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NASCAR playoffs

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"Chase for the Cup" redirects here. For the video game, see NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup.

The Chase for the Monster Energy Cup (formerly Chase for the Sprint Cup),[1] originally known as "The Chase for the Championship"[2] during its creation, and then "The Chase for the Nextel Cup" (from 2004 to 2007) is the championship system used in NASCAR's top division, the Monster Energy Cup Series, akin to the postseason in American professional sports leagues. The Chase was announced on January 21, 2004, and first used during the 2004 Nextel Cup season. The format used from 2004 to 2006 was modified slightly starting with the 2007 season. A major change to the qualifying criteria was instituted in 2011, along with a major change to the points system. Even more radical changes to the qualifying criteria, and to the format of the Chase itself, were announced for the upcoming 2014 Sprint Cup Series. As of 2014, the 10-race Chase involves 16 drivers chosen primarily on wins during the "regular season"; if fewer than 16 drivers win races during the regular season, the remaining field is filled on the basis of regular season points. These drivers compete against each other while racing in the standard field of 40 cars. The driver with the most points after the final 10 races is declared the champion.

Beginning with the 2008 Sprint Cup Series, the Chase became known by its new name as a result of the merger of Nextel Communications with Sprint Corporation. As of 2015, the Chase for the Sprint Cup is part of NASCAR on NBC, as NBC obtained the rights to broadcast the final 20 races of the season, including the Chase of the Sprint Cup. Prior to NBC, all ten of the Chase of the Sprint Cup races aired on NASCAR on ESPN, In 2017, Sprint Nextel did not renew its contract for the Cup Series, though Monster Energy took over the title sponsor for 2017.

Cup champions (under Chase system)

Year Champion Team Wins Top 5s Top 10s
2004 Kurt Busch Roush Racing 3 10 21
2005 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing 5 17 25
2006 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 5 13 24
2007 10 20 24
2008 7 15 22
2009 7 16 24
2010 6 17 23
2011 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing 5 9 19
2012 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing 5 13 23
2013 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 6 16 24
2014 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 5 14 20
2015 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 5 12 16
2016 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 5 11 16

Seeding and scoring

The current version of the Chase was announced by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France on January 30, 2014.[3] The current Chase format is the fourth since the Chase was introduced for the 2004 season, with significant changes made in both 2007 and 2011.[4] The 2014 change is the 14th time since 1949 that the point system had been changed,[2] although these latest changes only affected the Chase itself.[3]

2004–2006

Starting in the 2004 season, after the first 26 races of the season, all drivers in the Top 10 and any others within 400 points of the leader will earn a berth in the Chase. All drivers in the Chase will have their point total adjusted. The first-place driver in the standings begins the chase with 5,050 points; the second-place driver starts with 5,045, etc. Incremental five-point drops continue through the list of title contenders.

2007–2010

In 2007, NASCAR expanded the field of contenders to the top 12 drivers in the points standings after the first 26 races. Each drivers' point total reset to 5,000 points, with a ten-point bonus for each race won. The provision letting all drivers within 400 points of the leader was dropped.

Brian France explained why NASCAR made the changes to the chase:

"The adjustments taken [Monday] put a greater emphasis on winning races. Winning is what this sport is all about. Nobody likes to see drivers content to finish in the top 10. We want our sport – especially during the Chase – to be more about winning."

2011–2013

The Chase format was again modified for the 2011 season, as was the point system for winnings. After 26 "regular season" races, the top 10 drivers, as determined by points accumulated during the season, automatically advance to contend for the Cup championship. These drivers are joined by two "wild card" qualifiers, specifically the two drivers ranked from 11th through 20th in drivers' points who have the most regular-season race wins. The 12 drivers' championship points are reset to a base of 2,000 per driver. Each of the 10 automatic qualifiers receives a bonus of 3 points for each win during the regular season, while the two wild card qualifiers receive no bonus. Normal scoring applies during the Chase, with race winners earning 43 base points plus 3 bonus points, all drivers who lead a lap earning 1 bonus point, and the driver who leads the most laps earning 1 bonus point in addition to any other points earned.[5]

As in all previous Chases, the driver with the highest point total at the conclusion of the 10-race Chase was the Sprint Cup champion.

