Now that we have step one accomplished (a 30 race schedule, with ten of that being the Chase), it is time for step two.
Re-shuffle the Chase.
As much as the reader may or may not like the Chase, it is here to stay. So, the next logical question is this: how do we make it better ? (Or, to be more correct, fix it—however, NASCAR will never, ever admit it is broken.)
The Chase schedule was flawed from the start, as the last ten races of the year were taken, spit-shined, and branded emphatically as (brace yourself) THE CHASE!
The Chase for what? The Championship? These ten races are not indicative of a drivers' mastery of all track types on the schedule, let alone ten races which can stand alone, packaged as "playoffs".
The point of the Chase was to draw excitement to the Championship hunt, as well as draw in average Joe from down the street. Someone tuning in for the first time all season because they've heard of the NASCAR "playoffs" should be treated to the best racing at the best tracks NASCAR has to offer. Something tells me (using the current Sprint Cup schedule) New Hampshire and California don't quite fit that bill.
These ten tracks offer the best racing all year: Bristol, Daytona, Lowes, Darlington, Richmond, Texas, Phoenix, Dover, Las Vegas, and Kansas City. Of these, five are currently in the Chase (Lowes, Texas, Phoenix, Dover, and Kansas). Las Vegas and Darlington currently only have one date, Richmond is the current cut-off point, and Bristol and Daytona both currently have two dates, all of them history-rich.
Homestead, the current season-ending race, has done nothing wrong; in fact, they have been nothing short of remarkable, even improving facilities and re-banking the track to make the racing better.
If the ten tracks mentioned above are to be in the Chase, Homestead will be booted out. Where, then, should it be scheduled? It's simple: swap it with Richmond. Sure, the normal short-track strain (along with the pressure of the final chance to get into the Chase) will be removed, but great racing will still be present under the lights.
Begin the Chase in Dover, then move to Kansas City, Richmond, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Texas, Darlington, Lowes, Bristol, and end-yup, you got it-where it all started, in Daytona.
The schedule would provide the best racing throughout the Chase, and eight of ten races (including the last six at least) would/could be raced under the lights.
Thinking on the schedule, at first having Daytona end the entire season seemed like a bad move. Restrictor-plate racing, at best, is a crap-shoot, so why put the fate of the contenders for the Championship at such a risk?
Imagine it: stock-car racing's grandest night on its' grandest stage. This would be the Daytona 500, all the prestige and with the world watching, the angst of restrictor-plate racing...with the emotions and adrenaline of a championship on the line.
Quite frankly, you don't even have to market that. It would market itself: 200 laps of bare-knuckle, leave-nothing-on-the-table, pedal-to-the-floor epic racing. No one would sit down; the experience would be orgasmic. Will "points leader" be able to hang on to his slim lead over "second place"? What will happen if "points leader" takes the white flag as the leader of the field, with "second place" drafting right behind him? What happens if they are involved in "The Big One?"
Because of the rough nature of the Chase races, a new Chase points system would be proposed (more on that in a second).
The biggest question about the new Chase would be the replacement of race dates lost by those tracks moving to the Chase. The only real loss would be the Daytona date on the 4th of July. Perhaps bias is kicking in, but there's only one thing to do: add lights to MIS and give the date to Michigan. NASCAR is as American a sport as you can get, and it only makes sense to celebrate America's day while racing in NASCAR's "backyard" (the Motor City).
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