Imagine this, your driver has qualified over the course of the "regular season" of the Nextel Cup. The drivers are seeded 1-12 to begin the "Chase for the Championship" in accordance with the regular season point totals. Now everything is different, now the totals are erased and in order for a driver to win the Championship, he must survive elimination each week. Here is how it would work.

Each driver starts over in point standings and will start the first race in the chase in their standings position. Qualifying for non chase drivers will be for positions 13 - 43. Isn't this what everyone wants anyway, to see the twelve drivers in the chase up front and battling each other? The points will be accumulated as normal with the driver accumulating the least amount of points, eliminated from the Chase. With this being a new twist to the chase it will make each race more significant to the chase. Race two of the chase would begin with 11 drivers still alive in the chase, in the event of a tie in standings for last place, the next race will see the elimination of two drivers and so on as the races continue. This would place the chase as a true playoff type run. Reward the drivers for having a great season by starting them in their standings each week but eliminate the ones that perform the worst.

Based on my suggested chase, the starting lineup for this week's race at Loudon would look like this for the front 12 positions:

Row 1: Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon

Row 2: Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards

Row 3: Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin

Row 4: Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth

Row 5: Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton

Row 6: Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer

The rest of the field would be determined on qualifying. Now on to my reasoning for this. In the NFL, the teams with the best records in the conferences are rewarded for their season by home field advantage. Starting each race in the chase at the front is rewarding each driver for their season and most notably, rewarding the best with the poles and starting positions. Also in contrast with the NFL, if a team loses in the playoffs they are out, same to be true with the Chase. The lowest driver in standings after each race is eliminated, setting up a possible three driver clash at the last race.

Just a projected fantasy but I keep reading how the regular season doesn't mean anything and that the Chase has taken away from the excitement. That all may be true, but that is true in all sports. The regular season doesn't really mean that much in any sport. It's all about making the playoffs and then who gets hot. Why not make the same be true in NASCAR? Thanks for reading.

Yesterday, 1Steelerfan1 posted a blog that suggested having a Blogger get together in Nashville. I live just outside of Nashville and work there every day. I contacted the local Fox radio station and received a reply. Here is what the reply stated: