NASCAR Chase 2014: Gripping Finale Proves Format Change Isn't Needed

For all of the criticism, NASCAR's 2014 Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway had a fitting ending. 

The big knock on the new Chase format is its discounting of wins for consistent finishes, but victory loomed large Sunday for Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman. The four remaining Chase contenders just had to beat out the other three for the title, but nothing short of a win would do it, with all four consistently manning the top five.

Winning doesn't matter? Don't tell that to Newman.

In second place and laps away from winning the title without a single win all season, Newman was overtaken by Harvick in the closing moments and thus conceded the championship.

As the race wore down to just a few dozen laps, all four contenders were in the top five together on multiple occasions, and all finished high, as NASCAR shows:

Let's get this straight—this current NASCAR Chase format isn't perfect. Few things in sports are.

But as far as delivering intensity and crowning an appropriate champion, the 2014 Chase was a success. 

The intensity was obvious as far back as Oct. 11, when Harvick's much-needed Charlotte victory was superseded by Matt Kenseth's spat with Brad Keselowski. 

"When you see Matt Kenseth mad enough to fight, you know that this is intense because that's way out of character for him," Harvick told USA Today's Mike Hembree. "You know that NASCAR has done the right thing to this Chase because everybody is on offense and gouging for every single position that you can get every lap."

Four elimination rounds made for must-watch action throughout the Chase, but things turned stale for many traditionalists entering the championship round. Despite four wins on the year, Jeff Gordon failed to make the final four.

David Graham/Associated Press

Gordon supporters would argue that he notched a Chase victory, while neither Newman nor Joey Logano did. But in reality, a win in any of the final-round races would have guaranteed him a spot in the championship round. He failed to win, and he had a bad 29th-place finish in Texas. 

That's perhaps the only true knock on this Chase format—that one bad finish at the wrong time can doom your season. But what's so wrong with rewarding consistency, especially when it's consistency in the biggest races of the year?

Michigan International Speedway President Roger Curtis is a fan:

USA Today's Jeff Gluck added that the excitement may not reach the levels of 2014 anytime soon:

Regardless of whether we see another Chase as gripping and exciting as the 2014 version, it's hard to come up with an idea for how things should be changed. 

It more than delivers on the entertainment front. While NASCAR might not want to continue getting in the national headlines for fights, they were byproducts of the importance of the races. Seasons and legacies were on the line every weekend throughout the fall, and that's something we couldn't say of previous years.

Seeing a final four without Jimmie Johnson, Gordon or Keselowski will inevitably have a variety of folks flustered, but the likes of Logano and Newman stepped up and nearly delivered a title. That just shows even more that wins don't always show who deserves the glory.

The current format isn't perfect, but don't expect any sweeping changes anytime soon after a successful first year.