One Race to Decide the 2014 Sprint Cup Series Champion
This is what NASCAR had in mind when they revamped the Chase rules prior to the 2014 season. Four drivers, representing four different organizations, will have an equal shot to clinch the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship this Sunday in the Ford EcoBoost 400 held at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the four title contenders (Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman) are Top 4 in average finishing position over the last six races. While the new Chase format emphasized winning, it also rewarded consistency. Many will argue against a winless driver (Ryan Newman) being eligible to race for the title, but the fact remains that he ran well enough to stay in the hunt, so that should be all that matters.
Of course a driver does not have to win the race this Sunday to clinch the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship under this format. Similar to the Dash 4 Cash element used in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, all a driver must do is record the best finishing position among the four eligible drivers to earn a cash prize on top of their regular race earnings. In this case, the prize is a little bigger than the $100,000 bonus awarded in NASCAR’s second-tier series. Drivers love the money, but putting “NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion” on your resume remains a goal for every driver. Plus, as they say, “to the victor go the spoils”.
As we have seen over the last few weeks, anything can and will happen on the racetrack in this new Chase format. And with 39 other hungry drivers on the track with the Championship contenders, it will be interesting to see what kind of risks NASCAR’s “final four” will be willing to take in order to clinch a Sprint Cup Series title.