Veteran Insider Lifts Curtain on the Shocking Origins of NASCAR’s Chase Format System

It all began in 2003 when R. J. Reynolds stepped away from sponsoring the NASCAR top series, paving the way for Nextel to take over in the 2024 season. Rumors swirled that the new sponsor wanted a playoff-style format, and Matt Kenseth’s championship that year, won with just a single race victory, only strengthened calls for change. NASCAR responded by introducing the Chase for the Nextel Cup, a 10-race playoff system to determine the championship. Fast forward to today, and that playoff system has become extinct. Now, one NASCAR insider has revealed the goal behind the change to the 2004 format.

The entire concept of the Chase format was to enhance fan engagement and intensify the championship battle during the final races of the season. Prior to this, the NASCAR point system was criticized for allowing drivers to coast through the latter part of the season without contention. However, the Chase format aimed to address this by creating a playoff-style system, similar to other major American sports, ensuring that the championship fight remains competitive and compelling. At the time, NASCAR president Brian France raised the green flag on this idea.

Speaking on Dale Jr. Download, Robin Pemberton recalled the massive change of the playoffs: “I think he brought it to people’s attention and it was like, hey, baseball’s got a seventh inning stretch, you know, basketball’s got timeouts, they got halftime, football’s this, and soccer’s got three periods, and you know, sometimes and, and literally the conversation was sometimes fans need a chance to go get up and go get a something out of the fridge to drink and, and you know, stretch their legs whether they’re home on the couch or in sitting in the grandstands. Right. So, it was that type of approach.” 

Initially, the Chase involved the top 10 drivers in the points standings after the first 26 races, plus any others within 400 points of the leader. These drivers’ points were reset, with the leader starting at 5050 points and others following in five-point increments. This format emphasizes consistency over wins. However, three years later, the format was revised to include 12 drivers, with each driver’s points reset to 5000+ and a 10-point bonus for each race won during the regular season. And that is what kept the competition tight.

The 69-year-old added, “I’m telling you, I have a notebook at home that’s probably this thick. With all the different proposals and ideas and what to do and points and, and then all the history like here’s what would happen. You take years before and you run this point system on, on those years, right? This is and then and you look at the times that you know somebody won a championship at Rockingham before the end of the race two races at the end and what did that do for TV ratings or this that and the other, you know, I, you know those kind of conversations, right, we’re back in those conversations today.” 

Then came the most significant overhaul in 2014 when NASCAR introduced a 16-driver playoff field with a knockout-style elimination format. This structure, which continues today, involves the four rounds. Drivers advance through each round by winning races or accumulating the most points, culminating in a winner-take-all finale that is currently under fire. And NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jr. has been very vocal about wanting a change, possibly reverting to the old format.

However, most argue that the current format, which emphasizes a win-and-you-are-in approach, undermines the value of consistent performance throughout the year. This sentiment was amplified following Joey Logano’s 2024 championship victory, where he secured the title despite an average finish of 17.1, the worst ever for a champion. However, Logano’s teammate Ryan Blaney backs him up as the Round of 12 is under way, shining a light on his championship hunt. But amid all these backstories, Robin Pemberton revealed the behind-the-scenes of yet another experiment.

Robin Pemberton exposes the CoT’s failed wing design

Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s tragic crash in 2001 ignited a safety revolution in NASCAR, pushing the sport to rethink every aspect of car design. In the quest to build the safest race car, however, NASCAR faced some missteps along the way. Most controversial of these was arguably the Car of Tomorrow, which former executive Robin Pemberton recently revisited, reflecting on both its innovations and its headaches.

Robin Pemberton spent 37 years in the NASCAR industry, including a stint as a crew chief for legends like Richard Petty and Mark Martin, transitioning into an executive role in 2004. As senior vice president of competition for 11 years, Pemberton founded and served with the center of debates when the CoT debuted in 2007. From a peculiar front self-design with the foam added to the right side of the crash absorption, the car drew scrutiny. Yet the biggest flash point was the rear wing, a feature that divided drivers and fans alike.

Pemberton admitted on a recent Dale Junior download episode, saying, “When I was there, we were now down into the aero part of it, which is the wing. You know the roof.” Drivers were vocal. Tony Stewart called it a flying brick, and even Kyle Busch, who won the first CoT race at Bristol, said the cars suck. NASCAR ultimately replaced the wing with a traditional spoiler in 2012.

Pemberton went deep into the mechanics and controversies of the CoT, explaining, “The wing was good for a number of reasons, and it was bad for a number of reasons. It was good for traffic, less weight. And they got blamed for cars getting upside down. One of the reasons is with the wing, it’s not a lot of drag…stock cars don’t have wings. They don’t have wings. Yeah, that was part of it, I hate that because we put a lot of development in.”

Despite the effort invested, tough decisions had to be made. He recalled former NASCAR president Mike Hilton insisting the wing had to go, despite a year of development. Pemberton admitted the decision “took my breath,” but recognized it as necessary. While he limited the lost wing, the resolution underscored the balance between innovation and practicality, a lesson Junior reflects on even today and considering the challenges of NASCAR’s Next-Gen cars.