The NASCAR championship has historically rewarded consistency.   Who knew Kenseth's dominating championship in 2003 would result in NASCAR changing a point system that had been in place and highly regarded for almost 30 years.

The Chase was created by Brian France to inject excitement into the final races and allow NASCAR to better compete with the start of the NFL season.  It was also supposed to make NASCAR more appealing to sports fans who are used to playoffs ending the season and determining the champion.  As a result, NASCAR now has a complicated point system which ultimately does not always result in an exciting Chase.   

The 2007 points system is fine...
The 2007 points system, although confusing and cumbersome to the causal fan, does reward winning.  It creates a potential 25 point difference between first and second place finishers.  In a best case scenario, winners receive 195 points (185 for winning, 5 bonus points for a lap lead and 5 bonus points for leading the most laps) to second place's 170.  Now, the top 12 drivers make the Chase and are seeded by their number of wins in the regular season.   This is a good balance between rewarding consistency and winning. 

 But the Chase is WEAK...
The Chase was "watered down" by expanding it to 12 drivers to protect the crowd favorites (ahem, Jr, Jeff, and Tony).  Add to that, early in the Chase, drivers often play it safe and ride around trying to avoid the mulligan rather than win.  BORING.  The Chase shouldn't ever be boring, it should be intense.  Think of March Madness, you come to win or you go home.  If NASCAR is going to have a playoff do it right.   Someone has to go...each and every race of the Chase.

 Now start the Madness...
In the Chase, the driver with the lowest points total at the end of the race is eliminated from the Chase.  The first driver eliminated finishes the season in 12th place and so on.   The driver with the lowest points in each subsequent race is eliminated until you reach Homestead with only 3 drivers in contention for the championship.   Can you say pressure?  Oh yes!  No more riding around trying to avoid trouble during the Chase.  Our champion will have to get up on that wheel every lap of every race.  The Chasers will have to out-race, out-perform, and out-wit all rivals and have luck on their side all 10 races.  Consistency and winning, sound familiar?

 Everyone understands sudden death...
No more crunching points or cautious racing, just pure excitement.  It will be hard to deal with the disappointment that your driver is out of the Chase whether by bad performance or bad luck.  Those drivers can still hang it all out there using their "trick" setups, gambling on gas, and race for the checkers.    Don't protect them, it's the playoffs baby!  Anything could (and should) happen.  If you survive, then you really have a CHAMPION to be proud of.