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No. 27 team knows it must avoid another summer swoon

Paul Menard, now the longest-tenured Cup driver at Richard Childress Racing, says his No. 27 team "doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel," but acknowledges it must improve on past years’ performances.

"But at the same time," the 33-year-old said, "we’re always pushing to get better, finding things we didn’t do to our complete satisfaction to work on, whether it’s little things from how you get on and off to pit road, how do you manage pit-road speed, managing our practice sessions, having a plan and sticking to the plan or when do you bail off the plan and try something different if it’s not going well."

Menard, Ryan Newman and Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Austin Dillon make up the RCR NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver lineup for 2014. Newman, with 17 career Cup wins, found a home at RCR after being released from Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of last season. Paired with crew chief Luke Lambert, he will work with most of the same folks that made up former driver Jeff Burton‘s No. 31 team this past year.

Dillon, a former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series champion, has enjoyed a successful run in the lower series as he advanced up the ladder to Cup. For ’14, he inherits the Gil Martin-led team that helped Kevin Harvick to a third-place points finish in ’13.

Menard’s own team remains intact, for the most part, with veteran crew chief Slugger Labbe once again calling the shots.

"I trust Slugger and he trusts me," Menard said of the pairing that is entering its fifth year — the two previously worked together at Richard Petty Motorsports before making the move to RCR in 2011. "We balance each other out really well, I think. I’m probably a little more laid-back; he’s probably a little more high-strung. Sometimes he gets wound up and I have to calm him down; sometimes he needs to kick me in the ass. So that works."

Labbe has helped guide three drivers to Victory Lane since 2002, and among his five career victories as a crew chief are the 2003 Daytona 500 (with Michael Waltrip) and the 2011 Brickyard 400 (with Menard).

The Brickyard victory is Menard’s lone win through 255 career starts in the series. He also has a single win in the Nationwide Series.

Avoiding a midseason slump that has hit the team in recent seasons is just one of the goals for 2014.

"The biggest thing is that historically, we’ve always fired off the season really strong, then get to the summer months, races 12 to 15, and we fall on our face," Labbe said. "It happened again this (past) year and it’s hard to make those points back up in the middle of the year."

Eighth in points through 12 races, the team fell to 20th following a crash at Kentucky and blown engine at Daytona later in the summer.

"We really got behind there," Labbe said. "If we just minimize our mistakes — our cars have speed, we have a lot of potential, a really good pit crew. Believe it or not, it’s the same pit crew I’ve had for the last three years … I tried to blow ’em up at Homestead, but we survived all that. The core group, from the shop to the road, I think we’ve changed out six people total (through the years).

"But the big thing is just minimize the mistakes. If we have a 10th-place car, we need to finish 10, don’t finish 15th. If we can minimize the mistakes and avoid the wrecks, engine failures or parts failures, I think we’ll be where we need to be."

Menard and Labbe say the addition of engineers Justin Alexander and James Small should be a big benefit to the No. 27 team and the RCR organization.

"I remember 10 years ago, it was all about having good mechanics," Labbe said. "You changed 2-3 engines a weekend, there was a lot of work involved and you had to have really good mechanics. You still have to have that, but you’ve got to have a strong group of engineers today. … Each team has two that goes to the track, there’s an assistant that floats among the teams, and a core group back at the shop when we’re on the track, analyzing what we are doing."

Alexander previously worked at Hendrick Motorsports (2004-10) while Small comes to RCR from Melbourne, Australia, where he enjoyed a successful engineering career in the V8 Supercar series.

"We’ve had very little car trouble," Menard said. "Our cars are solid; we haven’t had pieces fall off. …Probably the one thing we lacked the last couple of years was giving Slugger a good engineering support staff. I feel really confident in Justin and James this year to help us out."

And as for taking that next step?

"That’s the million-dollar question," Menard said. "That’s what everyone is trying to do — take your results from last year and improve on them.

"I feel like RCR as a whole, going into the season with some of the personnel moves, the engineering buildup that has happened, we’ve got a great opportunity to do that."

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Since Chase format began in 2004, Jimmie Johnson holds most titles with six

In 1953, Herb Thomas became the first driver to win multiple NASCAR championships after winning his first two years prior. Since then, a total of 14 drivers have added onto their success by winning multiple Cup championships, the most recent being six-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Although Johnson is inching closer toward joining them, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt still hold the record with seven Sprint Cup Series titles each.

 

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Blake Shelton’s moving speech, Martin Truex Jr.’s Skype drop-in among top moments

Over four days this past week, reporters and competitors commingled in what for more than three decades now has been an annual rite of winter in NASCAR land. The 32nd edition of the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway once again allowed ink-stained wretches and logo-clad drivers to exist pretty much in harmony, with writers filling notebooks and racers spilling quotes all in an effort to build interest, momentum, and storylines for the forthcoming season.

