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The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup, The Chase, is the playoff system used in NASCAR's top division, the NEXTEL Cup Series. The current version of the Chase was announced by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France on January 22, 2007. After 26 races, the top 12 drivers advance to contend for the points championship and points are reset to 5000. Each driver within the top 12 gets an additional 10 points for each win during the "regular season," or first 26 races, thus creating a seeding based on wins. The Chase consists of 10 races and the driver with the most points at the conclusion of the 10 races is the NEXTEL Cup Series Champion. Drivers who win a race, regular season or during the Chase, receives 185 points for a win, 5 bonus points for leading the most laps, and 5 bonus points for leading a single lap. Brian France explained why NASCAR made the changes to the chase:

"The adjustments taken [Monday] put a greater emphasis on winning races. Winning is what this sport is all about. Nobody likes to see drivers content to finish in the top 10. We want our sport -- especially during the Chase -- to be more about winning."

Contents 1 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Tracks 2 Past Versions of the Chase 3 Nextel Cup Champions under 2004 Chase Rules 4 2004-2006 Chase Results Under 2007 System 5 References

List of current Chase for the Nextel Cup tracks (In order in which they appear)
New Hampshire International Speedway Loudon, NH	Dover International Speedway Dover, DE	Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS	Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, AL	Lowe's Motor Speedway Concord, NC
Martinsville Speedway Martinsville, VA	Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, GA	Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TX	Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, AZ	Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, FL

The Chase for the Nextel Cup was created in 2004 by NASCAR when Nextel started to sponsor the series. In original version of the Chase, following the 26th race of the season, all drivers in the top 10 and any others within 400 points of the leader got a spot in the 10-race playoff. Like the current system, drivers in the Chase had their point totals adjusted. However, it was based on the number of points at the conclusion of the 26th race. The first-place driver in the standings led with 5,050 points; the second-place driver started with 5,045. Incremental five-point drops continued through 10th place with 5,005 points). In addition, drivers received 180 points for winning a race, 5 bonus points for leading the most laps, and 5 bonus for leading a single lap.

Old Points System:

Place	Points
1st	5050
2nd	5045
3rd	5040
4th	5035
5th	5030
6th	5025
7th	5020
8th	5015
9th	5010
10th	5005

• 2004 - Kurt Busch*
• 2005 - Tony Stewart
• 2006 - Jimmie Johnson

• • NOTE: Texas Motor Speedway was added in 2005 as a result of the Ferko lawsuit; Instead, the last three races were Phoenix, Darlington (SC) Raceway's Mountain Dew Southern 500 (eliminated by the lawsuit), and Homestead.

Actual Winner in Bold

2004:

Position	Driver	Revised	Actual
1st	Jimmie Johnson	6,513	6,498
2nd	Kurt Busch	6,511	6,506
3rd	Jeff Gordon	6,490	6,490

2005:

Position	Driver	Revised	Actual
1st	Tony Stewart	6,533	6,533
2nd	Carl Edwards	6,513	6,498
3rd	Greg Biffle	6,508	6,498

2006:

Position	Driver	Revised	Actual
1st	Jimmie Johnson	6,475	6,475
2nd	Tony Stewart	6,459	4,727
3rd	Matt Kenseth	6,409	6,419

• NEXTEL Cup Series Official Site
• Point system explained - NASCAR.com
• It's a little complicated, but it just might work - NASCAR.com
• Changes announced to points system and Chase - NASCAR.com
• New points would have affected some title races - NASCAR.com