NASCAR’s version of the playoffs starts on September 20 at Chicagoland Speedway. The Chase is an elimination format tournament that starts with 16 drivers and whittles it down to a single champion after the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22. If you are new to the Sprint Cup Chase, this is a primer on what is involved.
Making the Chase
In order to compete in the Chase, you must first qualify. The top 15 drivers with at least one win qualify as long as they attempt to qualify for each race and they finish in the top 30 in the points standings. NASCAR can grant a medical exemption that can waive the requirement that a driver attempts to qualify for every race, but the driver still must crack the top 30 at the end of the season regardless of how many wins they accrue.
Seeding
All 16 of the drivers in the Chase start with 2,000 points plus three points for each win. The drivers are then ranked on the new points.
Challenger Round
The 16 Chase drivers will compete in three races to eliminate four drivers. A win at any of the three races guarantees advancement into the next round. The rest of the 12 drivers will be decided by points.
All points are based on only the three races of the round. Drivers will get points based on how they finish each race, and they will get bonus points for laps led. The tiebreaker will be based on how many second place finishes, third place finishes, etc. If two or more drivers have the same finishes, the driver who had the best finish first will win the tiebreaker.
Contender Round
The 12 drivers will now compete in the next three races. Their points are reset to 3000 points at the start of the Contender Round. Once again, a win at any of the three races is an automatic qualification to the next round. The rest of the eight spots will be earned based on points accumulated during the Contender Round.
Eliminator Round
The eight drivers left will compete in the next three races. Their points will be reset to 4000 at the start of the Eliminator Round. A win at any of the three races automatically qualify for the Championship Race. The rest of the four spots will be earned based on points accumulated during the Eliminator Round.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship
The final race is decided by order of finish. The finalist with the best finish wins the Championship.
Who is in the Chase?
We will be taking a closer look at the Chase qualifiers this week. Each day we will profile four drivers. On Friday, we will preview the first race of the Chase.