Ho-hum Chase format could use a few small changes

With race times reachuing deeper and deeper into the evening, NASCAR fans have little time to analyze what happened on the track before Monday's work week intrudes. Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR

NEW YORK -- If you weren't all that excited by the finish of the Chase to NASCAR's Nextel Cup this year you're probably not alone.

No, it wasn't about the lack of drama between teammates, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon; it was all about the other 10 Chasers who could get no closer than Clint Bowyer, who finished 346 points behind Johnson.

By the time the finale rolled around at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the battle was an all Johnson/Gordon affair, unlike the first Chase, in which there were five drivers all with a shot at the title.

In an effort to avoid the hum-drum of this year's playoff, here are three ways to make the Chase more exciting.

1. Award separate points to the Chasers

In most other professional sports, when a team makes the playoffs it only competes against the other teams that have qualified. If NASCAR would establish a separate points competition for the Chasers, that would minimize the point differences and keep more drivers in the hunt as the playoff nears the end.

Under the current points scheme, one or two bad races can eliminate a driver prematurely.

In my playoff points system each race winner would get 100 points, second place would get 90, third place would get 85, and the remaining nine drivers would each get five points less than the Chase driver who finished ahead of them.

That would still provide winners extra points for taking the checkered flag while also scrapping the current points system, which serves largely to give non-Chase drivers something to shoot for despite their irrelevancy to the championship.

That would also eliminate situations in which a driver whose car is severely damaged is permitted to re-enter a race to earn a few places and just a few points. That not only takes attention away from the battle to win races and also may present a safety issue when the driver doesn't remain at racing speeds.

2. Shorten the Chase races and start them earlier

Races have been starting later and later to accommodate West Coast television audiences, but the television ratings are going down. Do fans need to have 500-mile races at the end of the year that run so long it's impossible to see the post-race interviews of all involved in championship?

With races ending after 6 p.m. ET viewers often are cheated out of hearing the unfiltered reactions to the day's action as the broadcast goes off the air in favor of local programming.

One potential cure for the drop in ratings would be to shorten most Cup events, with the exception of the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Speedway. If the race at Indianapolis can still retain its prestige and huge purse with a mere 400 miles, why must other events run so long? With the ever-shortening attention span of the American public and later and later start times, fans don't have much time to digest what happened on the track before the real world of work and responsibilities start up again Monday morning.

In other sports, playoff viewers may see post-game locker room interviews with important players and coaches. But with the timing of NASCAR races now, the race on the track may not be as dramatic as the race to the local airport to clear out of town. If the race was timed to end around 5:30 p.m. ET that would leave a good half-hour to talk to the Chasers and insist that all those still in the Chase remain for that half hour to complete interviews.

3. Remove bonus points for Chasers

While bonus points -- earned by drivers leading a lap during a race and a driver leading the most laps during an event -- add to the on-track action, they become frivolous when the Chase drivers points' race is exclusive to themselves.

This becomes especially apparent for those drivers who lead a lap under a caution flag because they merely chose not to pit. That wasn't the purpose of the bonus.

It would be like rewarding the Yankees an extra win in the 1956 World Series after Don Larsen threw the only perfect game ever in the title series.

There is no need to give drivers bonuses for leading a lap or leading the most laps because the playoff point system takes care of itself.

NASCAR officials probably aren't likely to follow my recommendations. But the declining television ratings will likely cause some tweaks, but likely not before the current Chase system gets another test drive in 2008.