Gretchen's Thoughts On The Chase Changes

By Gretchen Mashburn

So Brian France made some more changes to the Chase format this week. I think any of us with brains saw this coming. NASCAR’s popularity has tanked right along beside the US Economy’s stability. Since 2005, NASCAR’s television ratings have decreased almost 50% according to Sports Illustrated writer Lars Anderson. Starting in 2015, the sport will have a few races televised on NBCSports, formerly known as the Outdoors channel. Yeah. That place where you could watch, with baited breath, while people fish. The channel that has that huge contract with the NHL. Otherwise known as the sports channel for old white people.

            A rational person can not argue the fact that NASCAR needs to do something to better market the sport. Just this week Jeb Burton, a future star in the sport, lost his 2014 sponsorship. Effectively parking him unless his team can secure another sponsor. Something has to be done. Something was done.

            NASCAR has implemented what amounts to a 16 team playoff over the last ten races of the season. 16 drivers will make “The Chase”. Three segments and a winner-take-all final race for the remaining top 4. Following each 3 race segment, 4 drivers are eliminated. A win, puts you through to the next round automatically.

            DRASTIC changes. And I LOVE it. I waited more than 24 hours to write about it because I went through several stages of grief after the announcement. I was shocked. I was sad. I hated it. I could live with it. Now I have EMBRACED it. Emphasis is now on WINS. Winning races. Some drivers are pissed. I notice those seem to be the ones that clock laps week in and week out, but that is just my opinion. The whiners, I call them. The Kleenex crew. Now, the true “drivers”, they should love this format. It will play to the hands of some of the guys that either strikeout, or hit a home run. The Busch brothers, Smoke, Kasey, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, (six-time is either blowing doors off or fighting his way through the field for a decent finish due to a horrible set-up), and a few others. The rest of the drivers are just going to have to change their game a little bit to stay competitive in this.

            I hope this works. I hope it brings people back to the sport. I love this sport. I want it to succeed. I think this just might be a step in the right direction.