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Call it Matt Kenseth's fault. When he won his 2003 NASCAR Championship, he did so not by winning a lot of races, but because he stayed consistent. A string of top five and top ten finishes put him in Victory Lane at the end of the season, giving team owner Jack Roush his first NASCAR Cup Championship. NASCAR took one look at that season and decided that something had to be done. What they did was create the Chase for the Cup.

NASCAR's decision to create the Chase for the Cup was to give fans something more exciting. Kenseth had his championship locked fairly early towards the end of the season and they wanted to do something new and different. They called the Chase for the Cup their version of the playoffs and completely changed the way drivers raced and the way they acted in the season.

The Chase for the Cup starts out the same way previous seasons did, with each driver accumulating points based on their finishes throughout the season. The top twelve drivers at the end of the first 25 races get a spot in the Chase for the Cup. Those drivers have their points reset at this point, based on where they finish in the top twelve. The Chase itself only takes place over the last ten races of the year and the driver with the most points at the end of the season is awarded the Championship.

NASCAR has changed and developed the Chase since it first started in 2004. That year only ten drivers were part of the Chase, but now the top twelve drivers are part of it. They also now award extra points for drivers who won during the regular season. For example a driver who has three wins and is fourth in points may actually start the Chase in the lead based on his bonus points.

NASCAR originally started the Chase for the Cup to give fans more excitement and a more exciting end to the season, but for the most part it hasn't actually happened that way. Kurt Busch won the first Chase in 2004 and put on an exciting finish. Going into the race any of three drivers could win and yet he managed to win despite losing a tire on pit road.

The other seasons haven't been as exciting. Under the old system Jeff Gordon would have two more Championships, but hasn't finished higher than second. Jimmie Johnson has won the last three years and hasn't had much of a battle with anyone. Some fans revolted because one year his team was caught cheating early in the season, yet still won the title. Kyle Busch won an impressive number of races in 2008, but trouble during the Chase landed him at the bottom of the points at the end of the year. The Chase for the Cup obviously has its problems, but NASCAR plans to continue using it in the future.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Eblin.
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