligible team. Points will determine the remainder of the eight that advance out of the Round of 12.
Similarly, the Round of 8 will consist of three races, at Kansas, Texas and Phoenix, with winning eligible drivers and/or points determining the final four that will compete in the Championship 4 at Homestead.
The highest finishing driver among the final four will be crowned XFINITY Series champion.
There will be points resets after each round and any Sprint Cup Series driver who qualified for the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is ineligible to compete in the XFINITY Series Championship 4 at Homestead.
“I wouldn’t say it changes anything for the start of the year or even really for the mid-part of the year,” Erik Jones, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Tuesday. “We’re still going to try to win races, but the time it really changes is when you get to the elimination races and especially when you get to Homestead.”
This year’s Dash 4 Cash program will feature stops at Bristol (April 16), Richmond (April 23), Dover (May 14) and Indianapolis (July 23). Prior to each event, two heat races (with lineups determined by odd/even qualifying positions) will determine the 40-car lineup for the main.
The two highest finishing XFINITY Series regulars in each heat race will qualify for that event’s Dash 4 Cash award, a $100,000 bonus. Any driver winning two of the four Dash 4 Cash bonuses will earn a Chase berth, as long as he or she meets the previously established criteria.
“At Bristol, we will have 50-lap heat races, then a 200-lap main,” Auton said of the series’ first visit of the year to the Tennessee short track. “At Richmond, we’ll have 35-lap heat races and a 140-lap main; when we go to Dover, we will have two 40-lap heat races and a 120-lap main and when we get to Indy we’ll have two 20-lap heats and a then a 60-lap main.”
There will be a 15-minute break between heats and a 20-minute break between the final heat race and the main.
There will be no purse money or points paid for the heat races.
Contributing: Zack Albert