New NASCAR playoff system put to the test
Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, looks on from the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway. (Sept. 6, 2013) Credit: Getty
Aric Almirola says his team won't be throwing a "Hail Mary" Sunday to try and advance in NASCAR's Chase for the Cup playoff race at Dover, Delaware.
Actually, nobody has to.
In the new 10-race, 16-driver playoff format, four drivers are eliminated every three races before the winner-take-all finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 16. Regardless of points, winning a race in a round automatically advances a driver to the next round.
The potential spectacle of a struggling driver having no other option than to take the checkered flag might come later in the playoffs. But in this first challenger round, a tight points battle brings to mind a different kind of drama from last year.
Currently, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman are the drivers in the final transfer spots, both tied for 11th and just 10 points ahead of 16th-place Almirola. Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch sit in between. A top-10 finish combined with competitors having trouble could vault a driver into the second contender round.
But other than Almirola and Biffle, each of the above drivers also have teammates in the top seven in points, each likely to advance barring a horrible day on the track.
The playoff format is going to force NASCAR to keep a close eye to avoid a repeat of last year's regular-season finale at Richmond, Virginia. NASCAR penalized Michael Waltrip Racing after Clint Bowyer's spinout following a cryptic message from his team on the radio helped teammate Martin Truex Jr. get into the Chase.
The penalties dropped Truex out of the Chase, his sponsor NAPA left Michael Waltrip Racing and Truex bolted for Furniture Row Racing. So teams will have to carefully weigh the risk/reward of anything remotely resembling what MWR tried.
A NASCAR vice president warned teams to "keep it straight" during the drivers' meeting just before the regular season finale at Richmond earlier this month.
The only drivers who don't need to be concerned about any of this are the Team Penske duo of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, who won the opening two playoff races at Chicagoland and Loudon, New Hampshire, respectively, and have their tickets punched for round two. They'll be racing Sunday only to maintain momentum; unlike the regular season there are no bonus points for winning playoff races.
"Our goal is to win the championship, so we have to get from round to round," Logano said after his win at Loudon. "Just because we're in the next one doesn't mean we're going to take a week off next week."
More motor racing