In many ways, it was the same as it’s always been — team
principles on a stage thanking sponsors and professing excitement,
journalists asking usually responsible, but occasionally ridiculous
questions, all followed by breakout sessions in which writers or
cameramen gather elbow-to-elbow around Tony Stewart or Dale Earnhardt Jr.
This year, though, rather than bussing the masses from race shop to
race shop, the teams came to the convention center in downtown
Charlotte. The Hall of Fame induction was incorporated. And it was all
capped by a small NASCAR announcement you may have heard about.

But
the more things change, the more things stay the same. The overall
atmosphere was still one of optimism. Some journalists still went after
gift bags — filled with sponsor-related products, and handed out after
some sessions — as if they were the last edible scraps remaining on the
planet. And the tour was still punctuated by those touching or humorous
individual moments that stand out above the rest, and help provide
depth and humanity to the entire week. From the event’s 2014 edition,
here are the top 10.

10. That’ll be $5, Governor

With the tour moved downtown, the kickoff luncheon found a few home in the Great Hall of the Hall of Fame. And it had a few new attendees, such as Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon and North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory. A former Charlotte mayor who refers to his home turf as the "NASCAR Valley," McCrory confessed to attending his first race in 1975 — by walking through an unattended gate at Charlotte Motor Speedway for free, after the World 600 was halfway over. To make amends for skirting the entry fee, McCrory pulled out a $5 bill and offered it to track president Marcus Smith. "I’m not sure we could afford the compounded interest," Smith joked. "We’ll forgive the taxes on this," the governor responded. "Just don’t tell anyone at my department of revenue."

9. Bowyer on the big game

When it comes to Clint Bowyer, there are few simple answers. Ask him for a Super Bowl pick, for instance, and hold on. "I’m going to freeze my ass off, but nonetheless I think we’re going," he said during the Michael Waltrip Racing visit. "Peyton (Manning) — what a great story. Probably could’ve, should’ve retired and (still) would’ve had a huge legacy and impact in the sport. You hear all these things about other players, that man changed everything. He went to a complete new team and is right back on top, competing for a Super Bowl again. It’s a great story and he represents the sport well. You hate to say it, but Jimmie (Johnson) — he is a champion, not only in the car, but out of the car. He represents the sport in the right way for kids growing up racing, that’s what champions need to do. Peyton certainly conducts himself well. … He did beat the Chiefs twice. I wasn’t very happy with him over that, but nonetheless, that’s who my pick is." We’ve got it … we think.

8. Calamity Jeff

Although not technically on the itinerary, the 2014 paint scheme on Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 car was unveiled at the NASCAR Hall of Fame shortly after the tour officially concluded on Thursday afternoon. Before the vehicle — a sharp, gleaming black number with those trademark flames flowing down the sides — was uncovered, Gordon admitted to needing some of his sponsor Axalta’s product because of a fender-bender he had been involved in while pulling out of a parking lot earlier in the day. Team owner Rick Hendrick, seated right next to the four-time champion, couldn’t resist. "That wasn’t the first car you’ve wrecked," he cracked, explaining that Gordon had totaled 17 — 17! — cars in the driver’s rookie season of 1993, when he also had 11 DNFs. No wonder, then, Hendrick struck a deal with an automotive finishing brand as a sponsor.

7. Professor Tony

Tony Stewart is back. No, maybe he hasn’t yet returned to the race track — that will have to wait a few weeks still — but the three-time NASCAR champ, who missed the last four months of the 2013 season with a broken leg suffered in a sprint-car accident, is clearly back to his acerbic old self when it comes to dealing with the media. That much was evident during the Stewart-Haas Racing tour session, when a reporter asked Stewart to confirm Twitters posts that indicated he’d been cleared for Sprint Unlimited practice at Daytona. It was a legitimate and responsible question, but even so, Stewart couldn’t resist. "Read the Internet every once in a while, and you’ll see I got released a couple of days ago," he lectured. "It was on the Internet everywhere. I’ll show you how to use your computer later." Ah, Tony, how we’ve missed you.

6. Felix being Felix

Although Chip Ganassi wasn’t at the tour stop for his namesake team — he evidently had some business with another racing series — Felix Sabates certainly was, and no one can liven up an early-morning session better than the Cuban-born minority owner of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. "Eight-thirty in the morning is early as hell," Sabates said. "If we had 10 wins, we’d be at 4 o’clock in the afternoon." As for the team’s recent name change from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Sabates joked that he was all for it, because his name now appears more prominently on the logo. And though he’s cut back his race schedule in recent years, Sabates plans on attending 28 events in 2014. The reason? Kyle Larson. "The first opportunity the kid has to get to Victory Lane," Sabates said, "I don’t want to be at the club playing golf with a bunch of idiots." It all made getting up early quite worthwhile.

5. Junior on Junior

Perhaps the best individual interview session of the tour belonged to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who seemed as comfortable before the microphones as he is storming the high line at Daytona. Always honest, he didn’t mince words. On not winning as much as he’d like: "It really motivates you and ticks you off." On hopes for 2014: "I think we’re right there. I think we’re right around the corner. This is the year. Maybe this is the year." His best comments, though, were on Austin Dillon taking over his father’s former car at Richard Childress Racing. The No. 3 returns to the premier series this season after a hiatus of 13 years, with Childress’ grandson behind the wheel. "This is how it should happen," said Earnhardt, who never wanted the ride himself. "This is what should happen, with Austin and Richard." No doubt.

4. Suave Drew Herring

On a team with plenty of star power, who would have thought that the driver who would steal the show at the Joe Gibbs Racing tour session would be — Drew Herring? But that’s exactly what happened when the team showed a photo from Herring’s Instagram feed — one of the part-time Nationwide Series driver as a youngster, kicked back on a rattan couch, wearing white pants and white suede shoes, with a stuffed Easter bunny placed next to him and a Dale Earnhardt No. 3 pendant hanging from his neck. His sister had sent him the photo, so Herring decided to share it with the world. "I mean, I was looking good back then," he said. "Not much has changed. A little more facial hair, but any guy who can pull that off is pretty confident and comfortable with himself." Indeed.

3. Monkey business

Tim Flock may be gone, but former Charlotte track president Humpy Wheeler did the driver proud when the late NASCAR champion was inducted into the Hall of Fame. And any mention of Flock brought memories of Jocko Flocko, the monkey who once rode in his car. As a tribute, Wheeler wished he’d have brought his own primate. "They’re illegal in the convention center, but the fine is only $92," he joked after his speech. In the press room after the ceremony, Flock’s widow Frances regaled reporters with stories of Jocko’s exploits. "He had a helmet, he had a uniform, and he had a safety belt, and he’d sit in that seat with his safety belt connected," she said. That is, until he got loose and cost Tim a race. "Tim literally had to pull in the pits, leading the race, and pull a monkey off his back." And not the figurative kind.

2. Fathers and sons

On a night when most Hall of Fame inductees were enshrined by family members or others in the racing industry, it initially seemed odd that country singer Blake Shelton would do the honors for his friend Dale Jarrett. That is, until Shelton began his speech and started talking about his father, a lifelong NASCAR fan. "I hope you drivers realize the kind of impact you have on the lives of everyday, hard‑working people — people like my dad," he said. It struck a perfect tone, given that Dale and Ned Jarrett are now the only living father and son combination to earn enshrinement. "I had no idea what Blake was going to say," Jarrett said later in the media room. "Knowing him, that could have gone in a lot of ways." But it went the right way, and by the end there was hardly a dry eye in the ballroom.

1. Live from Anguilla

Tuesday was a grim day in Charlotte, one that began with cold and overcast conditions, and ended with a few inches of snow on the ground. Some journalists on tour were left scrambling due to school closings, others crept home on icy roads. For Martin Truex Jr., though, it was all sunshine and palm trees. "My biggest concern is getting sunburned," said the new Furniture Row Racing driver, and with good reason — he was lounging in 80-degree temperatures on the lovely, tropical Caribbean island of Anguilla, appearing via a video screen to the shivering masses in North Carolina.

At first, there was a degree of consternation among the media when it was learned that Truex — the lone driver on a one-car team — would miss the Furniture Row stop because of a previously-scheduled vacation, replaced by a cardboard standup placed next to a row of director chairs on stage. That all disappeared, though, when his smiling face popped onto a video screen via a Skype hookup. In a sport that craves any sort of variety, this was certainly different.

"Look out your window and look out mine," he needled, and then on cue was handed a Captain Morgan and ginger ale. "That wasn’t even planned," he added. "Perfect." It was everything the Sprint Media Tour should be — fun, playful, interesting and sunny in disposition. Let’s just hope other drivers don’t get the same idea.

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highlight Chase changes

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Defaulted payment from sponsor forces ‘especially painful’ decision

Jeb Burton figured he’d be spending the last few weeks before Daytona preparing for the Camping World Truck Series opener. He had no idea he’d instead be making telephone calls, searching for a sponsor just to get him there.

Yet that was the cruel reality Friday, when Turner Scott Motorsports announced that the sponsor of its No. 4 truck had defaulted on payments, and as a result Burton’s program would not be fielded full-time. Turner Scott said the default by Arrowhead electronic cigarettes would also force the team to lay off as much as 20 percent of its staff.

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The news was crushing to Burton, the 21-year-old son of former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton. The younger Burton finished fifth in Truck Series points last season, and was positioned to be a leading contender for the championship in 2014.

"It’s just hard for my family and I," Burton told NASCAR.com by telephone Friday evening. "Racing is kind of my whole life, and to have it kind of taken from me because of something I don’t have any control over is devastating to my family and I. We’ve just got to keep going forward, and hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to get back on the race track."

Toward that end, Burton said he and his father have been "calling and calling" potential sponsors. "We’ve been close to some things, but nothing’s come together," he added. "We’ve just got to keep digging there."

The loss of the No. 4 team leaves rookie Ben Kennedy as the lone full-time Truck Series driver in the Turner Scott stable. The organization will also field a part-time team with Brandon Jones and other drivers to be named later, as well as two full-time Nationwide Series programs involving Kyle Larson and another driver still to be announced.

"The breakout success of Jeb Burton and the entire No. 4 team in 2013 makes these decisions especially painful," team co-owner Harry Scott Jr. said in a statement. "However, we will do everything we can to put Jeb on the race track with our organization going forward. He is a great talent and has a great career ahead of him. Despite this setback, Turner Scott Motorsports remains strong overall and will compete for championships in both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. We are extremely proud of the talent of our workforce here at TSM, and it is very difficult for us to lose anyone within our organization. We understand the way that this affects the lives of everyone involved, and we will do our best to assist in placement elsewhere in the sport."

Friday, Burton said he wasn’t certain what Turner Scott had in mind as far as a potential part-time schedule, or whether he’d be in the season opener Feb. 21 at Daytona if his current situation remains unchanged. "Right now I feel like something has to come together, because I have not been told if I will be in Daytona or not," Burton said. "I need to find a sponsor."

According to Turner Scott, the situation stems from Arrowhead’s "unfortunate and untimely failure to make a critical payment" to the team. Burton, who won one race and earned seven poles in his rookie campaign of 2013, received the bad news earlier this week and has been working the phones ever since.

"I just hate it for my race team and my family," he said. "I thought we had a great team, and I thought we could go win the championship this year. Maybe something will come together and we can still do it, but as of right now, it’s not looking too good."

Burton’s plight met with plenty of sympathy on Twitter, where the likes of Larson, Brad Keselowski, and JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller all voiced their support. And yet, the disappointment was evident in the driver’s voice. "I just want to race," Burton said, and over the next few weeks he plans to prepare as if he’s still going to Daytona — even though right now, he’s not certain if he is or not.

"Our sport sometimes isn’t fair, like any sport isn’t," he said. "We’ve got to find those sponsor dollars to get on the race track, that’s what it seems to me right now. I feel like my family and I can represent a company really well, and I think I can do a good job on the race track and off the race track for a company. I’ve just got to find a company that wants to sponsor me, so I can try to do a good job for them."

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Front Row Motorsports — a small team with a win in 2013 — sees many levels of benefits

RELATED: Full coverage of postseason format changes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — While expectations are high that the newly introduced Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship format will create excitement, suspense and that "Game 7 moment" NASCAR has so diligently pursued, there is another element of the new system that is creating buzz for small and mid-pack teams.

Because a single race win is now a ticket into the Chase, the chances are better that a small team or historically underdog operation could qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs by putting together one great triumph.

Not only does that create a competitive opportunity, it’s good news economically for those teams.

"It’s a huge difference going to a sponsor and saying that with a good year we could be in the top 25 in points versus now if we can win a race we’ll be in the Chase," said Bob Jenkins, team owner of Front Row Motorsports, one of the sport’s smaller teams which stunned the field with a one-two finish at Talladega.

But that victory now takes on a broader meaning — it shows the team can win, when that’s all it will take to be a part of the upcoming postseason.

"As much as this gives every team a chance, it gives every sponsor a chance for visibility," Jenkins said. "It will be way easier to sell that."

And that is an intended consequence, according to NASCAR’s Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps.

"We think it’s a great opportunity from a sponsor’s standpoint, obviously going from 12 to 16 teams, you’re expanding the field and the sponsors we’ve spoken to are thrilled," Phelps said following Thursday’s announcement. "From a team’s perspective the primary sponsors are thrilled, the team owners and drivers are happy for what this means for sponsors.

"It would be great to have someone who isn’t even thought of (as a championship contender) win his or her way into our Chase and, from there, who knows what happens."

That’s the attitude for driver David Ragan, who won the Talladega race for Front Row Motorsports. He is adamant that the new championship system evens the playing field in an unprecedented way, calling it the ultimate "game-changer."

"We live on instant news, want every football game to come to a time-expired field goal, or every baseball game going to bottom of the ninth and a team coming from behind to win," Ragan said. "This is kinda setting up those types of finishes. I love the traditional points where all 36 races count toward your championship but this will produce excitement every single year."

Front Row teammate David Gilliland, who finished second at Talladega, sees the advantages of a larger Chase field on a number of levels — not the least of which is a different approach to preparation.

"Making the Chase was never in our immediate goals, it’s a goal of each of us to one day be in the Chase and fighting for a championship but we’re a small team building and getting better each year," Gilliland explained. "Now a team like us, it shows we could be there and have a chance. It’s a huge shot in the arm for our team.

