NASCAR Cup Series

Hammond: Not altering Chase format was the right move

Published Jan. 27, 2015 2:22 p.m. ET

Jeff Hammond

In his 'State of the Sport' address during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour on Monday, NASCAR Chairman Brian France announced there would be no changes to the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup format.

He said while he and his management team did consider some small tweaks, they came to the conclusion just to leave it the way it is. He thinks the fans will become even more accustomed to it, as will the drivers, now having a year under their belt with this format.

I think it's a great thing that NASCAR is going to keep the Chase format the same for this season. I think the fans will appreciate the consistency of having our playoff system and champion decided the same way as last year. The fans have been very critical in the past of the Chase being "gimmicked" up in the past. So simply keeping things the same will allow everyone, I believe, warm up to it more.

Across the board last year, the old-school core fans, the casual race fans, and the fans tuning in for the very first time all seemed captivated by what they saw play out in the Chase. NASCAR had the best of the best out there racing for the championship and it energized the fan base.

It didn't matter if you were Mr. Consistency like Ryan Newman, who didn't win a single race but delivered a career-best second place finish in the points, or our eventual champion, Kevin Harvick, who with his back literally to the wall won the final two races of the year to clinch his first NASCAR Sprint Cup title. We saw it all, from favorites who would eventually fall to the wayside to dark horses that rose to the top.

Now with no changes coming, these teams all have a template they can use for the 2015 Chase. They can go back and see crucial moments where certain events occurred to move some teams onto the next round or where mistakes were made to eliminate others.

I applaud Brian France and his management team for making the decision to stick to something that clearly worked in 2014 and not tinker with it in 2015. I think this consistency will only make the Chase stronger this season.

VIDEO: Brian France sits down for an exclusive interview with FOX Sports 1