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NASCAR | rule changes send sport spinning

Laura Mooney
Arts Editor | ote-arts@unbc.ca

Si its introduction in 1949 the wildly
popular sport of stock car racing has
undergone a mere fourteen rule changes,
with the majority of them focusing on

how the cars themselves would be set

up in terms of engines and other body
elements. However, as of January 2014, a
major overhaul of the points system and
the “chase” format was implemented,
leaving many of the drivers worrying
about the racing system they once knew so
well. Originally, the drivers in the “chase,”
meaning the top ten drivers who qualified
with enough points to make it to the final
ten races, would make it to the chase based
on a point system that gave the driver

a predetermined amount of points that
correlated to the position they came in at
the end of a race. The top ten drivers with
the most points, along with an additional
two drivers who had achieved the most
wins in the 11th through 20th positions,
were then considered as being a part of the
chase for the Sprint Cup title, and an all

out brawl spanning ten races at the worlds
most famous race tracks would begin.

This entire system however is being altered,
causing some NASCAR fans (and racers) to
scratch their heads. The largest change is
the expansion to including 16 cars in the
chase for championship instead of only 12.
This means that now, the top 16 drivers will
have a shot at NASCAR glory, but it is not
quite as simple as that. The new Chase will
still feature the usual ten races, but with
the addition of a much more important
goal for the drivers to achieve. The Chase
will now begin with a three race event
called the “Challenger Round” in which
the drivers who win are automatically
advanced into the next set of races, while
the other top drivers are determined

by position and points. Next begins the
“Contender Round,” where once again

the winning drivers of the three races are
automatically advanced and the remainder
are determined by points. Finally, there is

a set of four races called the “Eliminator
Round,” and one final race called simply
the Championship Event, in which the
winner drivers in the “Eliminator Round”
will battle it out for the championship.

So by the end of the entire Chase, there
will only be four drivers competing in the
championship for the trophy.

while at first glance this may only seem as
though the executives at NASCAR bundled
up sets of races and gave them names,

the tricky part to the new system is that
for every racer who does not wina race,
their points are reset to zero once the next
race begins. This means that no matter if
a driver came in second place during the
previous race, he could, in theory, have a
bad day and come in last, thus eliminating
his chances of being able to race in the
championship. Meaning that in reality, this
change could provide the opportunity for
any driver to potentially win a place in the
championship, instead of the same names

all race fans have come to know by heart.

Officials at NASCAR explained in an
interview that the motivation behind the
change was to encourage the drivers to do
their absolute best, and basically encourage
them to win more races. They also stated
that they had gathered information over
three years based around what the NASCAR
fans wanted from the sport, what the
drivers wanted to see changed, and after
many years of testing and simulations this
was the model that had worked the best.

Although the new system may be a lot

to retain for many lifelong fans, NASCAR
officials believe it will be a drastic, yet
welcome change to a model that was in
need of an overhaul. While only time will
tell if this new system works out for the
best, it will be an interesting sport to watch
for those speed junkies who have been

fans of NASCAR for their whole lives, or for
those just getting interested in the sport.