Chase for the Sprint Cup championship preview: In pursuit of Game 7 moments

MIAMI -- Less than a year after the unveiling of a controversial new Chase for the Sprint Cup format, the “Game 7 moment” NASCAR chairman Brian France incessantly touted has arrived.

Four drivers enter the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway level in points, as designed, making Sunday’s race a winner-take-all affair. To get this far, all Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman had to do was make it through three rounds, and along the way manage the increasing amount of pressure and fervor that has come to symbolize NASCAR’s playoffs.

In other words, it’s exactly what NASCAR envisioned back in January.

“I think depending on what happens on Sunday, it has a chance to be one of the most successful seasons in NASCAR history,” France said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about the level of competition that is up. Which has our fans excited, and has the interest level of the sport as a result of that higher and that’s precisely what we want to achieve.”

The enthusiasm expressed by France isn’t unique to those with a vested interest in NASCAR’s future. Based on increased television ratings and consecutive sellouts the past two weeks, the new Chase has generated an excitement level sorely missing in recent years.

That the final race of the season is as eagerly anticipated as it’s been would have seemed outlandish at the beginning of the year. When conceptualized, a playoff with an expanded field, eliminations and extra importance on winning was met with scorn, including those most affected.

The first time Harvick was informed about NASCAR’s new method to determine its champion, his initial thought wasn’t unique.

“I told Brian France, ‘That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard,‘” Harvick said. “Our big argument was, ‘What if you have something crazy happen at Homestead?’”

But France’s retort changed Harvick’s mind and made him a convert.

“He was like, ‘Well, you were going to have it happen, anyway,‘” Harvick said. “When you really put that into perspective and think about it, (France is) right. This format is the best thing that’s happened to the sport as long as I can remember, because it’s added the intensity and good racing to the sport that everybody’s been looking for.”

Almost universally, the radical changes have been well-received within the garage. Relishing no longer being consumed with points racing, drivers have enjoyed the freedom of focusing on winning.

With the shackles of conservatism lifted, a new mindset has become prevalent: win at all costs. That mentality especially has taken hold in the Chase. Facing must-win situations or playoff extinction, Brad Keselowski and Harvick answered with memorable clinching victories in elimination races.

The Chase structure also directly added to the passion that over-spilled following races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. Encompassing names like Keselowski, Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth, each captured the attention of the sports atmosphere and factored into higher TV ratings and packed grandstands.

And then there were the memorable acts of desperation exhibited by Keselowski at Texas and Newman last week. It’s exactly the hard racing NASCAR sought to inject into a sport gone staid.

“This format has just created that,” said Harvick of the ferocity throughout the Chase. “You have to do things that you normally wouldn’t do, and in the end you have to try to make something happen for your team.”

Not everyone, though, views NASCAR’s new playoff structure with the same affection as France, Harvick and others. Much of that discontent is directed at who makes up Sunday’s championship field, and who does not. The two most notable final-four exclusions are Gordon and Keselowski, each among the best throughout the regular season and Chase. However, both stumbled in Round 3 and missed advancing.

Gordon’s omission may have been the most heartbreaking. A fan favorite, Gordon was involved in a late scrap with Keselowski at Texas, resulting in a cut tire, spin and subsequent 29th-place finish.

Back-to-back runner-up finishes followed for Gordon, seemingly putting him in position to make the cut. But just as Gordon was finishing second at Phoenix, Newman pulled off a brazen last lap pass of Kyle Larson, which saw Newman body-slam Larson’s car and push him into the wall. That single point Newman gained proved to be the difference over Gordon, who would have advanced otherwise.

“It hit me hard when I crossed the line at Phoenix,” Gordon said. “I think I was just really in disbelief for a good 24 hours that we did everything so right and didn’t make it. That disappointment was definitely there throughout the week.”

Compounding the frustration of those who feel Gordon was slighted from competing for a fifth championship Sunday is who is eligible. Although no one diminishes the résumés of Harvick and Logano, who were among the best throughout 2014, the same cannot be said of Hamlin and Newman.

Hamlin won just a lone race, and on a restrictor-plate track at that. Meanwhile, Newman is not just winless, but has finished in the top-five a mere four times. The average Chase finishes of Hamlin and Newman are 12.4 and 9.8, respectively.

“We’ve gone into every race with the intention of winning, leading the most laps and winning the pole,” Newman said. “We just haven’t been as successful as some of these other guys. But our consistency has been there, so we just have to be there at the end.”

Said France: “I think that wanting to win events has taken on an undeniable importance. At the same time, there ought to be room for teams that do it every week and can be consistent.”

And come Sunday, Hamlin and Newman will have the same shot at the championship as Harvick and Logano. Why? Because various playoff strategies (winning vs. consistency), underdogs and raw emotion are what NASCAR intended with this Chase and its quest to generate “Game 7 moments.”

“We’re excited about it,” France said. “This is a format that is not a one-time phenomenon. This is a format that when we’ve thought about it carefully. We realized this is something you can build on. This is the future for Sprint Cup racing.”