New Chase format brings out drivers’ emotions

New Chase format brings out drivers’ emotions

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

Hey, let’s not get emotional… OK, let’s do.

 

The new format for this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, with four drivers certain to be eliminated every four races, has lit a powder keg in NASCAR’s foremost series.

 

Have you ever seen Matt Kenseth angry enough to jump another driver in the garage? Not that I can recall. But that happened on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway when Kenseth horse-collared Brad Keselowski.

 

Have you ever seen Keselowski do anything that would cause half his competitors in the Chase to go off the deep end?

 

Come to think of it, we have seen that, so scratch that example.

 

The fact remains, though, that emotions were brought to a quick boil as drivers realized the implications of what was happening on the track at Charlotte.

 

Jimmie Johnson snapped at crew chief Chad Knaus, instead of the other way around. Keselowski tried to punt Denny Hamlin on the cool-down lap, bashed Kenseth’s car on pit road and ran afoul of Tony Stewart, who was minding his own business on pit road—until his car became collateral damage.

 

Danica Patrick spun and sustained damage to her Chevrolet after contact from Joey Logano, and within two laps Patrick was weighing possible avenues of revenge. Realizing that wrecking Logano at Charlotte or Talladega won’t screw up Logano’s championship chances, Patrick may come to Martinsville, the first venue of the Eliminator Round, locked and loaded.

 

The bottom line is this: the Chase format may be new, but the action is becoming deliciously old-school.