NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said the sanctioning body wanted the Chase for the Sprint Cup to produce “Game 7 moments,” meaning gut-wrenching, edge-of-your-seat on-track intensity.
Since its inception in 2004, the Chase has done exactly that, giving race fans high drama and some spectacular racing.
And on Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings to win what many are calling the best Game 7 in World Series history.
With a tip of the cap to the Cubs for winning their first World Series in 108 years, here are the seven best Game 7 moments the Chase has produced since its inception in 2004.
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7
Tony Stewart, 2005
Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle had a tight fight for the championship, as Roush Fenway Racing put five drivers in what then was a 10-driver Chase field. Biffle appeared to have the upper hand, but a loose wheel in Texas doomed his chances. At the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Johnson had problems and Stewart raced his way to his second of three championships.
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6
Jimmie Johnson, 2007
One of the single best races in the entire history of he Chase came at Texas Motor Speedway in 2007. In the closing laps, Matt Kenseth was leading, while Jimmie Johnson was pressuring him for the top spot. Lap after lap at 185 miles per hour, the two waged an intense battle for the lead, two of sport’s best driving as hard as they could while still racing cleanly. In the end, Johnson prevailed and went on to take his third title.
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5
Kevin Harvick, 2014
In his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing, Harvick had been sensational all season. But with eight races in the books in the Chase, Harvick faced must-win situations two weeks in a row, the first in the penultimate race of the year at Phoenix International Raceway and then in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The math was simple: To win a championship, Harvick had to win both races. And damned if he didn’t do just that.
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4
Jimmie Johnson, 2010
Shakespeare wrote something to the effect of, “When you strike out at a king, you must kill him.” Evidently, no one told Denny Hamlin that. After a victory at Texas, Hamlin appeared to have the 2010 championship sewn up, but late races mistakes by his crew chief at Phoenix International Raceway and Hamlin himself at Homestead-Miami Speedway allowed Johnson to rebound and steal the title, winning his record fifth consecutive championship.
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3
Kyle Busch, 2015
Busch’s story had to be true, because you couldn’t make up something like this: After missing the first 11 races of the season due to leg and foot injuries suffered in a high-speed, head-on crash at Daytona, Busch won four races in a five-race stretch in the summer to qualify for the Chase. In the final race of the year, Busch held off defending series champion Kevin Harvick to win his first title.
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2
Tony Stewart, 2011
In 26 races during the Sprint Cup regular season, Stewart was winless, with only three top-five finishes. And he insisted he was wasting his Chase slot, which he thought should go to someone more deserving. But once the Chase began, Stewart caught fire, winning the first two races and five of the 10.
In the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Stewart dropped to the back several times for various issues and wound up making 118 passes on the track to win over second-place Carl Edwards. The two wound up tied in points, but Stewart won the championship on a tie breaker for most races won.
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1
Kurt Busch, 2004
The first Chase might have been the craziest. Busch came into the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a narrow points lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
Coming to pit road in the race, Busch lost the right-front tire and wheel off his Roush Racing Ford. Busch missed the pit wall by inches, and somehow managed to stay on the lead lap, holding on to win the championship while Johnson finished second in the race to Busch’s teammate, Greg Biffle.
