France confirms Chase will change

France, speaking in preparation for this weekend's Pepsi 400 at Daytona, believes that experience gained in the popular ten-race, ten-driver, end of season play-off needs revisions to accommodate a number of opinions from drivers, track promoters and fans.

Although the format has been widely regarded as a success in the past two years, there are calls for a variety of tweaks, including increasing the margin of points for a Chase victory, adding more drivers to the Chase, and having a separate points-scoring system entirely for Chase runners.

With a new TV rights agreement coming into force next year, where US network ABC will cover all of the Chase races, France believes that 2007 will be the right time to make changes. However, he stopped short of saying the format will be radically changed.

"What I've always said about the Chase was that we needed a few years under our belt to see how it evolved, to change the strategy, see how the actual formula that we have works," France said.

"Now that we're in our third year, we will make some adjustments going into 2007.

"Everything we'll be looking at has been brought up by various people in the last couple years. We'll be looking at - is ten [drivers] the right number? - as an example.

"We'll be looking at the 400-point margin [to make the Chase if a driver is not in the top ten]. We'll be looking at, you know, the final ten races.

"But is ten the number? Is 12 the number? Would we like to see the 400-point issue come into play? I think it would be interesting.

"It would be nice to see, instead of, call it a wild card if you will, some wild card teams jump in. I think that would add to the drama and excitement.

"We'll be thinking about the points' structure; you know, should we add a little more to the win in the final ten?

"Just various things we think will build what we're hoping for, which are big moments and a bigger stage for the drivers. That's what the Chase has always been about. It's about showcasing their skills.

"But I want to say, changes are one thing; adjustments are another. Adjustments tend to be smaller, tend to be less dramatic, and that's kind of what we're looking at.

"We're looking at adjustments, not changes."