NASCAR is again proving that winning races isn’t the most important facet of the sport, and the all-invited playoff structure has a major flaw.
Win one race, win the Nextel Cup.
Jeff Burton’s win-loss record is 1-27, and his average finish is 13.1. But if the season ended today, last weekend’s winner would capture the prestigious championship by six points over Jeff Gordon, one of seven drivers with multiple victories in the 28 point races.
The winningest driver, Kasey Kahne (five wins), would finish ninth, and four-time winners Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson would finish third, fifth and eighth, respectively.
Three years ago NASCAR gave us the Chase to increase interest in September, October and November, when football dominates the sports landscape and just one or two drivers were traditionally in the hunt for the championship.
The 10-race playoff format has certainly kept things exciting, but changes in the Chase could be on the way if Burton or another one-time winner collects the crown.
If it’s all about making the playoffs and performance in the postseason, should NASCAR allow non-Chase drivers to continue to compete, allowing year-long back-markers the ability to take championship contenders out of the hunt with one aggressive turn of the wheel?
That scenario has all but eliminated Kahne from the title.
“The accident last week was a devastating blow to our title hopes,” Kahne said of his wreck with non-Chase driver Tony Stewart.
Understandably, NASCAR wants to keep its Chase lineup at 43 cars. Otherwise the action would be minimal and sponsorship would decline.
Perhaps better playoff seeding is the solution. Instead of separating the Chase field by five points, maybe it should go with 50-point increments. At the same time, award points to Chase drivers separately, lessening the effect of the inevitable altercations with drivers just trying to get television time.
For this year, at least there are eight races left to identify a champion who has proved he can win more than once.
The drive for five
Gordon is on a roll in his quest for a fifth championship. He is the only driver to produce top-five finishes in the first two Chase races and brings a sparkling record into Kansas Speedway this weekend.
Gordon, who opened the Chase with back-to-back third- place results, never has finished worse than 15th in five races at Kansas. He won the first two events in 2001 and 2002 and has led a series-high 169 laps. His average finish of 6.0 is tops among 2006 Chase drivers.
Gordon won this year at Chicagoland Speedway, which is similar to Kansas. Both 1.5-mile tracks were built by International Speedway Corp.
“It seems when we run well at one, we run well at the other,” Gordon said in a statement.
Footnotes
Chase driver Mark Martin, the defending winner at Kansas, has been running at the finish of every race since his win a year ago . That 35-race stretch is the circuit’s longest current streak. … Three of Kahne’s five wins were at 1.5-mile ovals early this season. … Gordon leads in Chase driver rating (114.3), average finish (3.0), average starting position (1.5) and laps completed in the top 15 (94.3 percent).
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
