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What if a road corse ringer who doesnt run the full season gets a win at Sonoma or The Glen? They'll be in the Chase as well?

Nah, NASCAR stated that they have to attempt all the regular season races to be considered for the Chase.

But if they miss a race through illness/injury, or fail to qualify for a race?

I kind of hope that Johnson has a crappy season, but pulls it together just in time to take the title again, where we later find out he would have finished 12th under the old system. Oh, and that Junior would have won under the old system.

If they miss a race through illness/injury NASCAR can still put them in the chase provided they are in the top 30 in points. Any driver that attempts to qualify for all events and ends the regular season in the top 30 is also eligible.

This is my dream scenario. The driver who wins the championship doesn't win a race all year (or at least not during the chase).

Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Format Change FAQ: NASCAR Q&A about the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup:
Q. Does this new Chase format emphasize winning?
A. Absolutely. The easiest way to make the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is to win. And winning is also the fastest way to advance in the Chase and become one of the four drivers competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Q. How will the Chase Grid drivers be selected?
A. Positions 1-16 on the Chase Grid will be determined by the drivers with the greatest number of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins after the first 26 races. However, the 16th position is reserved for the points leader if he/she does not have a win.
Q. How will the Chase Grid be seeded?
A. All drivers will have their points total reset to 2,000 points. Drivers receive 3 additional bonus points for each win during the fir st 26 races.
Q. Is there a minimum points standing that a driver who records a win during the first 26 races must achieve to make the Chase Grid?
A. Yes. A driver must be in the Top 30 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points following the first 26 races AND have attempted to qualify for all of the first 26 races.
Q. What if a driver is prevented from competing in one or more of the first 26 races due to injury or illness?
A. NASCAR, for rare instances, can waive the requirement of attempting to qualify for all of the first 26 races as long as the driver is in the Top 30 in points.
Q. Which races are the advancement races?
A. Once the field is reset after the 26th event, there are advancement races following the 29th event (Dover); 32nd event (Talladega); and 35th event (Phoenix). There will be four drivers competing for the Sprint Cup Championship at Homestead.
Q. Will lap leader bonus points still be applied?
A. In all but the final race, bonus points for laps led still will be awarded in the Challenger, Contender and Eliminator Rounds. However, at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, the four drivers will start the race tied and there will be no bonus points .for laps led, etc. The highest finisher among that group will be the champion.
Q. What happens to a Chase Grid drivers points if he/she doesnt advance to the next round?
A. Drivers who dont advance to the next round will have their point totals reset to the Chase-start base of 2,000 (with any regular-season wins bonus points), plus the additional points theyve earned during the Chase.

I know a lot of people don't like the change but I will never understand the extreme hope for failure.

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Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

I really don't think it would be a bad thing if a midfielder ended up winning the title through a little bit more luck than usual.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

All that matters to Brian France is catering to casual fans. He won't wise up until they get up in arms about his hair-brained decisions.

They won't and when they switch off he'll find another idiotic idea to implement.

Well, it's not really about change or success/failure.

Again...whether or not the system is a success is completely beside the point. It's definition of success is basically guaranteed, because it completely creates an absurdly close system for the last ten races. The point to be made is that the very concept of the new system itself is inane and arbitrary. It doesn't even need to be tested for "success/failure" because it's already dogshit on paper. It's very existence is a form a failure.

I don't even understand the casual fan reference arguments. Think about it.

Causal fans aren't going to follow all this bullshit. So, what's easier for them to understand?

1) All this new bullshit that is just convoluted and complicated.

OR

2) Guy with the most points at the end of the 36 race schedule is the Champion.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NHRA are the only 2 motorsports series that use a chase/countdown/reset system. If you guys hate it so much there are plenty of other series to be fans of, even within NASCAR!

IndyCar...

A Cup championship really just seems a bit more prestigious than a NHRA title. I honestly can't tell who gets excited about the countdown. Individual wins is what I at least focus on over there. NASCAR needs to figure out they're cheapening the championship and eventually no one will care when an Austin Dillon backs his way into a championship with zero wins.

An 8-8 team should never be the champion of anything, especially with a 1 win, 28th place regular season. This isn't stick and ball sports and this isn't college football where 9th in your conference gets you into the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

1. Old habits do tend to die hard.

2. It's easy to watch and enjoy plenty of series at the same time. So it's always going to hurt and cause frustration when any one of them does something stupid and pointless (especially to this unprecedented degree).

3. The "watch something else" argument should apply to the people who didn't like NASCAR in the first place, before the Chase came along. Now it's NASCAR's incomprehensible desire to appeal to people who don't watch NASCAR that is alienating the people who do watch NASCAR. It's stupid, inverted, short-sighted logic that generates quick little flashes of fabricated excitement that will fizzle and fade as rapidly as they came along.

Yeah I totally get it.. I hate the way the NASCAR is going not only in Cup, but the terrible Nationwide Series and pitiful trucks... I hate the IndyCar is afraid to race more high speed ovals (or ovals in general).. I hate the Indy 500 is a watered down 2 week spectacle.. I hate the NHRA only races 1,000ft instead of the full quarter mile. It's just that nothing we do can ever change it, even not tuning in. The less of us that tune in will cause even more radical changes to bring viewers back. The more of us that tune it will only justify to them in their minds that the change they made was for the better and they'll make even more radical changes. It's lose - lose. All you can do anymore is hope for the best possible outcome and be thankful there is still a racing series left at all with the way they outprice themselves.

At least we still have Lucas Oil on the Edg...

I think NASCAR proved with Gordon this year they can do whatever the fuck they want with the chase to make it suit their own needs

Wouldn't worry about it too much until it happens, and if/when it does they'll bend, break or create their own rules to deal with the situation in a way they see fit to benefit themselves.

Dale Jr better fucking win a race this year otherwise this will probably happen.

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RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley