Why does NASCAR base the Chase for the Championship off of the Drivers Points instead of Owners Points?

Question

NASCAR wishes to compete with the 'stick and ball' sports billing itself as a team sport now, yet they continue to put focus on the drivers instead of the team as a whole.

Plus, if their driver is injured and cannot run the first lap then get out of the car for a replacement driver the entire team is penalized for losing the drivers points for the race.

Answer 1

umm - because the owner dont drive

except for 1 robby gordon

Answer 2

Actually its based off of both.  In NASCAR there is a Drivers and an Owners Championship and there is a Chase for both.  The Drivers Championship is of course based on, and awarded to, the driver.  The owners championship, however, is based on who owns the car, regardless of who drives it.  They both use the same point system, and the top 12 in both qualify for the Chase.  Its just that the focus is always on the Drivers Championship.  The trophy everyone sees is the Drivers trophy, and the winner of the Owners championship receives a different trophy (been a large crystal cup for the past few years).

At the Cup level today, the driver and owner both win the championship each year as a driver will always start all 36 races for his team, unless he is injured.  But in recent history in the Nationwide series, the drivers title and the owners title went to two different teams.  Kevin Harvick won the Drivers Championship in 2006 (then the Busch Series) driving for both RCR and the team he owned, KHI.  But Richard Childress won the Owners title with Harvick and Jeff Burton behind the wheel.

Answer 3

well, for one thing it would be very difficult to determine who to let drive a car that finished within the top-12 if say two or more drivers were involved in getting it there... and nascar does put the focus on the team as a whole. the analogy is strained at times, but i've heard many compare the driver to a quarterback, the crew chief to a coach, the owner to well, the owner, and the crews (garage, pit, shop) are the rest of the team and coaching staff. and, like in football, the two team members most often focused on are the quarterback and the head coach. the analogy breaks down there a bit, but that's enough for most people to understand. and just because nascar "wishes to compete with the 'stick and ball' sports," it doesn't mean they want to be one...

Answer 4

There are several championships going on at the same time.

Driver's Championship

Owner's Championship

Manufacturer's Championship

Rookie of the Year (not really a championship but an award for the best rookie of the year)

Driver's Championship - for driver's points, they(driver starting the race) get points for starting the race, no matter who finishes (relief driver)

Owner's Championship - the owner gets points based on where the car finishes regardless of driver.

Manufacturer Championship - Manufacturer's get points based on the highest finishing car from that manufacturer.

Rookie of the Year - Points are based off of their best 17 finishes. At the end of the year, there is a vote to determine who wins. It is not always the highest rookie in the rookie of the year points standings. Ryan Newman was voted the winner in 2002 over Jimmie Johnson even though Jimmie had more rookie points then him.

Jeff Gordon co-owns the #48, drives the #24

Michael Waltrip owns the #44, #55 and co-owns the #00, drives the #55

Robby Gordon owns the #7, drives the #7

Kyle Petty co-owns the #45, drives the #45

There is also a handful of Cup drivers that own or co-own teams in the Truck series and Nationwide series.  

Answer 5

because owner points are for the owners championship