"It’s opened up a whole other opportunity for us. We had a meeting Tuesday, for example, and talked about tracks we’re going to test at and we’re going to test at some of the tracks we feel are our strongest and we have the best chance to go out and win a race. It’s definitely changed our approach."

And perhaps for the first time since joining the big league ownership ranks, Jenkins said he sees real opportunity to be on the same footing with the larger, more established teams.

"If we can figure out a way to win a race, I’d like to see what we could do," Jenkins said. "It could change your whole mindset, especially if we win one early in the year knowing you’re probably going to be in the Chase, you invest in ways that would make you more competitive. You never know.

"In the past we looked at places we may have struggled so we wouldn’t test. Now it’s a whole different paradigm. You want to go and be ‘Jack the Bear.’ "

And it’s never been more possible.

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NASCAR will not knock out a Chase prospect if they miss a race for medical reasons

MORE: Official news release | Changes explained | Chase Facts and FAQ | Social buzz | Bracket (PDF)
RELATED: Full coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format changes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said he doesn’t expect the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship format to result in changes to the schedule for the 10-race program. 

The 2014 Chase will begin at Chicagoland Speedway and end once again at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with stops at New Hampshire, Dover, Kansas, Charlotte, Talladega, Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix in between.

“We have those conversations (about the schedule) now,” France told NASCAR.com, after announcing a major overhaul of the 10-race format. “But we like consistency in our schedule, traditionally.

“And we also believe that the Homestead-Miami track, and the drivers will tell you this, it’s probably their favorite mile-and-a-half track to drive. It allows them to put on an unbelievable event, (there is a) lot of passing in that event. 

“We’ll see in the future, but I’d be surprised if we moved (the site of the final race) around.” 

While NASCAR is unveiling a new rules package to be used at intermediate tracks, and a new qualifying format this season, France said the time was right to make the changes to the Chase format.

The program, which debuted in 2004, has undergone minor changes in the past, but nothing like those that will be in play for 2014 and beyond. 

The field of qualified drivers has been increased from 12 to 16; each of the three elimination-style rounds will trim the field by four teams, leaving four drivers to battle for the championship in the final event. 

A re-setting of points through the rounds will mean that the teams that continue to advance will begin each round all square. 

“We actually had a lot of discussion about changing too many different things,” said France. “But we are changing them in such a way that delivers on what the fans have told us they want. So the idea to wait on something that we could give them (now) … we just thought that wasn’t the right thing to do. We should give them what the future is now.” 

NASCAR President Mike Helton said much of the feedback from individual teams centered on possible scenarios that could occur under the new format.

“And a lot of those scenarios exist today,” he said. 

“We presented from a business side why we felt like this move was important to us and what it meant for the good of the sport across the board. That’s why it’s good to be out on the street with it; now we can start answering some of those questions.

“One thing we have learned – we can go through tens of thousands of scenarios and work through them, we know there’s one out there we haven’t thought of yet. We know that for certain.” 

One concern voiced early was how NASCAR would react to an injury that resulted in a driver missing one or more races. One of the eligibility requirements is that a driver attempt to qualify for all 26 races leading up to the Chase. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin missed four races this past season as a result of an early-season injury. 

Steve O’Donnell, senior vice president of racing operations for NASCAR, said the sanctioning body has a provision to deal with such a possibility, the EIRI (Except In Rare Instances) clause.

“An example would be you go to Atlanta and are in the top 30 (in points), and you’ve got five wins,” O’Donnell said. “You go out to Saturday’s practice, hit the wall and are diagnosed with a concussion. 

“The neurologist says you’re out for Atlanta and you’re out for Richmond. We would make a determination at that point that based on the criteria if that driver was eligible we would make the call to keep them in. We’re not going to knock someone out just for missing a race when it’s based on a medical reason.”

Another eligibility requirement is that a driver be in the top-30 in points after 26 races. 

“There is good competition throughout the garage and it keeps getting deeper,” said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition and racing innovation. “I think 30 seemed to be a pretty good number for us when we looked at where people are that could win races. It’s deep enough in the field that we think that should cover everybody.” 

Drivers that win a race or races deserve the opportunity to compete in the Chase, O’Donnell said, and how far they advance will depend on how competitive the team can be. 

Officials aren’t concerned with a driver making the Chase, or winning the title, that isn’t seen as deserving based on how his team faired during the course of the year. 

“If he qualified for the Chase and was able to beat the best other 15 drivers, he deserves to be the champion,” O’Donnell said. 

“Tony Stewart, in the (2011) Chase, was ready to get out of the car at I think it was Chicago, said ‘I don’t deserve to be here’ and went on one of the best runs we’ve seen. I’ve never seen a fan question ‘Is Tony Stewart a legitimate champion?’ Yes he is and that’s what we see going forward.” 

And, as Pemberton noted, “You’ve still got to beat the best of the best. 

