The 12 drivers who made up the Chase for the Cup field in 2008 pose with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Trophy at Richmond International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
When Brian France came up with the idea of the Chase for the championship, it’s likely he never expected it would turn into not one, but two successful entities.
The first time France brought up the idea of a NASCAR postseason in public was two days before the annual awards dinner in New York City in December of 2003.
Drivers, teams, officials, media and sponsors were all gathering at the glamorous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to honor Matt Kenseth on a championship season that was the essence of consistency – and perhaps the most boring title run in the long history of the stock car sport.
Nobody could blame Kenseth, who put together a dream season for himself and his team, giving longtime car owner Jack Roush his first Cup championship after he had come agonizingly close a few times with Mark Martin.
Kenseth’s one win, 25 top-10s and a finishing average of 10.2 in a 36-race season were solid enough that even a last-place finish in the finale at Homestead – thanks to a blown engine – left him 90 points ahead of runner-up Jimmie Johnson.
There was little excitement as Kenseth built his advantage, and the new champion, obviously a nice guy, but quiet and kind of bland, didn’t generate much enthusiasm among the fans.
Worse, it was the latest of a number of championships in a 10-year stretch that fizzled into one-man shows over the final races of the season.
France, who succeeded his father, Bill France Jr., as CEO and chairman of NASCAR earlier in 2003, was looking for a way to make things more exciting, as well as finding a way to compete better against baseball’s postseason and the onset of college and professional football as the auto racing season was reaching its climax.
His answer: The Chase for the championship – a playoff among the top 10 drivers in the points over the final 10 races of the season.
The few media members on hand that night in New York weren’t exactly thrilled by the prospect. The traditionalists didn’t like the idea of changing the way the championship had been decided for years, some didn’t like the idea that the championship battle was being manipulated, and the rest weren’t convinced the fans would take the new format to heart.
They needn’t have worried.
As everyone who pays attention to the sport knows, the Chase has generally been a success right from the beginning.
That first 10-race title run in 2004 provided plenty of thrills before Kurt Busch gave Roush his second straight title. And, in the intervening years most of the championships have gone right down to the end, with at least two drivers in contention.
