The 2004 Changes
NASCAR last batch of significant changes came for the start of the 2004 season. At that time, they added five points for the winner of the race, increasing the winner's points from 175 to 180. This change slightly increased the importance of winning and corrected the odd case with the first place and second place racers could earn the same number of points.
2004 was also the year that NASCAR first introduced the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. This change saw the top 10 drivers plus any driver within 400 points of the leader after the first 26 races have their points manually set with just five points separating each position. Those 10 drivers then battled it out for the last 10 races of the season to determine the Championship.
The 2007 Point Changes
NASCAR has struggled for years to find the perfect balance between rewarding consistency and winning. The 2007 season find them moving another notch towards encouraging winning. NASCAR is adding an additional five points to the race winner's total. The race winner will now get 185 points plus five points for leading at least one lap, while the second-place driver will still earn 170 points plus any bonuses.
The points gap between first and second can now be anywhere from 10 to 25 points per race depending on how the bonus points are awarded.
While I think this is a step in the right direction I am not convinced that NASCAR has gone far enough in rewarding winning. A simple five-point bump doesn't seem like enough. I would like to see an even larger separation between first and second place.
The 2007 Chase Changes
After a three-year run with the old format NASCAR has decided that it is time to tinker with The Chase. The 26 race regular season and 10 race Chase season remain the same. The difference is in how many drivers make the Chase and how their initial Chase points are set.
Now instead of the top 10 plus any drivers within 400 points NASCAR is just going to take the top 12. These twelve drivers will have their points manually set to 5,000 plus ten points for every race that they won during the first 26 races of the season. For example, If you finish the first 26 races in the top twelve in points and won four races so far that season then you would start the chase with 5,040 points.
This is another way that NASCAR is encouraging drivers to race for the win instead of playing it safe. Those ten additional bonus points when The Chase begins could be the difference in the Championship.
Wrap Up
Allowing more drivers into The Chase dilutes the overall importance of the first 26 races. What happens if one of NASCAR's big names finishes 13th in points next year? Will they increase the number of Chasers again? Where is the limit?
This seems like more of NASCAR tinkering with a system that may never have been broken to begin with.
