The 2014 Chase under the 2011-13 format

The final Chase for the Sprint Cup lineup this year would have looked different under the previous format, which NASCAR used in 2011, '12 and '13, and did not use the "win and you're in" method, but simply took the top ten in points after 26 races plus the two winningest drivers between 11th and 20th and reset their points to 2,000, plus three bonus points for each win for the top ten drivers. The new Chase format still uses the 2,000 plus three point system, but it now features 16 drivers with four eliminated every three races. Here is what the Chase standings would look like right now if NASCAR had kept the format they implemented in 2011:

1. #2-Brad Keselowski - 4 wins, 2,012 points
2. #24-Jeff Gordon - 3 wins, 2,009 points
3. #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 3 wins, 2,009 points
4. #22-Joey Logano - 3 wins, 2,009 points
5. #48-Jimmie Johnson - 3 wins, 2,009 points
6. #4-Kevin Harvick - 2 wins, 2,006 points
7. #99-Carl Edwards - 2 wins, 2,006 points
8. #20-Matt Kenseth - 2,000 points
9. #31-Ryan Newman - 2,000 points
10. #16-Greg Biffle - 2,000 points
11. 5-Kasey Kahne - 1 win, 2,000 points
12. 18-Kyle Busch - 1 win, 2000 points

Most of the differences would be in the second half of the Chase field above. A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin, who have each won once this year, would not have made the Chase under this format due to being lower than 17th-place Kyle Busch in the non-Chase point standings.

Chase grid all set; Keselowski gets first seed

Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski won Saturday evening's Sprint Cup race at Richmond, the last before the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was Keselowski's fourth win of the season, allowing him to break a five-way tie for most wins that he shared with Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and teammate Joey Logano and claim the first seed in the 16-driver Chase grid. It was also Team Penske's 400th win in all racing series. Keselowski led all but 17 laps on his way to the win, and had some good pit stops during the race.

There were two Chase spots left coming into the race. Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing, still looking for his first win of the season, was the first to get into the Chase on points; he and race winner Kasey Kahne clinched their spots last week after the race at Atlanta. The two drivers who completed the Chase grid were Ryan Newman of Richard Childress Racing and Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle beat Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer by just seven points despite running into some problems during the race. Bowyer was involved in the scandal last year that took his then-teammate Martin Truex Jr. out of the Chase, but Bowyer was allowed to stay in. Along with Bowyer, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard just missed the Chase.

Here is the final Chase lineup:

1. #2 - Brad Keselowski (4 wins)
2. #24 - Jeff Gordon (3 wins)
3. #88 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. (3 wins)
4. #48 - Jimmie Johnson (3 wins)
5. #22 - Joey Logano (3 wins)
6. #4 - Kevin Harvick (2 wins)
7. #99 - Carl Edwards (2 wins)
8. #18 - Kyle Busch (1 win)
9. #11 - Denny Hamlin (1 win)
10. #41 - Kurt Busch (1 win)
11. #5 - Kasey Kahne (1 win)
12. #43 - Aric Almirola (1 win)
13. #47 - A.J. Allmendinger (1 win)
14. #20 - Matt Kenseth (in on points)
15. #16 - Greg Biffle (in on points)
16. #31 - Ryan Newman (in on points)

The first round of the Chase starts on September 14 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, then heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on September 21, and concludes at Dover Speedway in Delaware on September 28.

Kyle Busch leads every lap on way to Nationwide win

Kyle Busch led all 250 laps of Friday evening's Nationwide Series race at Richmond and picked up his fourth win in the series this year. It was his first since Dover on May 31. Second place switched between drivers such as Ryan Blaney of Team Penske, and JR Motorsports drivers Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott, who ultimately got the runner-up finish. Another notable finish was Richard Petty driver Dakoda Armstrong, somewhat of an underdog in the series, finishing seventh after a battle with veteran Elliott Sadler late in the race. Last year, polesitter Brian Scott, driving for Richard Childress, almost led every lap before getting passed by Cup driver Brad Keselowski late in the race.

