NASCAR's Sprint Cup season ends Sunday in at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and fans "have to accept entertainment over purity of sport in order to enjoy what you watch every Sunday," according to Jeff Gluck of USA TODAY. Gluck: "At the start of this season, I was firmly within your ranks." The idea of "messing with the championship just to get more viewers at the expense of fairness bothered me deeply." But something "happened over the course of this season, again and again: I found myself entertained." The Chase for the Sprint Cup "has been wild, intriguing and fun. Gluck: "As a whole, it has been the best Chase yet. ... The new Chase format is different. But if you can't accept change, you're probably going to have a hard time enjoying NASCAR these days" (USA TODAY, 11/14). In Daytona Beach, Ken Willis wrote given the "overriding reasoning behind the new playoff-style format, you have to hang a big 'Mission Accomplished' label." In the end, the new format was "designed and OK'd in an effort to help NASCAR capture (or recapture) some attention from the sporting public at a time of year when football dominates." It is "not perfect, but competitive perfection wasn't the aim" (NEWS-JOURNALONLINE.com, 11/10).
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| Earnhardt believes more people are talking about NASCAR due to the new format |
DRIVERS OK WITH FORMAT: Dale Earnhardt Jr. said the new format worked this year because NASCAR "wants more attention and more people talking and I think that’s what happened." He added, "We’ve gotten more publicity out of this year’s Chase than we’ve had in many years past." Brad Keselowski said, "This move was about growing the sport and making it sustainable for years to come. If those metrics show that it’s working, then I’m a fan of it. My connection to the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase format is purely based on our fans’ reaction in a positive form. If that’s the case, then I’m supportive. ... I like tradition but I’m not married to it" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/14). In Charlotte, Scott Fowler notes Joey Logano under the old format "would hold a sizable lead entering Sunday's race" over Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman after Logano won five races this season. However, he is "on even ground" with the three, as the driver with the best finish Sunday wins the championship. Logano said, “On the selfish side, obviously I don’t like it this year. You’d like to have the lead. But if you take a global view of our sport, it’s great" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/14).
TINKERING NEEDS TO BE DONE: In Sacramento, Victor Contreras writes it is "understandable that NASCAR wants to crown its Sprint Cup champion in the final race of the season instead of a driver clinching the title three weeks prior." But if it is "not crowning the best driver, why bother?" Contreras alludes to Logano and Newman by asking, "How can a driver with six wins and 16 top-five finishes bow to a possible series champion with one or no wins and a few top-five efforts?" Crowning a "winless champion could be an embarrassment," and NASCAR "needs to go back in the garage, get under the hood and fix this mess" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 11/14).