“There are 16 guys out there and they all have the same idea, and that’s getting to Homestead and winning the championship,” he said. “I don’t see anybody giving a thumbs down on anybody that makes the Chase through wins.” 

Helton said the hope is that the new format will “create a lot of interest” among fans, “get people to watch it and decide what they think about it. 

“And that’s a good start,” he said. 

“But we believe it will create a level of excitement to continue to grow the sport. Not overnight, not instantaneously, not huge to start with, but it will grow the attention paid and give the sport a lift.”

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Possibility exists that driver could miss a race for valid medical reason and still win title

RELATED: Full coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup changes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ricky Rudd once famously taped his swollen eyes open so he could keep racing after an airborne crash at Daytona in 1984. Davey Allison once used Velcro to affix his broken right arm to the steering wheel after a nasty crash at Pocono in 1992. Dale Earnhardt won the pole in 1996 at Watkins Glen despite a dislocated sternum that made it difficult for him to breathe or raise his arms. Tony Stewart started a race at Dover with a broken shoulder blade in 2006.

Drivers with championship aspirations in NASCAR’s top division have long pushed themselves through tremendous physical adversity, knowing that skipping even a single points event would mean the end of their title hopes. Now that era is over, thanks to one caveat of the revamped Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format unveiled Thursday. Beginning this season, the possibility exists that a driver could miss a race due to a valid medical reason — and still hoist the big trophy after the last event of the year.

"Yes, it is a major change," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition. "But where we are with this new format, and in light of everything else that we’ve done, we felt compelled that if we have a medical reason, we can excuse a driver for a period of time based on a medical reason. Now, they still have to get in, they still have to compete, and all these things. But yes, this is different than the way we’ve looked at things in the past."

For decades, such a thing was unthinkable, given that the sport’s emphasis on consistency over all else demanded a driver be in the seat every week. Two seasons ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s title hopes ended when he missed two races because of concussions. Last year, Denny Hamlin missed the Chase after sitting out most of five races with a broken bone in his back. Competitors have sometimes faced the dilemma of hiding or soft-pedaling their injury status for fear of being pulled from the car on doctor’s orders.

Now, with the Chase field being comprised almost exclusively of race winners and the points standard for eligibility being lowered to the top 30, there exists the possibility that a driver could sit out one or more races with a medically valid reason, and still make the playoff because he won a event before the Chase began. Under that criteria, Hamlin could have still made the playoff despite his injury layoff last year, had he won a Sprint Cup race before the playoff field was set in early September at Richmond.

"I think it’s huge that that opportunity is there," said new NASCAR Hall of Fame member and former series champion Dale Jarrett. "It is time that a driver has that opportunity, that he doesn’t have to force himself to be in a race car when he shouldn’t be there — he shouldn’t be there for his own good, and he shouldn’t be there because of the other competitors. But he’s still going to have a chance to come back and win the championship. This is going to be scrutinized, and (NASCAR) is going to be on top of this. It’s not like they’re going to say, ‘I’m not feeling well, and I don’t need to be there.’ It’s going to have to be a pretty big deal."

Under normal circumstances, a driver must attempt to qualify for every Sprint Cup race in order to be eligible for the new 16-person Chase. But "there is a medical exemption that could be made," NASCAR President Mike Helton said, although the condition involved would have to be a serious one. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s senior vice president for racing operations, specifically mentioned the scenario of a Chase-qualified driver suffering a concussion and being advised by doctors to stay out of the car for one or two weeks.

"We would make that exception on that," O’Donnell said. "I’m not going to speculate, but it would have to be something pretty severe, with clearance form a doctor that we’d look at." Even so, such a scenario would be "a very rare instance," he added, and as usual NASCAR officials would follow the recommendation of doctors involved.

"I think that’s pretty clear right now, how can you define if someone can race or not," O’Donnell said. "I think someone who has the flu, I think they race today. We wouldn’t expect that to be any different. We’re not going to get in the weeds in terms of what-ifs. But we’re pretty clear — if it’s something severe that we need to seek a doctor’s advice (for), which we do today, we’ll rely on that medical professional to make that call for us."

And yet, even the slight possibility of a driver being able to sit out a race and still contend for the championship marks a sea change in NASCAR. O’Donnell said there was no specific instance that spurred the move, only that it was "just the right thing to do." The change comes on the heels of mandatory baseline precognitive testing, implemented prior to this season to better help assess and diagnose the effects of potential concussions.

"We’re seeing all forms of sports change, from baseball to football, and it’s time that we did something here," Jarrett said. "Because of all sports, you don’t need to be competing (injured) when you’re sitting in a race car, because it’s a hazard to yourself and to others. I love that the opportunity is going to be there. It’s going to be up to (NASCAR’s) discretion, and you may have to be there at a time where you really don’t want to be, but for the most part, the driver is going to get the benefit of the doubt in a situation like that, and I love the idea that can happen now."