Fans, drivers hoping for fair game in the Chase

Saturday's Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond will be the last before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. This year will mark a new format for the Chase. People are hoping for a competitive regular season finale, but also for the final Chase grid to be decided fairly, unlike the manipulation that took place late in the race last year to try to change the outcome.

Last year, Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer spun, apparently to try to get his teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the Chase. This set up a late-race restart which shook up some of the Chase spots. NASCAR soon realized what had happened, and replaced Truex with Newman as part of the team's penalties, then added Jeff Gordon to the lineup during the next race weekend at Chicagoland. The situation upset Truex's sponsor NAPA Auto Parts, who pulled their sponsorship from the #56 Toyota, reducing Michael Waltrip's team from three full-time cars to two when the season ended.

Truex now drives the #78 Chevrolet of Furniture Row Racing, and he appears to have rebounded from last year's incident. Waltrip, Bowyer and the team's crew members have probably learned from it as well, and will try to play by the rules on Saturday evening, especially since Bowyer and his teammate Brian Vickers have been all but eliminated from the Chase. Hopefully, the all-new Chase will be decided fairly the first time around.

Comcast Xfinity named as new sponsor of Nationwide Series

Comcast Xfinity, a digital cable provider, will be the title sponsor of NASCAR's number two series, currently called the Nationwide Series, starting in 2015. The news was announced by NASCAR on Wednesday. NASCAR announced near the end of last year that 2014 would be Nationwide's last year as the series' title sponsor, which it had been since 2008. The series will be known as the Xfinity Series starting on January 1, during the offseason.

Jimmy Fennig to step down as crew chief

Jimmy Fennig, the crew chief of Carl Edwards and the #99 Roush Fenway Racing team in the Sprint Cup Series, will be ending his career in that position at the end of the season. Edwards is also leaving Roush to drive the new #19 car at Joe Gibbs Racing starting in 2015, which will leave the #99 team inactive, as the #6 team at Roush will be back in business with Trevor Bayne next year in his first full-time Cup ride.

Fennig's first crew chief role was for Bobby Allison in the late 1980s. He joined the Roush team late in the 1996 season to become the crew chief of the #6 car driven by Mark Martin. In 2002 Fennig went to the #97 car of Kurt Busch, and they won the Nextel Cup championship in 2004, the first year of the Chase championship format. He moved back to the #6 car in 2007 as rookie David Ragan's crew chief, and then went to the #99 car for the 2013 season.

All four Hendrick cars in the Chase

Last night's wild Sprint Cup race at Atlanta lasted nearly four hours, had some bizarre occurrences like a squirrel running in front of Kevin Harvick, and took two green-white-checkered attempts to end following a crash between Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne ended up winning after not being a big factor during most of the race. With Kahne's win, all four Hendrick drivers have won this year and are locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Kahne's teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have all won at various points earlier in the season, and they clinched their Chase spots before Kahne, who looked like he would be left out unless he could pull off a win. Now he has picked up that win, and is the thirteenth different winner in NASCAR's top series in 2014. It is the tenth win for a Hendrick driver.

The Labor Day eve race was dominated by Kevin Harvick, the winner of Saturday night's Nationwide Series race driving a Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned car numbered 5 (just like Kahne's Cup car) and the polesitter for the second straight week in the Cup series. Harvick got caught up in a crash with Joey Logano, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson on the restart for the first green-white-checkered attempt, which set up the second attempt, and ended up finishing 19th. Second-place Matt Kenseth, who hasn't won a Cup points race in almost a year, was leading at the final restart, but then got passed by Kahne. However, Kenseth did claim a Chase spot based on his place in the point standings. But most of the buzz heading into the race was about Tony Stewart, who was racing for the first time since his tragic sprint car accident on August 9, during the Watkins Glen race weekend. Stewart had a fast car early, but ran into some tire issues and made an early exit from the race, on which he declined to be interviewed.

The last race before the Chase begins will take place in Richmond, Virginia next Saturday, September 6, in another short track night race, with a couple of Chase spots still up for grabs. The final 16-driver Chase grid will be determined by the end of that race, and the first round of the new Chase will begin at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois on Sunday, September 14.