The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series doesn’t have many opportunities to have a weekend off during the season. In fact, they’re losing one of those weekends come 2012.
With the Daytona 500 being moved back a week, the only weekends the series will have off will be Easter and one during the summer.
That means three long stretches of races between off-weekends.
This final weekend off in 2011 does mean one thing, and that is every team is preparing for many long weekends, but at the same time other teams are preparing for a possible run for the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
With the new points system this year, and the close competition, the real Chase begins now. I say that because in reality, with the points system, and the new concept of the Wild Card spots to get in, every driver is on the edge.
Before I get into everything, let me explain how this year’s Chase is set up compared to last year. In 2010, the 12 qualifying drivers for the Chase all started with 5,000 points. Then, every win each driver had through the first 26 races accounted for 10 bonus points. They were then seeded based on wins. It made for a great setup, and that was how the Chase was for the past three years.
When NASCAR changed the points system to where first place was just 43 points, with each position down counting for one less point, things changed dramatically. One point each for leading a lap and leading the most laps, plus three points for a victory, meant the Chase needed to change as well.
NASCAR hit on something strong with how they set up the 2011 Chase.
Here’s how it works. The top-10 drivers in the standings after race 26, once again at Richmond, are automatically in. Each driver will begin with 2,000 points. Just like last year, bonus points are awarded for wins. However, instead of 10, each win is only worth three points. Then, like last year, the top-10 drivers are seeded based on the wins.
However, the Chase includes 12 drivers, and that is where the real battle heats up.
Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are considered the “Wild Card” entries. This is how those spots work. The two drivers that have the most wins, but are still in positions 11 through 20 in the points, are in the Chase. The reason NASCAR did this is because they want to reward victories. Last year, Jamie McMurray won two huge races in the first 26 races, but had some struggles, and missed the Chase. Yet, many media members, drivers, and fans believed he should have been in the Chase.
So, NASCAR decided to honor that notion and honor the two drivers that had won the most races and are in those prime positions.
In case only one driver outside the top-10, yet are within the top-20, NASCAR has a plan. They would then take the driver highest in the standings, and that driver would qualify for the Chase.
I absolutely love this concept because not only is there a battle just to make the top-10, but getting to be one of the wild card drivers is absolutely as intense.
It also means that 11 drivers will have another opportunity to knock off the driver that has made the Chase his own personal playground for five straight years.
Jimmie Johnson has almost made a mockery of the Chase, winning five straight years, and only being really challenged for two of them. It came down to the final laps of Homestead last fall to have him get that fifth straight title. And quite honestly, I’m ready for a new face to hold up that trophy.
Two straight years was great, three straight was unprecedented, but then came four…and now five. It’s a little redundant.
But now, with this new points system, and new Chase format, there is a strong possibility that a new face could take away the stranglehold that “Five Time” has on the Sprint Cup championship.
The Chase is on, and the race just to get to the Chase begins next Sunday.