The Chase field consisted of 12 drivers from 2007 through 2012. An exception to this rule was in 2013, where the Chase field was expanded to 13 drivers for that season only as the result of the Singapore Sling match fixing scandal. With seven laps remaining in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Clint Bowyer went into a spin, forcing a caution. After the race, rumors abounded that Bowyer had deliberately forced a caution in an attempt to manipulate the finish of the race so as to help his Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammate Martin Truex Jr. clinch the second of the two Wild Card spots (Kasey Kahne had already clinched the first spot) over Ryan Newman, who had been leading at the moment of caution. That Bowyer's spin had been deliberate had been further suggested by several things: the first was radio communications on Brian Vickers' team with his spotter, MWR general manager Ty Norris, telling him to pit under green on the restart, and that the audio on Bowyer's radio showed crew chief Brian Pattie pointing out Newman taking the lead and then asking a suspicious string of questions mere seconds before Bowyer spun. Furthermore, when interviewed by Dr. Jerry Punch post-race, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was directly behind Bowyer, said that Bowyer "just spun out. It was the craziest thing I saw," and that the behavior of Bowyer's car was inconsistent with Bowyer's claim that a right front tire blew out (the popping noise associated with a flat tire was not heard until after the spin). Vickers' pitting on the restart forced Newman to the back of the pitting cycle, costing him several positions. He ended up finishing third to Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch. By finishing third, Newman was tied with Truex in both wins (one) and final points for the second Wildcard spot. Truex won the tiebreaker on top-five finishes.

The following Monday, September 9, NASCAR issued some of the most severe penalties imposed on a team in Sprint Cup history. MWR was placed on probation for the rest of the season, and Norris was suspended indefinitely. All three MWR teams were docked 50 owner/driver points for "actions detrimental to stock car racing." As this penalty was applied to pre-Chase point totals, it knocked Truex out of the Wildcard spot and put Newman in his place. NASCAR was unable to find solid evidence that Bowyer's spin was deliberate, but did determine that Norris's order to have Vickers pit was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the Chase standings in Truex's favor. Had the ruse not happened, Newman was on point to win the race, automatically becoming the second wild card and bumping Truex.

The ruse also resulted in a second controversy when radio transmissions were discovered suggesting that Front Row Motorsports and Penske Racing had struck a deal for David Gilliland to give up a spot on the track for Joey Logano, allowing Logano to race his way into the final lock-in position by one point over Jeff Gordon. A second NASCAR inquiry resulted in both teams being placed on probation for the remainder of the year. This ruse was found to have been directly caused by the pace car. Had the pace car situation for Bowyer's intentional spin not occurred, Gordon would have finished ahead of Logano by one point and Logano would have been bumped by Newman winning the race since Newman would have taken the first Wild Card. Although Logano was allowed to keep his Chase berth, the field was expanded to 13 with the addition of Gordon on September 13. NASCAR chairman Brian France has always had the power to expand the Chase field in exceptional circumstances, and decided to invoke it in this case. In France's view, Gordon had been put at an "unfair disadvantage" due to Penske and Front Row's collusion, as well as MWR's improper instructions to have Vickers pit. Had this not happened, France said, Gordon would have been in the Chase by taking the last lock-in position, while Logano would have received one Wild Card position due to him being ahead of Truex and Newman in points, and Kasey Kahne would have taken the other Wild Card regardless of the race outcome as he had two wins entering Richmond.[6]

2014–present

On January 30, 2014, a new Chase system resembling the playoff systems used in other major league sports was announced at Media Day.[7] On July 15, NASCAR announced various design changes to identify Chase drivers in the field: on these drivers, their cars' roof numbers, front splitters and fascia, and the windshield header are colored yellow, and the Chase logo on the front quarter panel.[8]

Under the new system, the Chase field is expanded to 16 drivers for the 10-race Chase. The 16 drivers are chosen primarily on wins during the "regular season"; if fewer than 16 drivers win races during the regular season, the remaining field is filled on the basis of regular season points. These drivers compete against each other while racing in the standard field of 43 cars. The driver with the most points after the final 10 races is declared the champion.

