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CUP: Who Does Bigger Chase Field Help?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. could benefit big-time if the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase field expands...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted January 10, 2011   Charlotte, NC
Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to win or make the Chase in 2010. (Photo: Getty Images)
On Monday, NASCAR confirmed that President Mike Helton and Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton will announce competition changes for the 2011 season on Jan. 21 from Daytona International Speedway.

Helton and Pemberton will meet the press on the second of three days of NASCAR Sprint Cup testing at the newly repaved Daytona track.

Expected changes — though not confirmed — include an expansion of the size of the field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup from 12 to 15 drivers and knockout or elimination rounds, which would progressively reduce the size of the Chase field as the 10-race playoff round went on, culminating with the top three drivers settling the championship in the final two races of the season.

If indeed these changes take place, who would stand to benefit the most?

Here are some possibilities:

1. SECOND-TIER TEAMS — Four teams currently dominate the Sprint Cup world — Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing. Stewart-Haas Racing, which runs Hendrick-prepared chassis, bodies and engines, is in that mix, too. But close behind are a cluster of what could be termed solid second-tier teams. Those include Red Bull Racing, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Michael Waltrip Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports.

If three more Chase spots open up, chances are very good that at least one or two of those would go to one of the aforementioned teams. And making the Chase is worth literally millions of dollars in sponsor incentives to the teams. This could be a huge boost for them.

2. DALE EARNHARDT JR. — The big domino in NASCAR is Earnhardt. If he wins a couple of races and — especially — makes the Chase it will be a huge home run on all fronts. Earnhardt in the Chase will drive television ratings and ticket sales and energize his millions of fans. Earnhardt advancing deep into the Chase would be the dream of track promoters everywhere. With new crew chief Steve Letarte, his performance should pick way up. And making the top 15 by definition is easier than making the top 12.

3. TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY — If, in fact, TMS becomes the last race before the Chase field is cut to the final three drivers, in effect it will become a semi-final race. And a shrewd promoter like track President Eddie Gossage will use that to his advantage and pump up the race like crazy. An elimination round could bring sellouts back to the mammoth 1.5-mile facility.
Carl Edwards is a man with a mission in 2011. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

4. CARL EDWARDS — In 2008, Edwards won three of the final four races of the season. Two years later, he won the final two. If he goes into Phoenix tied or very, very close to two just two other drivers, he will be awfully tough to beat. He well could be the guy who finally dethrones Jimmie Johnson and wins the title.

5. SPONSORS — Three more cars in the Chase field means three additional sponsors get some significant extra exposure they wouldn’t have gotten if they’d missed the Chase. That will make NASCAR more attractive to potential sponsors looking at coming into the sport, which in turn should help the teams.

Stay tuned — SPEED and SPEED.com will be in Daytona to bring detailed coverage of testing and the news coming out of the track Jan. 20-22, including 23 hours of live coverage from the world center of auto racing.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
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