NASCAR drivers in favor of return to Chase format, saying it will yield a more legitimate champion

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin has never won a Cup Series championship.

This may be the 45-year-old's best chance based on his overall body of work this season.

Hamlin enters NASCAR's modified 10-race playoff format known as “The Chase” with a 25-point cushion over second-place Ryan Blaney and an even bigger advantage over the rest of the 16-driver field after finishing the regular season with the most driver points.

The new format — which was last used in 2013 — is designed to reward performance throughout the entire season and provide a larger sample size to determine a champion. Fans have been clamoring for its return because of its simplicity.

And the drivers love it.

Hamlin, speaking at Wednesday's playoff media day in Charlotte, called it a “giant leap forward in crowning a champion."

“I think all of the drivers would tell you it’s a more fair way to do it,” Hamlin added.

Chase Briscoe agreed.

He said the format feels like it will produce a more “legitimate” champion.

“I'm not saying the past champions weren't legit, but before, you could win the first 35 races and go to Phoenix (for the season championship) and blow up and finish fourth in points,” Briscoe said. “It’s not going to be like that anymore. I think this says so much more about your body of work.”

Unlike previous years, there will be no elimination rounds. That means no points “reset” midway through the playoffs.

The champion will be determined by which driver amasses the most points over the final 10 races.

Hamlin begins with 2,100 points, 25 more than Blaney and 35 better than third-place Tyler Reddick based on the new format.

Fourth place starts 40 points behind Hamlin, fifth is 45 points back and so on in descending 5-point increments down to 16th-place Ryan Preece, who starts 100 points behind.

Kyle Larson, who starts in seventh place, won last year's Cup championship . But even he is good with the change.

“For the sport, I'm happy with the change for sure, and I think this format has proven to be very exciting," Larson said referring to Preece's dramatic win last weekend at Daytona, which allowed him to qualify for The Chase.

Larson is more concerned with catching up to the speed of the Toyota cars, which have been running faster all season than the Fords and Chevrolets. Of the top six cars entering the playoffs, five are Toyotas.

One notable change to this year's format is that wins are weighted heavier.

Drivers get 55 points for a race win, a substantial increase from the previous structure of 40 points.

The remaining positions pay the same points as the regular season (35 for second, 34 for third, 33 for fourth, etc.) and stage points also are the same (10 points for first, nine points for second, eight points for third, etc.).

While wins are rewarded, consistency is the key to winning a championship, Christopher Bell believes.

“The previous format and system, it was just three races at a time,” Bell said. "And if you had a bad race, it’s like just survive. Just gotta get above the cut line. Once you get above the cut line, you're like, ‘OK, we’re in great shape now.' Whereas now, there are no freebies. You can’t have a bad race and get a reset in three weeks. So, you’re going to have to perform every week.”

The Chase begins Saturday at Darlington.

Hamlin and Joey Logano are the only drivers still on the Cup Series circuit who were around the last time NASCAR used this playoff format 13 years ago.

Logano said there isn't much he can take overall from the experience. But he said it harkens back to something seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson once told him.

“Jimmie would say, 'It's 10 weeks of hell,'” said Logano, who is going for his fourth Cup title after a late-season push to make the playoffs. "And it's pretty true. It's a grueling 10 weeks. But hey, there is a pretty cool trophy at the end of it.

“The feeling of winning the whole thing is worth the grind,” he added with a smile.

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