Although there has been an occasional push from a driver to include a road course in the Chase — I recall Ryan Newman suggesting that Daytona's road course could be a viable venue — don't expect any changes in the current format.
The road racing question popped up at Watkins Glen last weekend.
"There's nothing on the table," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "We wouldn't stack races up in the Chase for the benefit of the Chase. The Chase is the last 10 races of the season. But as the evolution of changes go on, who knows what could end up as the last 10 races."
The makeup of the last 10 races that set the Chase for the Championship just happened to coincide with the existing schedule, Helton said.
The feeling isn't unanimous. Jeff Gordon — who holds the record for Cup victories on road courses — argued last week that "to make the championship fully complete and find out the true best team and driver, the only thing that we're missing in the Chase right now is a road course.
"The Chase has about everything, from short tracks to superspeedways to intermediates. But if you wanted to look at just one thing that was missing, it would be a road course.
"As exciting as the road courses have been here lately with these double-file restarts, I think the fans would be for it as well. In the past, you haven't seen that kind of action. Most people would say that a road course isn't as traditional as the ovals are in our sport, so why have one in the Chase? I could see one in there."