Kyle Busch shows the value of consistency under NASCAR’s new Chase format

NASCAR’s new Chase format is built on consistency — on stacking points whenever and however you can. That reality was evident Sunday in the season-opening Daytona 500.

Kyle Busch may be the clearest example. The two-time Cup Series champion, now 0-for-21 in his attempts to win the sport’s biggest race, led 19 laps and finished fourth in Stage 2. But when the race reached its chaotic final lap, Busch made a calculated decision.

"What the (expletive) am I going to rush into the wreck for?," Busch asked over the radio.

Instead of charging into what he believed would be an inevitable wreck, Busch laid back, avoided the last-lap crash entering Turn 1 and picked up several spots. He didn’t win the Daytona 500, but he left with valuable points, the kind that matter far more under NASCAR’s new postseason system.

Busch’s instinct proved correct. A crash in the tri-oval on the final lap left the drivers who finished second through fifth with wrecked cars. Busch, meanwhile, came home 15th, banking 29 points and positioning himself inside the Chase picture to start the season. 

Under the previous playoff format, a victory would have locked him into the postseason — a powerful incentive to stay glued to the pack and take the risk. More often than not at Daytona, that gamble ends in the infield care center while a battered car is hauled back to the garage.

Instead, Busch chose restraint and walked away with points that could carry real weight when the playoff field is set in August.

Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe get everything they can

Unlike Busch, Austin Dillon and Chase Briscoe didn't avoid wrecking Sunday. 

Briscoe, the outside polesitter, was hit by Dillon during a crash on lap 85. Both cars were heavily damaged and went to the garage. 

In previous years, the teams of Briscoe and Dillon may have just left their cars in the garage and begun packing up the hauler. But that wasn't the case Sunday. Briscoe finished the race 12 laps down in 36th, but picked up three extra spots after Justin Allgaier, Alex Bowman and Todd Gilliland were ruled out after a crash. 

Dillon also picked up those three positions and finished 63 laps down, in 37th. His No. 3 Chevrolet was missing a front end when he went back out on the racetrack.