NASCAR overhauls Chase title playoff with winner-take-all finale

NASCAR on Thursday made dramatic changes to its Chase for the Sprint Cup title playoff in hopes of bolstering stock car racing’s popularity.

The overhaul puts a greater emphasis on drivers winning races to both make the Chase and to win the championship title, as opposed to focusing on collecting points to earn the title.

And the Chase will now feature elimination rounds during the first nine races of the 10-race playoff so that four drivers will decide the title at the season finale at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“This is pretty clear, you have to win” races to capture the championship, NASCAR Chairman Brian France told a news conference in Charlotte, N.C. “It’s going to be the first of four drivers to cross the finish line [at the finale] and that will define the NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.”

Here are the major changes:

--The initial Chase field will expand to 16 drivers from 12.

--Winning a race during the first 26 races of the Cup series’ 36-race schedule all but guarantees a driver will make the initial Chase field.

--The Chase field will be whittled down by four drivers at a time after the third, sixth and ninth races so that only four drivers are left to decide the title at Homestead-Miami.

--A win by a Chase contender in each elimination round automatically advances them to the next round.

France acknowledged that the new format was “going to force teams to take more risk in the race,” but he asserted that NASCAR fans would find the new format more exciting and easier to understand.

Asked if drivers would be more aggressive knowing they must win to capture the title, France said: “If it’s late in the race and you’ve got a faster car, we expect some contact. Obviously there are limits. But that’s always part of NASCAR.”

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