Source: USA TODAY
CHARLOTTE – Jimmie Johnson picked up the phone earlier this month. On the other end of the line was NASCAR chairman Brian France, who wanted to share news of some potential changes to the sport.
France told Johnson of the news first publicly reported by the Charlotte Observer: That NASCAR planned to dramatically overhaul its championship Chase for the Sprint Cup format by adding eliminations followed with a one-race, winner-take-all season finale among four drivers at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
But when France asked the six-time and 2013 defending champion what he thought about the potential change, Johnson was practically at a loss for words.
“(The ideas) caught me off guard and shocked me,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday during NASCAR’s annual media tour. “And I told Brian when he called me, ‘Just give me a minute to adjust, because I’m on my heels.’ “
As the NASCAR community braced for the official announcement, expected Thursday during France’s “State of the Sport” address, drivers continued to react positively to what would be the most sweeping changes in more than a decade.
Even Johnson said NASCAR was doing the right thing in trying to shake up what had seemed to be a stale format at times.
“I am really trying hard not to look at specific scenarios and just trying hard to look at what’s best for our sport,” Johnson said. “We needed something big. I don’t know if this is the bullet. I really hope it is, because it is a huge change. If this doesn’t work, I don’t know where you go from here.”
France has made no secret of his desire to have “Game 7″ moments. But when NASCAR had the ultimate Game 7 moment in 2011 – Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards tied for the championship after the finale of a 36-race season at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Stewart won on a tiebreaker) – it didn’t get the attention outside of the NASCAR world that many in the garage thought it deserved.
By creating a winner-take-all race in the season finale – it has been reported NASCAR would eliminate all but the top four drivers and reset their points totals – officials apparently hope to manufacture a true championship similar to other sports.
The eliminations during the playoffs – and not just after the 26-race regular season – would achieve the same purpose.
“When you look at other forms of sport, there’s an elimination factor in the playoffs that we don’t have,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “We, as drivers, don’t feel the intensity of an elimination factor being over our shoulders every race. I feel like we’ve had it easy in that regard where we just tally up points.
“Coming down to Homestead with four guys, that’s crazy – but it’s exciting. So exciting. This is a bold, aggressive move and if I’m (a fan) wanting to be entertained, this is going to do it.”
But some drivers aren’t so sure such a major change is a good idea. Kevin Harvick said Monday he was “on the fence” about the one-race playoff and Ryan Newman said Tuesday that NASCAR shouldn’t strive to have a postseason that mimicked other sports.
“I don’t think we can take everything the NFL or NBA is doing and say, ‘We need to do it like this because they’re doing it like that and it’s working,’ ” Newman said. “This is still stock-car racing. This is NASCAR. A certain percent of change is good, but we do not need to copy the playoff system (from another sport).”
Earnhardt said he used to hate change. When NASCAR announced the Chase format before the 2004 season, he grumbled.
But the self-described traditionalist grew to accept change over time, he said. After all, this will be NASCAR’s fourth championship format change in 11 years – and it’s among many other rules changes in that period. By now, everyone in NASCAR is used to rapid change.
Earnhardt compared himself and the sport to a first-time gambler. Initially, a new gambler might only be willing to bet $1 at a time, he said. But given awhile to get used to it, he added, the money starts flying.
“I feel like that’s where we are as a sport,” he said. “We’re making these changes and getting comfortable with making these kind of moves. The fans are asking for these type of changes and asking for this type of format and asking for this kind of excitement.”
More changes could be on the way in coming years. Johnson said part of the reason he was blindsided by the Chase format change was he hadn’t heard officials discussing it. Instead, the potentially big change he’d heard was NASCAR considering implementing heat races followed by a longer feature.
That model is borrowed from the traditional Saturday night schedules at hundreds of short tracks around the country, and NASCAR fans would likely accept it as both a grassroots idea and a way to trim some of the longer events.
“It fits the history and the tradition of our sport,” Johnson said of heat races. “Right or wrong, that’s the discussion that’s been going on for a few years.”
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