All of which perhaps means an end to the stories of broken or battered drivers strapping themselves into the race car with injuries that would leave most people home in bed.

"It’s a new day, it’s a new time, and we make changes for a lot of different reasons," Pemberton said. "And as you see, whether it’s a medical reason, whether we’re changing qualifying, or we have the Chase, it was time to look at some of those things."

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Gibbs driver eager to erase subpar 2013, return to contending form

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For Denny Hamlin, the crash was only the beginning. Then there was the injury, and the lingering discomfort, all followed by a wave of self-doubt.

It all combined to sink Hamlin’s 2013 season, a campaign marred by a broken back vertebra suffered in a final-lap crash at Auto Club Speedway, which in turn forced him to miss the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the first time in his career. But it was worse than that — not only did he miss all of four races and most of a fifth, but when he came back he was still hurting, and that pain had such a negative effect on performance that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver wondered if he had lost it.

"I crashed going for the lead, and next thing you know, I come back and  — what happened?" he asked Thursday, on the final day of the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now, though, he can look at all of it in retrospect. These days Hamlin is the winner of the most recent race he competed in, feeling better physically than perhaps he has ever, and convinced this coming season will bring a return to the elite status his injury forced him to temporarily leave behind.

"My outlook is so much more positive," said Hamlin, who despite missing the Chase won last year’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to keep alive his streak of winning at least one race in each of his full-time seasons.

"Obviously, if we had finished the year struggling and not won Homestead … we would have some big questions going into 2014, on whether it was the physical aspect that was keeping us competitive, or was it mental aspect. Sometimes as a driver you wonder — have I just lost it? We quickly saw that we didn’t just lose it. It was more of a physical thing. When I felt better, we ran better. So as good as I feel now, I don’t see any reason why we can’t be right back where we were on top."

Getting to that point, though, wasn’t easy. Late last year, well after his return, the 23-time race winner was clearly still in pain. "Running (21st) at Richmond was inexcusable. I never should have been in the car at Richmond, as bad as I felt," he said.

Hamlin was considering offseason back surgery, and all the unknowns that presents, when he finally discovered an injection therapy that numbed his back enough so he could get into the gym and rehabilitate it. That treatment, he said, directly relates to his improved runs at the end of last season, capped by the victory at Homestead.

"Once we found these injection treatments with about a month to go in the season, that bought me time in the gym," he said. "Where before, even when I went, I just couldn’t do any of the exercises to do rehab or get stronger, because I was in just so much pain. … It’s numbed me up for so long now, it’s bought me time to get stronger, and now I’ve weaned off them and I feel better physically than I have probably ever as far as my back is concerned."

Hamlin said he’s put in more than 140 hours in the gym to get where he’s at now, a long way from the days when Gibbs held a teleconference with five different spinal specialists — "the most expensive phone call in NASCAR history," the team owner called it — to determine an initial course of treatment. Those on his No. 11 team have no doubts about the driver’s ability to get back to the top.

"None on my part," crew chief Darian Grubb said. "Seeing him and seeing the excitement in his eye, hearing him talk and the inflection in his voice, you can tell he’s ready to go. He’s come in the shop every week working with the guys, and he’s been really involved with the team. And the Homestead aspect really helped that, because now he can come in with a smile on his face. He doesn’t feel like the Denny downer coming in — man, we haven’t pulled off a win this year, it’s been a terrible season. We capped it off right. We came up short in our championship goals for the organization, but we did out part trying to do everything we could do."

The changes, though, are more than physical for Hamlin, who had established himself as JGR’s most consistent championship contender prior to Matt Kenseth‘s arrival last season.

"I think last year, for him, sitting out those races and then everything that happened to him … I think it gave him a burning desire to get back in there," Gibbs said. "To get that last win, that was about as emotional as I’ve seen him. So I think he went into the offseason on a high. Sometimes when you’re away from something like that, you realize how much you miss it. I think that was the case with Denny."

Grubb can see it, too. "I really feel like it gave him more of an appreciation of what it is he gets to do for a living every day," the crew chief said of his driver’s injury and subsequent layoff.

"After being with him in the hospital and how emotional that was, having to come back and sit on the pit box for those four races he sat out, it was an incredible growing experience for him to realize, man, what I get to do is a privilege. And he’s done everything better that I can see as far as eating right and taking care of himself. And he’s pushing the team guys to do the same thing, because we’re in the same grind … and taking care of yourself will pay dividends when it comes down to fighting for the Chase."

Hamlin will admit, before his injury, the success seemed to come easy. While he said he never took anything for granted, his team knocked out the race wins and Chase berth with such regularity, there was no reason to think they wouldn’t just keep on coming. Last season’s saga made him realize that nothing is guaranteed.