The new playoff system means that drivers are eliminated from title contention as the Chase progresses. The bottom four of the top-16 drivers are eliminated from title contention after the third race (Dover) in what was called the "Challenger Round", reducing the size of the field by 25%. The bottom four winless drivers have their points reset based on the standard points system, while the remaining 12 Chase drivers' points are reset to 3,000 points. The new bottom four are eliminated after the sixth Chase race (Talladega) in the "Contender Round", reducing the size of the field another 33%. Those who continue have their points all reset to 4,000. Then the "Eliminator Round" involves axing 50% of the Chase grid, cutting the drivers 5th-8th in the points after the penultimate race at Phoenix, and the top four drivers have their point totals reset to 5,000 so that they are tied for the final race at Homestead-Miami for the title run. Of these four drivers, the driver with the best finish at Homestead is then the crowned series champion (these drivers do not earn bonus points for leading a lap or leading the most laps).[9] Any Chase driver who wins a race is automatically guaranteed a spot in the next round. Up to three drivers thus can advance to the next round of the Chase through race wins, regardless of their actual points position when the elimination race in that round happens. The remaining drivers advance on points. The round names were removed starting in 2016, being changed to "Round of 16", "Round of 12", "Round of 8", and "Championship Round".[10]

The Kevin Harvick Rule – Fifth Place

The idea of NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick, drivers eliminated in each of the three rounds will be eligible to race for fifth place during the final races. Drivers eliminated in the first round will retain their Chase score (for example, a driver with one win during the season eliminated after scoring 75 points during the first round will score 2,078 points) and start the fourth race the same score after the first three races, and will accumulate points for the remainder of the season.[11]

Drivers eliminated in the second or third round will have their score reverted back to the score at the end of the first round, then their individual race scores for the three (eliminated in the second round) or six races (eliminated in the third round), respectively, before their eliminiation will be combined with the score after the third race of the first round for the driver's total score.

After ten races, the drivers positions 5–16 will be determined by the total number of points accumulated in the ten races (bonus points will apply), without the points resets of the second or third rounds, added to the driver's base Chase score with bonuses added.

Xfinity and Truck Series

On January 19, 2016, NASCAR announced the introduction of a Chase format for the Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series.[12] Both series use the same elimination formula as the Sprint Cup Chase, however, with some modifications (most notably, smaller fields, and only two rounds of elimination instead of three, due to both having seven races in their Chase formats compared to the ten in the Sprint Cup Chase). In the Truck Chase, there are only eight drivers eligible for the title. At both elimination races (Talladega and Phoenix), the bottom two drivers in the Chase standings are eliminated from contention. The Xfinity Chase has twelve drivers, and the bottom four in points are eliminated at the end of each round (Charlotte and Phoenix).

The Kevin Harvick rule applies in both eliminations. Eliminated drivers' scores in the first round will continue to accumulate, while drivers eliminated in the second round will have their scores reverted back to the end of the first round, in addition to all accumulated points from races in the second round, and drivers race for fifth.

Origins of the Chase

The publicly stated purpose for the NASCAR Chase system was to make the NASCAR mid-season more competitive, and increase fan interest and television ratings. The timing coincides with the commencement of the college and National Football League seasons and Final Month of Major League Baseball Regular Season and Major League Baseball Playoffs Prior to the Chase format, the Cup champion was often determined mathematically long before the end of the NASCAR season; a situation that existed in the lower-tier series, the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series, until they received their own Chase formats in 2016.

By resetting and compressing the scoring of the top 10 (later, 16) drivers, the chances of each of those drivers winning the championship was increased, while not precluding anyone with a legitimate chance of winning. The original choice of top 10 drivers was based on the historical analysis that no driver outside the top 10, with 10 races remaining in the season, had ever gone on to win the Championship.[2] The expansion to top 16 in 2014 made the elimination rounds possible.

Short track racing, the grassroots of NASCAR, began experimenting with ideas to help the entry-level racer. In 2001, the United Speed Alliance Racing organization, sanctioning body of the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, a short-track stock car touring series, devised a five-race system where the top teams in their Hooters ProCup North and Hooters ProCup South divisions would participate in a five-race playoff, the Four Champions, named for the four Hooters Racing staff members (including 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion and pilot Alan Kulwicki) killed in an April 1, 1993 plane crash in Blountville, Tennessee. The system organized the teams with starting points based on the team's performance in their division (division champions earn a bonus), and the teams would participate in a five-race playoff. The five races, added to the team's seeding points, would determine the winner. The 2001 version was four races, as one was canceled because of the September 11 terrorist attacks; however, NASCAR watched as the ProCup's Four Champions became a success and drivers from the series began looking at NASCAR rides. The idea was to give NASCAR, which was becoming in many areas the fourth-largest sport (after Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA and surpassing in some regions the NHL) attention during baseball's road to the World Series and the outset of the pro and college football, NHL and NBA seasons.

