NASCAR’s top brass have a message for fans and critics who question their new championship format: The numbers don’t lie. As the series returns to a Chase-like system, one executive is armed with what he calls “proof” that it’s the right decision, directly addressing years of debate.
The change marks a return to the “Chase” format, which the premier stock car series used from 2004 to 2013. As stock car’s governing body returned to the Chase format, NASCAR’s vice president of competition delivered a strong verdict on the championship and changed NASCAR’s stance as it relates to fans.
Advertisement
NASCAR came back with the old format and changed the fans’ perspective
Ben Kennedy, executive vice president of NASCAR, recently shared all about the format change on the Inside The Race podcast. Speaking about this, Kennedy, who also oversees the Venue and Racing Innovations side, revealed how they looked at “different opinions, different perspectives to come to a conclusion.
In making this decision they also realized the need for consistency and made scoring a very important part of the season. This means that drivers will no longer use the “win and overpower you” system to fight for the championship.
Along with this, NASCAR also made sure to crown the champion in the final race, which will be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway this season. With this, NASCAR will be able to keep fans on their heels as the champion will be revealed during the very last race of the season.
Advertisement
“One of my first questions when we asked ourselves is where we’re going to crown our champion, we’ve talked about that for a while,” Kennedy said on the podcast. “Do you crown him before you get to Homestead? Or you crown your champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Fortunately, while we’ve done all our studies, this time we all crown our champion at Homestead.”
NASCAR, Motorsport, USA, Vice President Ben Kennedy speaks to the crowd during the press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz hosted by World Wide Technology Raceway, announcing the date of their NASCAR Cup Series race for the 2022 season, September 15, 2021, at Bally Sports Live at Ballpark Village in St. Louis, Missouri.
On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the format change, and under the new format (something they used before), there will be no eliminations. There will be 26 regular season races and the top 10 drivers with the most points will advance to the next round.
Ultimately, the driver with the most points in the next and final 10 races will win the championship. This is in stark contrast to the earlier playoff format, where qualifying drivers faced elimination after three races if they failed to win a single race. This particular format fans generally disliked and wanted a change.
Advertisement
NASCAR kept fans in mind during format change
As NASCAR released the Chase format, it also responded to fan sentiments this time. When asked how important fans were to the return to the Chase format, this is what the NASCAR vice president had to say:
“(Fans are) incredibly important to us. They’re probably some of our biggest stakeholders when we make a decision… Our fans are also incredibly important to us, and like Steve said earlier, we’re not going to make everyone happy. If you look at the spectrum, there are people on all sides of the spectrum, but if you take what’s most important to everyone, you put them together, and you end up with a format like this.”
Over the years, fans and pundits have criticized the playoff system that previously existed. They believed the playoff system relied largely on luck and did not reflect a driver’s true talent and performance.
Advertisement
If we take the example of a driver who won five races in the regular season, he might not make the top eight or top four if he fails to win more races under the playoff system. Whereas a driver with only one regular season win and one playoff win could end up being a champion. Overall, fans opposed this and NASCAR respected their voices.
The position NASCAR executive vice president applauds critics with bold ‘proof’ of championship amid shocking fan claims appeared first on EssentiallySport.