"It was just so easy. For us, (winning) had been easy," he said. "We’d make the Chase with no sweat every single year, and then  next thing you know you have a year where you really, really, truly struggle, it makes you appreciate the process it took to get there and what it takes to maintain staying at that level. So I had to go back to work. Not just watching different data and things like that, but on me. Getting back in the gym and making sure I’m as healthy as I can possibly be for 2014. I’ve put in my hours. Many, many hours. I won’t be the weak link when it comes to our performance this year."

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Four-time Cup champion Gordon on new format: ‘I love it, I really do’

RELATED: Full coverage of Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format change

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Only a few hours after NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France unveiled the new 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship format, two of the sport’s greatest champions were in the NASCAR Hall of Fame unveiling their latest ride and offering a review on the big news.

After unveiling a new, yet decidedly retro paint scheme for his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon and team owner Rick Hendrick shared their thoughts on NASCAR’s elimination Chase format that makes winning races essential and a winner-take-all event to decide the ultimate championship.

"I love it, I really do," the four-time Cup champ Gordon said. "I think we have to go through a season and it’s going to work better for some and not for others. I think it’s still truly going to benefit the best team and the best team will win the championship or at least be in position to win the championship.

"Sometimes it comes down to one race and that track might favor a certain driver or favor a certain team. So that’s going to have its challenges. It will force the team that’s been the best all year to step up their game."

Hendrick, a 11-time Cup championship owner, said this change will take a little getting used to. But then again, he conceded he wasn’t completely in favor of the Chase format when it was introduced in 2004. Six championships for his driver Jimmie Johnson in the last eight seasons, however, has helped win him over.

Hendrick said he agrees with France that the risk for the sport is not being open to change, not willing to evolve and be open-minded.

"It’s the fear of the unknown," Hendrick said recalling an article he read recently about why businesses fail.

"Another one of the reasons was people feel like ‘well, it’s worked this way for all these years, why change it?’ …

"But I think Jeff’s excited about it, and Jimmie’s like, ‘OK, yeah.’ I think that’s the way all of our guys have been. As soon as we digest it, we start figuring out what we’ve got to do."

Both Gordon and Hendrick raised the topic of having so much on the line in the season finale. After three rounds of eliminations, four drivers will vie for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the top finisher among them that day hoisting the Sprint Cup.

"I think the nervous part I have is just that last race, you’re in that top four and you’ve had a heck of a season," Hendrick explained, acknowledging that last race finish could trump the season’s summary.

"But to get to the top four, you have to have had a great season. The more I’m thinking through it and looking at it, the more comfortable I’m getting.

"There have been times when the Chase played to my favor; the way I look at it, if it’s better for the sport, if the fans like it, then I’m all for it. Because that’s what we need to do to make our sport grow."

Gordon agreed and really seemed to embrace the challenge this new format presents.

"You’re not going to hear, ‘well, I just got a good points day out of it, I finished 12th, or I’m not going to take this extra chance on restart,’" Gordon said. "We’re always pushing hard to win but never are you going to see us push this hard as we will this year.

"I think the fans have a lot to think about now, but at the end of the season they’re going to go, ‘wow, this was amazing.’"

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Eliminated Chase drivers will battle for as high as fifth place in final standings

MORE: Full coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format change

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In announcing a historic and groundbreaking shift in championship format, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France repeatedly stressed his confidence and optimism that a winner-takes-all scenario will best resonate with fans and motivate teams.

According to the new system, 16 drivers will make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – all the regular season race winners (as long as the driver is in the top-30 in in points) and the regular season points leader (should that driver not have a victory). If more than 16 drivers have a win in the regular season, only those highest in the standings would advance to the Chase. If fewer than 16 drivers have a win in the regular season, the remaining Chase spots will be based on point standings.

The 10-race Chase will be divided into three three-race segments eliminating four drivers after each segment and leaving four to decide the title in the Homestead finale. But what happens to the Chase drivers once they have been eliminated?

"We’ve got a great suggestion on that in our driver‑owner meetings by Kevin Harvick, as a matter of fact, who talked about that," France explained. "We had it originally where if you fell out in the first round, you were going to finish no better than 13th. We changed that. So you’ll run now really for fifth place."

Drivers who don’t advance to the next round will have their point totals reset to the Chase-start base of 2,000 points (with any regular-season wins bonus points), plus the additional points they’ve earned during the Chase. A regular season win is worth three bonus points.

This actually ensures more drivers in the championship picture while maintaining proper motivation for those eliminated to settle fifth through 16th place. The top-10 drivers are recognized at the year-end Awards Ceremony.

"Winning races is still important and that’s whether you’re inside the Chase or outside of it. .. for your sponsors, for prize money, for lots of reasons," France said. 

And that’s the mindset NASCAR is betting fans will appreciate. It certainly has gotten rave reviews from inside the industry.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. President Marcus Smith called the new system, "probably the best thing to happen in NASCAR in the last 10 years and I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing how the increased incentive to win plays out on race day."

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