"The Matt Kenseth rule"

The Chase has been referred to as "the Matt Kenseth Rule" as a result of Kenseth's championship in the final year of the series with Winston sponsorship in 2003, the year prior to NASCAR adopting the Chase system and Nextel becoming the namesake sponsor. In 2003, Kenseth won the then-Winston Cup series championship despite winning only one race (that being the third race of the year in Las Vegas Motor Speedway) but ending the season with 25 top-ten finishes. In contrast, Ryan Newman won eight races that year (22% of the 36 races run in 2003), but finished sixth in points due to DNFs from crashes. In truth, "the Matt Kenseth Rule" more properly refers to the NASCAR numerical scoring system also implemented for the 2004 season, which increased the points awarded to race winners, thus emphasizing winning in addition to consistency. NASCAR acknowledged that the 2003 championship outcome was not the driving factor in establishment of the Chase, as NASCAR had been researching methods to adjust the points system to put more emphasis on winning races since 2000. However, the coincidence of the commencement of the new format in 2004 and Kenseth's 2003 championship linked the issues, and were even referred to by NASCAR officials in the interviews and press releases following the announcement of the new format.

Chase for the Sprint Cup tracks

The following are the ten race tracks at which the final ten Chase for the Sprint Cup races are run. Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, Texas) was added in 2005 as a result of outcome of the Ferko lawsuit. Prior to this suit, the final three races of the NASCAR season, and thus, the final three race tracks for The Chase, were held at Phoenix International Raceway (Avondale, Arizona), Darlington Raceway (Darlington, South Carolina, eliminated by NASCAR as a result of the lawsuit), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Homestead, Florida). Also, by way of a 3-way track change, Talladega Superspeedway moved to a later date, Atlanta Motor Speedway moved to the Labor Day weekend date, and Auto Club Speedway moved to a later date inside the Chase (starting 2009).[13]

In 2011, as part of a substantial schedule realignment, a number of further changes occurred in the Chase:[14]

  • Auto Club Speedway lost its Chase date.
  • Chicagoland Speedway became host of the Chase opener. To accommodate this move, the races at Loudon, Dover, and Kansas all moved back one week.
  • Talladega and Martinsville swapped dates.
  • Charlotte was moved back one week.
  • Talladega will move back up one week in 2017.
Track City 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, IL — — — — — — — 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, NH 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Dover International Speedway Dover, DE 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, NC 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4
Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 6 4 4 5 5 6
Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, AL 3 3 4 4 4 7 7 6 4 6 6 6 6 5
Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, VA 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TX — 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, AZ 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, FL 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, GA 7 7 7 7 7 — — — — — — — — —
Auto Club Speedway Fontana, CA — — — — — 4 4 — — — — — — —
Darlington Raceway Darlington, SC 9 — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Note
  • The North Carolina track was known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009. After the 2009 season, Lowe's chose not to renew its sponsorship contract, causing the track to revert to its original name of Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Driver appearances in the Cup Chase

  • Gold = In the 2016 Chase
  • Bold = Retired or no longer a full-time competitor
  • Make, number and team in most recent Chase appearance

