Staying within 400 points of the lead no longer will be a factor to get in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. A source close to NASCAR said the governing body is finalizing a plan that will allow the top 12 in points in the 10-race playoff with no provision for how many points a driver is from the lead.
The top 10 and anybody within 400 points after 26 races qualified for the playoff during the first three years of the Chase. But because the 400-point margin hasn’t been a factor — seven or fewer drivers were within that range from 2004-06 — NASCAR decided to set a hard number. Barring a last-minute change, that number will be 12.
NASCAR also will award 10 more points to the winner after running several models that showed after 10 the system created more runaway scenarios. An official announcement will come later this month at the media tour in Charlotte.
NASCAR officials considered putting in a provision that would allow a driver with the most wins outside the Chase in the playoff, but decided against it. They also decided against expanding the 400-point margin to another figure such as 500.
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GAY….GAY…..GAY…..AND MORE GAY……NASCARs just trying to make sure that all their top drivers are in their so they get mega bucks from people watching the chase…if u aint good enough to be in the top 10…u aint good enough to win the title therefore u shouldnt get a special chance..so this is stupid..i hope it back fires…and everyone in the top 20 is within the 400pt mark on purpose then ALL OF THEM are in it..people like robby gordon and @#*@ who cant even stay off the wall long enough to finish the turn will make the chase..its GAY..@#@# you nascar..and the horse u road in on
The Chevy drivers were complaining after last year and the year before that and the year before that because there were to many Ford drivers “Aka Roush Racing” so they went to nascar and had them add two more spots to the chase.
Why don’t we just impliment Dave Moody’s “No student left behind - the NASCAR version”!!! Let’s expand the Chase to 43 drivers and award the same point value to ALL finishing positions!!
It’s bad enough they started Spec NASCAR, now they are slowly ‘watering down’ the Chase! And it’s starting to push me away to other forms of racing.
no no no!!!!! I agree 100% fully agree with Darrell. Stars in
the cup series have to EARN their way in!!! Top 12 makes it so much
less exciting with it comes down to the final 10 races before the
chase! And its all because Stewart, Gordon, and Jr. have all missed
the chase at a point in time. But look at Dale Jr, in the 06 year
he dropped out of the top 10 with only a few races remaining
before the chase and he fought back and MADE it inside the top
10. If it had been the Top 12 deal, it wouldnt have been exciting
at all. That just shows you have to EARN your way to the path
for the chamopionship.
Nascars just getting to greedy.
nascar is getting way to money crazed. It just show that can’t sit by and accept that the stars of the series can have bad seasons. Where was the change in the rules when Gordon and jr missed the chase?Its only becasue they can’t stand to see the defending champ out of the Chase!
It seems like everytime that the Nascar organization doesn’t like the way the season ends, they change the rules. They can’t please everybody. Get rid of the Chase and just let them race. Best driver (or luckiest one) wins the race and the most consistent driver gets the Championship. Too much money in Nascar. They need to get poor and hungary. Then they will appreciate their roots and the fans, instead of the sponsors and whinny drivers. Won’t happen, but it would be interesting.