With the NASCAR season concluding this past Sundayat Homestead-Miami Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage reflects on the elimination-style Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format that was adopted this year as well as the newly crowned Sprint Cup Series champion, Kevin Harvick.
Q: From a promoter perspective, how would you grade the new Chase format and did it achieve the initial goals that NASCAR had targeted?
Gossage: “I give it an A plus. The Chase format caused all of the races during the regular season to be a big deal. You had to win to get in a position to get in the Chase, and once you got into the Chase, it made everyone step their game up. That is what playoffs are supposed to do. It gets the competition level to rise; it got the intensity to rise. I know Joe Gibbs, who has won Super Bowls, said he had never been in a playoff that had been that nerve-wracking. I think it did everything that NASCAR wanted it to do and I wouldn’t make any changes if I were them.
The stated purpose of the Chase was to develop some “Game 7” moments throughout the season. When you look back at the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, we saw a memorable pass by Brad Keselowski under Jeff Gordon. And who is going to forget Brad, Jeff, their crews, and even Kevin Harvick for an instant getting in that melee on pit road. That shows the emotion and how much these drivers and teams were vested in winning the NASCAR championship.
The race in Texas had an eight percent increase from the year before in viewers according to the Nielsen ratings. The one in Phoenix, which I’m sure was aided by the little situation here in Texas, had a 22 percent increase over last year. Those are not the hard-core race fans. That shows an increase from the water cooler talk as they wanted to tune in to see what might happen after what occurred here in Texas the week before. It has clearly brought the sport into play for the casual fan and that is a good thing. The races and storylines were great. The extracurricular activities were spectacular and the competition was hard to beat all the way to last race of the year. I think the Chase had everything NASCAR was hoping for in terms of reaching the casual fan.”
Q: Are there any tweaks or changes to the current format that you would be interesting in seeing in 2015?
Gossage: “I would not make any changes. I look at the 10 races in the Chase and there were some real moments that were memorable – Brad Keselowski winning at Talladega to advance; the situation at Charlotte, where out of the blue, Brad Keselowski is walking to his truck and Matt Kenseth jumps on him from behind after what happened with them on the race track and the situation that occurred here between Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon. Those things are incredibly memorable. It shows you the intensity level ramped up for these Chase races. That’s what NASCAR talked about doing – having those moments that would generate some heat and that happened. These teams were doing everything they could to win a championship.”
Q: You have known the new Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick for a number of years, both as a competitor and a personal friend. What type of champion will he be for the sport?
Gossage: “I’m really proud of Kevin. He’s such a racer. His wife DeLana grew up in a racing family with her dad being a Busch Series regular when the series started and has been in the sport ever since. I am so happy that he is our champion because this is a guy whose life is singularly focused on doing well on a race track. He does such a great job in the car, outside of the car. A smart, smart businessman, good family man – you saw his son Keelan with him on the championship stage in Homestead. He is a great guy to represent us going forward. I couldn’t be more proud, more pleased, that we have someone like him. Typically, you look at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and it is somebody that is very deserving, very honorable and somebody you’re glad to represent us. That’s certainly the case this year with Kevin. I am really thrilled for him and can’t wait to shake his hand and congratulate the new champ.”
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