Elimination rounds began in the 2014 season**

Rank Driver No. Team Times Round of 12 Round of 8 Championship 4 Chase Champions Best finish First year Most recent Manufacturer
1 Jimmie Johnson 48 Hendrick Motorsports 13 3 1 1 7 1st 2004 2016 Chevrolet
2 Matt Kenseth 20 Joe Gibbs Racing 12 3 2 0 0 2nd 2004 2016 Toyota
3 Jeff Gordon 24 Hendrick Motorsports 11 2 2 1 0 2nd 2004 2015 Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart Haas Racing 10 3 3 2 1 1st 2006 2016 Chevrolet
5 Kurt Busch 41 Stewart Haas Racing 10 2 2 0 1 1st 2004 2016 Chevrolet
6 Carl Edwards 19 Joe Gibbs Racing 10 3 3 2 0 2nd 2005 2016 Toyota
7 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing 10 3 2 1 0 2nd 2006 2016 Toyota
8 Tony Stewart 14 Stewart Haas Racing 9 0 0 0 2 1st 2004 2016 Chevrolet
9 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing 9 3 2 2 1 1st 2006 2016 Toyota
10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Hendrick Motorsports 8 2 0 0 0 5th 2004 2015 Chevrolet
11 Ryan Newman 31 Richard Childress Racing 7 2 1 1 0 2nd 2004 2015 Chevrolet
12 Greg Biffle 16 Roush Fenway Racing 7 0 0 0 0 2nd 2005 2014 Ford
13 Clint Bowyer 15 Michael Waltrip Racing 6 0 0 0 0 2nd 2007 2015 Toyota
14 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske 5 3 2 0 1 1st 2011 2016 Ford
15 Kasey Kahne 5 Hendrick Motorsports 5 1 0 0 0 4th 2006 2014 Chevrolet
16 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske 4 3 3 2 0 2nd 2013 2016 Ford
17 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Furniture Row Racing 4 2 1 1 0 4th 2007 2016 Toyota
18 Mark Martin 5 Hendrick Motorsports 4 n/a n/a n/a 0 2nd 2004 2009 Chevrolet
19 Jeff Burton 31 Richard Childress Racing 4 n/a n/a n/a 0 6th 2006 2010 Chevrolet
20 Jeremy Mayfield 19 Evernham Motorsports 2 n/a n/a n/a 0 9th 2004 2005 Dodge
21 Jamie McMurray 1 Chip Ganassi Racing 2 0 0 0 0 13th 2015 2016 Chevrolet
22 Chase Elliott 24 Hendrick Motorsports 1 1 0 0 0 10th 2016 2016 Chevrolet
23 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing 1 1 0 0 0 14th 2016 2016 Chevrolet
24 Juan Pablo Montoya 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 1 n/a n/a n/a 0 8th 2009 2009 Chevrolet
25 Rusty Wallace 2 Penske Racing 1 n/a n/a n/a 0 8th 2005 2005 Dodge
26 Kyle Larson 42 Chip Ganassi Racing 1 0 0 0 0 9th 2016 2016 Chevrolet
27 Elliott Sadler 38 Robert Yates Racing 1 n/a n/a n/a 0 9th 2004 2004 Ford
28 Brian Vickers 83 Team Red Bull 1 n/a n/a n/a 0 12th 2009 2009 Toyota
29 A. J. Allmendinger 47 JTG Daugherty Racing 1 0 0 0 0 13th 2014 2014 Chevrolet
30 Paul Menard 27 Richard Childress Racing 1 0 0 0 0 14th 2015 2015 Chevrolet
31 Chris Buescher 34 Front Row Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 16th 2016 2016 Ford
32 Aric Almirola 43 Richard Petty Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 16th 2014 2014 Ford

Non-Chase drivers to win a Chase race

As of the 2015 season, 120 Chase events have been raced. Of these, 18 of the Chase races were won by drivers who did not make the Chase for the Cup that year (drivers shown in pink have never been Chase participants). Four drivers under the 2014 Chase format had been eliminated from the championship Chase and raced for fifth prior to that specific race when they win, but were racing for fifth. (Chase drivers who start in the first round and are eliminated during the season will continue to race for positions 5-16. At the NASCAR prizegiving banquet, the eliminated drivers are introduced together. )

# Season Driver Team Race Track
1 2004 Joe Nemechek MBV Motorsports Banquet 400 Kansas Speedway
2 2004 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway
3 2005 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing UAW-Ford 500 Talladega Superspeedway
4 2005 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Subway 500 Martinsville Speedway
5 2005 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Checker Auto Parts 500 Phoenix International Raceway
6 2006 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Banquet 400 Kansas Speedway
7 2006 Brian Vickers Hendrick Motorsports UAW-Ford 500 Talladega Superspeedway
8 2006 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Bass Pro Shops 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway
9 2006 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Dickies 500 Texas Motor Speedway
10 2006 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway
11 2007 Greg Biffle Roush Racing LifeLock 400 Kansas Speedway
12 2009 Jamie McMurray Roush Fenway Racing AMP Energy 500 Talladega Superspeedway
13 2010 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Bank of America 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway
14 2011 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Good Sam Club 500 Talladega Superspeedway
15 2011 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Kobalt Tools 500 Phoenix International Raceway
16 2013 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Bank of America 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway
17 2013 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Camping World RV Sales 500 Talladega Superspeedway
18 2013 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Ford EcoBoost 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway

Non-Chase system champions

Below are the hypothetical champions if the Chase had not been implemented. Given the many ways that the Chase changes race strategy, there is no way to know if these results would have actually occurred.

