If there wasn’t “The Chase”
Jimmie Johnson seems determined to spoil NASCAR's fun, winning three of the first six Chase races and building a 118-point lead entering Sunday's AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. That's still less than the 179-point lead that Tony Stewart held when the 12 Chasers' points were reset for the 10-race playoff.
But this season, the old championship system — adding up the points for every race and seeing who has the most at the end of the year — would be providing a tighter title race than the Chase.
Under the old system, Stewart would still hold the lead, but by only 85 points on the fast-charging Johnson.
Jeff Gordon would be third under either system. But in the Chase, he's 150 points behind Johnson; the old way he'd be 122 points behind Stewart.
Gordon won four championships under the old system — including two by 349 and 354 points — but has yet to triumph in the Chase format. His protégé, Johnson, has three Chase crowns. With 10 races instead of 36 deciding the champion, Gordon said a lot can depend on the tracks in the Chase.
"If I could take 10 races from the schedule and put my best 10 races together, I would throw out a couple of the ones that are in the Chase," he said. "I feel like you ask Jimmie Johnson that question, he will say that those are pretty much, other than maybe Talladega, those are 10 of his — or nine of his — best tracks. I think that certainly plays a role."
While Johnson has been the best driver in the Chase, he hasn't been the top driver in the past 10 races. Kurt Busch has been, with eight top-10 finishes and 1,401 points, even though he's only sixth in the Chase. The Press Register