Jimmie Johnson's run toward an almost certain third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title has prompted many ideas on how to change the Chase for the championship to make it more competitive.
Some would like to see the 12 drivers in the 10-race Chase have a completely separate points structure that would keep one or two bad finishes from knocking them out of title contention. Others insist that each of the eligible drivers be given a "mulligan," allowing them to throw out their worst Chase finish.
Still others believe moving the "wild card" Talladega race out of the Chase would make it more fair -- and possibly more competitive.
But should the domination of Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team be a catalyst for change in the 5-year-old playoff format?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been in the Chase three times and has yet to remain in contention to the end. With two races remaining, he is well out of the title picture in 11th.
Even so, Earnhardt said it's just too soon to contemplate changes.
"How do we understand what to change and how to make it better if we can't watch it and look at it for seven years or eight years and see how it's working and really get a good look at how it is working and not working?" Earnhardt said. "How can we really know what to change and make the right change?
"We shouldn't keep changing and changing until we stumble on the right spot and the right options and the right ways to have things."
Earnhardt said the current economic meltdown is another reason to take a wait-and-see approach.
"We've got to make sure we're doing all the right things to keep the sport healthy and get through the tough times that we're going to have in the next year," he said. "I think we leave the things as they are."
Jeff Burton, fourth in the Chase and virtually out of contention, noted that it's simply human nature for people to want to make changes when the current rules don't work for them.
"I just think we have to be careful," he said. "Every time we have a point championship that's not as compelling as one of the greatest, I think we have to caution against making changes.
"This (year's) World Series was just won in five games. ... Not every championship is going to be a five-point swing or a five-point difference, it's just not."
The postseason format was introduced in 2004 after Matt Kenseth turned the 2003 season into a ho-hum affair with a championship won by less-than-scintillating consistency -- 25 top-10s in 36 races.
Kenseth had just one win that year. But he was so far ahead by the end of the season that he won the title by 90 points over Johnson despite finishing last in the season-finale at Homestead.
Brian France, who became chairman and CEO of NASCAR in September 2003, decided something needed to be done to compete with the NFL, college football and the baseball playoffs at the end of the Cup season.
The Chase -- dividing the schedule into a regular season and a postseason -- was his answer.
"Ultimately, the Chase for the Sprint Cup has been successful," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "We had three different winners in five years and it's fair to say the best team has won each year.
"The Chase puts more emphasis on winning, and just being consistent is no longer a winning formula. If Jimmie Johnson does win a third consecutive championship, then he should be celebrated for making history and beating the best stock car drivers in the world."
Current runner-up Carl Edwards has made things a little more interesting by winning two straight races to cut Johnson's lead to 106 points heading into Sunday's race at Phoenix. He doesn't see a need for change, either.
"I've seen Super Bowls that were blowouts by 40 points and I've seen Super Bowls like last year that went down right to the end and was a real close game," Edwards said. "That's just part of professional sports. Sometimes there are going to be teams or a guy that gets on a roll and is going to pull away. It gets that way in anything."
Edwards said whatever the format, he wants to see the best driver and team win.
"I think that over the last five or six years, the 48 has been the best team, and I think no matter what system you throw at them lately, they're going to figure out how to win it," he said. "I think everybody wishes there could be a three-wide finish, almost a tie for the win, every week. But it's just not realistic."
Johnson said he and his team have worked hard to be out front and they are proud of what they have already accomplished.
"If I were sitting ... where Carl is, and I don't think Carl is saying these things, but I would be looking at myself and what went on with the team," Johnson said. "I wouldn't be thinking now we need a mulligan in this series, or we need this or that to try and make it even. We all show up for the 10 races, and the points were there, and you go earn it. That's what you do."
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