  • 2004: Jeff Gordon would have won his 5th career title and the 6th title for car owner Rick Hendrick.[15]
  • 2005: Tony Stewart, first driver in NASCAR history to win both old points format and Chase system, would win either way.[16]
  • 2006: Jimmie Johnson would win the title either way in 2006.[17]
  • 2007: Jeff Gordon would have won his 6th career title – the 8th title for Hendrick and three of the last four. Wins by over 350 points.[18]
  • 2008: Carl Edwards would have dethroned Johnson by 16 points for first title.[19]
  • 2009: Jimmie Johnson would get second title beating Gordon by 66 points. 4 of the last 6 for Hendrick.[20] Either way he would win.
  • 2010: Kevin Harvick dominated the entire season beating Johnson by over 200 points.[21]
  • 2011: With the new 2011 season's points format, Carl Edwards takes 2nd title in four seasons after clinching title at Phoenix after finishing 2nd to Kasey Kahne.[22]
  • 2012: Brad Keselowski beats Greg Biffle by 19 points, while Jimmie Johnson still finishes third, 28 points behind. Either way he would win.[23]
  • 2013: Jimmie Johnson wins his third championship by 41 points over Kevin Harvick and 56 points over Matt Kenseth.[24] Either way he would win.
  • 2014: Jeff Gordon wins his seventh title by 37 points over Joey Logano, tying himself with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for the most Cup championships of all-time.
  • 2015: Kevin Harvick wins his second championship, beating Joey Logano by 22 points. Jeff Gordon finishes eighth to conclude a 23-year career and Kyle Busch finishes 20th despite missing 11 races.
  • 2016: Kevin Harvick becomes the first driver to repeat as Cup champion since Jeff Gordon in 1998, collecting his third series title. He also is just the seventh driver in Cup history to win at least three championships. Joey Logano finished second for the third consecutive season, missing out on the title by 27 points. Kyle Busch was third, while three-time series champion Jimmie Johnson was eighth.

See also

References

  1. ^ Sporting News Wire Service (February 7, 2008). "Predicting the 2008 Chase for the Cup champ?". NASCAR.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "New playoff structure announced". NASCAR.com. January 20, 2004. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "NASCAR Announces Chase for the Sprint Cup Format Change" (Press release). NASCAR. January 30, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  4. ^ "Changes for 2011 include emphasis on winning – Jan 26, 2011" (Press release). NASCAR. November 28, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  5. ^ "10-race Chase for the Cup crowns series champ". NASCAR 101. NASCAR. January 28, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  6. ^ "Jeff Gordon added to Chase after NASCAR investigation"
  7. ^ "It's the day: NASCAR expected to unveil big changes to Chase"
  8. ^ "NASCAR introduces new elements for Chase drivers' cars". Foxsports.com. July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  9. ^ Bruce, Kenny (January 30, 2014). "EXPANSION, ELIMINATIONS HIGHLIGHT CHASE CHANGES". NASCAR. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  10. ^ "Jeff Gordon works with new team in booth". United Press International. January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ "CHASE FORMAT EXTENDED TO XFINITY, CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES". NASCAR. January 19, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  13. ^ AMS to swap dates with Auto Club Speedway Archived November 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "2011 NASCAR Schedule" (Press release). NASCAR. August 18, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  15. ^ "Races – Standings". NASCAR.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  16. ^ "Races – Standings". NASCAR.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  17. ^ "Nascar.Com". Nascar.Com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  18. ^ "Nascar.Com". Nascar.Com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  19. ^ "Nascar.Com". Nascar.Com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  20. ^ "Nascar.Com". Nascar.Com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  21. ^ "Nascar.Com". Nascar.Com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  22. ^ "2011 Ford 400". Racing-Reference.info. November 20, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  23. ^ "2012 Ford EcoBoost 400". Racing-Reference.info. November 18, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  24. ^ "UNOFFICIAL 2013 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings without Chase". Jayski. November 17, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
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