NASCAR announces radical changes in Chase for the Sprint Cup

NASCAR's New Chase Grid unveiled Thursday. (NASCAR)
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NASCAR's New Chase Grid unveiled Thursday. (NASCAR)
NASCAR’s New Chase Grid unveiled Thursday. (NASCAR)

NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup will look as radically different in 2014 as its qualifying format will. NASCAR announced Thursday that the will use a new championship format in its top tier Sprint Cup series that will put greater emphasis on winning races all season long. It expands the current Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field to 16 drivers, and implements a new round-by-round advancement format that ultimately will crown a single Cup champion.

“We have arrived at a format that makes every race matter even more, diminishes points racing, puts a premium on winning races and concludes with a best-of-the-best, first-to-the-finish line showdown race – all of which is exactly what fans want,” said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO during the final stop on the Sprint Cup media tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We have looked at a number of concepts for the last three years through fan research, models and simulations, and also maintained extensive dialogue with our drivers, teams and partners. The new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will be thrilling, easy to understand and help drive our sport’s competition to a whole new level.”

Changes announced by France to the championship format include MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.