Now that you've gotten to see the Chase play out for 5 and a half seasons, what is your opinion?

May be...

Honestly I didn't start following NASCAR until after the Chase was implemented, so I don't have a reference. That being said, I don't mind it much. I mean, Tony could get such a lead that he would have no motivation to risk anything at the end of the season. I'm not saying the points allocation is perfect, but it seems to add some excitement in leveling part of the field. Like other sports, you can be awesome during the regular season, but you have to be consistent and back up that performance in the playoffs.

I like the Chase. I don't think what we've seen in these first 26 races were just practice races and I don't think these drivers just want to points race. How do you explain yesterday's race? We saw Johnson, Martin, and Vickers all gamble on fuel mileage to try to get the best finish possible. Johnson was pretty much a lock for the Chase and tried to go for it and didn't make it. Martin tried to do it and ran out of gas and now he's on the edge of the top 12 and people are going to be watching these next three races to see if he gets in the Chase and has a shot at the championship. If Vickers ran out of gas, he probably has no shot at the Chase but he rolled the dice and won the race. These drivers still want the win. We've had so many great races in these first 26 races. The Chase has done a great job of creating more excitement.

it sucks

I think that it stinks. I do not like extended playoffs in any sport. My favorite team, the baseball Cardinals, won it all in 2005. And they were a mediocre team all season. Just got hot late. Anybody can get on a run.

The Chase is great...and Jimmy Johnson OWNS it. ;D

The chase is stupid. It should go back to the traditional points system where every race matters from the start of the season!

Mark Martin is 12th in points, but he may end up becoming 1st in points in a couple races. That's so not fair, and I really hope he misses the chase. This fact here helps show how stupid the chase is.

The chase system is not fair for the drivers, while it may be entertaining for the fans.

Also, I believe getting in the chase is really not that big of a deal. Many may disagree with this but I really believe it's nothing great. If you miss the chase, you pretty much suck. It does not take much to make the chase, an average finish of 20th all year would be pretty much enough to make the chase, and that's just not right.

I think that my thoughts from the beginning have been confirmed: it's not a good idea. I'm a believer that all the races should be worth the same, and now they're not. Last year Jimmie Johnson still almost had the thing wrapped up with a race to go so it's not guaranteeing anything. It just means you can have just a good year for 26 races and suddenly hit a streak and win the championship. NASCAR can compare themselves to football all they want but football is a completely different type of sport.

I still hate the chase. It's fake and rigged. Without a fake points system the IRL championship has come down to the last lap of the last race for the last 2 years. Last year's F1 championship was decide in the final turn of the final race. Giving 12 people a fake chance to win a championship is wrong. It almost always comes down to the 2 guys that deserve it the most. Lets get rid of the chase and have some double points events. It always spices up things at the Saturday night short tracks. Besides, who gives a crap who is 12th in points? That means nothing. At least 10th place used to mean you're going to New York. Not sure what it will mean this year.
Theoretically, I could drive 30 flawless races and finish in the top 10 in all of them, but if I blow an engine in the last 5 races, odds are I've just lost the Cup.
Dale Earnhardt was the first driver to make running for a championship THE priority. He perfected points racing.

It doesn't make those 10 races any better than the other 26! All the races are still ran the same way; qualifying is the same and 43 drivers race in all of them. Why don't they have 2 separate races during the chase run; the regular race and a shorter race just involving the 12 contenders? After the main race, the top 12 could unload another car if needed and have a short shootout race and then only those races involving the top 12 would be used to determine the championship? That would make more sense to me.

I am not a big fan of the chase. You do see drivers points racing at times and hate to see that. Want to see them racing hard to win, after all it is called racing and the first one to finish line should race hard to get there.
Most likely Tony would win the championship if they had no chase and that would be very deserving for all his efforts setting up a new team.
The biggest issue I have with the chase, if your favorite driver doesn't make the chase I loose a lot of interest in watching the last 10 races.

The Chase races are great, but I HATE how they race just for points now instead of the wins. That is NOT how racing should be!

Just 26 practice races, then 10 races where the guy who has had the points lead gets screwed.. Its dumb all 36 races should important, not just the last 10 races of the season and 12 drivers make the chase, its just dumb. But its all about money, sponsors, TV, and something for the media idiots to hype. This system as screwed Jeff Gordon twice. I've never liked and I never will. Most of the guys in the top 12 are just points racing, not really racing they are not doing anything that will knock them out. Its really taken all the racing out of racing. It just stinks.

Go Dale Jr

i hate the chase racin with the old format was so much better

It made the season 26 practice races.
10 do or die.

Why go for the win? Wins don't matter in NASCAR anymore.
Just "points race"

Ewww..."points racers"

Never have liked it and never will.

I hate it

My thought from the beginning was it was going to make 10 races better and 26 races worse. What say you?

It has definitely spiced things up. Unfortunately, its all too complicated and long. 5 races, one on a Superspeedway, one Short track, one cookie cutter, one road course, and a 1 miler would make the chase exciting and truly prove the best driver out of the top 10 (12 is too many).hd player problems