NASCAR Texas 2014: Chase for the Sprint Cup format favors some, hurts others

Pondering what it would be like had NASCAR not restructured the Chase for the Sprint Cup causes a dismayed Joey Logano to shake his head.

Under the previous Chase format, which didn’t re-level the championship standings every three races, Logano would be comfortably ahead. Through seven playoff races no driver has accumulated more points, wins or top 10s, and no one has a better average finish than Logano’s 4.28 mark.

“I was told today that we would have a 40-something point lead if it was last year’s points system,” Logano said. “That part breaks my heart a little because we are third in points right now. If it was last year, doing what we are doing now, would have worked great.”

But instead of honing in on a first championship, Logano, despite his dominance, is ranked third in points. Potentially more problematic, a dreadful result Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway or next week at Phoenix International Raceway could knock Logano out of the Chase altogether.

That is the drawback of NASCAR’s new playoff format where a driver’s performance in previous rounds carries no weight in subsequent rounds. Win a couple of races, score a bunch of points and any advantage accrued is erased at the beginning of each round.

The resetting has provided an opportunity for those who can’t match Logano’s high-level consistency over a greater duration than three races to keep pace.

After narrowly avoiding Round 1 elimination, Ryan Newman, ranked second, has steadily improved, and thanks to the modified system is actually ahead of Logano in the standings even with fewer wins, top fives, top 10s and laps led through the course of the Chase and the season as a whole. It’s such a dramatic disparity that Newman couldn’t help but laugh when informed of the numbers during his weekly media session Friday.

“Well those were mostly odd numbers, yes,” Newman said. “It’s not the typical equation that you have where performance is equal to championship run. At the same time, this points system is a little bit different this year. Our consistency has been our strength, and our consistency has been not in the top-three; our consistency has been basically fifth to 11th more often than not, and it’s been very difficult to lead laps for us.

“We’re riding the wave that’s presented to us, and we’re having fun with it.”

Although Logano may look at the new Chase and wonder what if the format had never changed to its current version, not everyone feels similarly.

Were it not for the win and advance methodology, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick, two drivers who at times showed similar dominance as Logano, would have been essentially eliminated because of missteps.

But if this Chase is anything, it’s forgiving. Even though Keselowski and Harvick struggled last week at Martinsville Speedway -- Keselowski suffered a parts failure, Harvick was spun by Matt Kenseth and crashed -- both can salvage their respective playoff hopes by winning at Texas or Phoenix.

“The good thing about this format is you have two more weeks and two race tracks that we can win on,” Harvick said following Martinsville.

Though by no means easy, transferring via winning is an opportunity not previously available in past years. It’s an avenue that was used in Round 2 when Keselowski, facing certain elimination, scored a memorable victory at Talladega Superspeedway to guarantee advancement.

“It’s not like we’re just gonna go and guarantee a win at Texas and Phoenix, but it’s also not impossible,” Keselowski said. “We’ve got the team, if there is one, to pull it off.

“With this format, we’re by no means out.”

If Keselowski fails to win and is then bounced from the Chase, another intriguing dynamic arises: His elimination would seemingly enhance the title prospects of Logano, Keselowski’s teammate.

But what’s the balance between being a good teammate and one’s self-interests, especially in a pivotal race where the stakes are significant for all involved -- Logano to assure an otherwise stellar Chase doesn’t go for naught, Keselowski just to survive and advance?

“We will work together like we have all year,” Logano said. “I feel like as a team, we are closer than anybody. I feel like that is our strength at Team Penske -- we work very well together. Not just the drivers, the whole team.

“We can’t afford to stop doing that. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel and change what we are doing, just try to make better what we have been doing. We aren’t going to bail on being teammates at this point in the season, that is for sure.”