NASCAR 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup guide: Which stories and drivers to watch

JOLIET, Ill. -- For the fourth time in 11 years the Chase for the Sprint Cup is getting a makeover, this time quite drastically. An expanded field from 12 drivers to 16, the utilization of eliminations after the third, sixth and ninth events, and an increased emphasis on winning are all now prominent components.

Yet the more things change the more they stay the same. For the fourth consecutive year the same 10 tracks will stage NASCAR’s playoffs, beginning with Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway. And as he has in five of the previous 10 editions, Jimmie Johnson enters as the defending series champion.

Johnson’s quest for a record-tying seventh championship is just one of many storylines to follow over the next several weeks. As for the others, consider this guide as your Chase primer, pinpointing and answering your questions over the next 10 weeks.

With a win guaranteeing a driver’s advancement to the subsequent round, the theory goes that teams will have more incentive to aggressively pursue victory. While not inaccurate, the tried-and-true NASCAR tradition of weekly consistency still carries vast importance, especially in the early rounds.

At a maximum the first round could feature three different winners, meaning nine drivers could theoretically advance without a victory (possible more if a non-Chaser goes to Victory Lane). And the possibility of winning the championship without a race victory is still a reality.

Under the new formula four competitors will advance to the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway for a one-race showdown. Whichever driver of those four finishes best will be declared champion, whether that result is a win or 35th-place.

“The possibility is real,” said Johnson of a winless driver winning the championship. “It can happen. ... I know it wouldn’t be a fan-favorite if somebody went all the way through and won the championship and didn’t win a race, but I think you have to have that in mind somewhere. So, I’m not surprised that could happen.”

Over the course of the 26-race regular season Penske and Hendrick established superiority like no other, combining to win 18 times. That dominance is expected to carry over to the postseason as both teams are well suited to contend not just weekly, but for the championship.

Penske driver Brad Keselowski owns a series-best four victories and is the No. 1 Chase seed, while teammate Joey Logano has three wins. Leading the Hendrick barrage are Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., each of whom has three wins on the year.

“I know my teammate has the ability and I know our car definitely does,” Logano said. “I would think the guys you have seen all year -- you can never count the 48 (Johnson) out right? The 24 (Gordon), the 88 (Earnhardt) possibly, and the 4 (Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing). You never know. The thing is you can’t count anybody out of this thing.”

Since 2001 Gordon has long sought a fifth championship, but his “Drive for Five” campaign has recently hit the skids. Each of the past two seasons he needed a late push just to qualify for the Chase, including the intervention of NASCAR chairman Brian France a year ago.

But this rendition of the Chase has Gordon in a far different position. With three wins and having accumulated more points during the regular season than anyone else, Gordon easily earned a playoff berth. His season also has revived talk that another title is a realistic possibility.

“I haven’t felt this good since 2001,” Gordon said. “We were good in 2004 and in 2007, and I’ve had years where I felt like we had a chance to win. But it has been a long time since I felt like we had this kind of chance to win the championship.”

No current driver has as many Chase victories or championships as Johnson, and there is no reason to think he won’t add to either total this year. While others appear stronger, the No. 48 team has earned the benefit of the doubt.

Motivated to atone for last year’s disappointing championship defense, Keselowski badly wants to win a second title and quiet the whispers that his first was a fluke. Working in his favor, half of the Chase is run on 1½-mile speedways, the exact kind of track Penske excels on. And don’t forget Keselowski went head-to-head against Johnson in 2012, getting the better of his rival.

Since the green flag dropped in February at Daytona the No. 4 car has consistently shown the most speed. If Harvick and, more importantly, his crew can fine-tune the sloppiness on pit road, he is the likeliest non-Penske, non-Hendrick driver to win the championship.

If -- and this is a big if -- Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota come through and increase the horsepower in their engines, the Chase schedule is very conducive for Hamlin to make some noise. He has multiple victories at New Hampshire, Martinsville, Texas and Homestead, and typically thrives in the role of the underdog.

No question the speed is there, but what haven’t been present this season are the corresponding finishes. Too often Busch would see good runs dissolve either because of a mechanical failure or a mistake on the track or in the pits. Some newfound consistency and an elimination of the gaffes could transform Busch into quasi-contender.

As evident by the success enjoyed by his Hendrick teammates, there is no doubting the quality of equipment underneath Kahne. While it may be too much to think he’ll join Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt at the front of the field every week, Kahne winning a race or two isn’t implausible.

Fair or not, with the kind of year he’s enjoyed anything less than a championship will be viewed as a disappointment. And in this format that kind of expectation is going to be hard to fulfill.

See: Gordon, Jeff.

A lot is expected of Logano after producing the best regular season of his career. Although the statistics show he’s capable of running with and beating NASCAR’s best, a championship seems a bit of a lofty goal.

Equal amounts zany and unpredictable, Talladega has a propensity for producing big wrecks that can create havoc in the standings. Expect that intensity to be ramped up tenfold, as NASCAR’s largest track now hosts an elimination race.

The Chase format ensures that four drivers will be tied for the championship entering the season finale. All of which means a nail-biting 400 miles with the title not likely decided until the very last lap.

The final elimination race, Phoenix will determine which four drivers will head to Homestead as championship contenders. That’s a good thing as the one-mile track is where the title fight often takes dramatic swings. whether it was Hamlin trying in vain to save fuel in 2010 or Matt Kenseth falling so far off the pace last year he all but handed Johnson his sixth championship.