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Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Chevrolet was dented in the left side door panel Sunday when a parachute jumper hit the car on pit road as the jumper was about to touch down two hours before the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR chairman Brian France said Sunday that changes NASCAR made for this season -- a simplified points system, adding two wild-card Chase spots and a new qualifying procedure -- have paid off and improved the on-track product.

This ain't your daddy's Chase, NASCAR Nation. Under the league's new points system, parity rules in the 2011 Sprint Cup playoff, with the top nine drivers separated by only 19 points.

The NHRA Countdown or NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup? Which playoff format is better? If you're 2009 Funny Car champ Robert Hight, it's a no-brainer.

Week after week, the Sprint Cup Series marches closer to the start of the Chase. As New Hampshire looms, these are tense times for winless drivers such as Ryan Newman.

The best Chase race ever at Texas Motor Speedway? With the three front-runners separated by 38 points, it's bound to happen Sunday in the AAA Texas 500.

Here are four stats that may or may not surprise you, along with a note about the Chase after two races: 1) Bobby Labonte has the fewest points of the 31 drivers who have started all 28 events. He is one of only three drivers who have started every ...

LOUDON, N.H. -- Giving the Chase drivers their own points race (first through 12th) wouldn't work. It sounds good, but when you do the math, it doesn't change a thing. Had that idea been in place last year, Jimmie Johnson still would have won the t...

There likely will be only one driver racing for points at Richmond on Saturday (hello, Clint Bowyer), but that may be a good thing. The race to the Chase may not thrill, but the race at Richmond could be a barn burner.

Jimmie Johnson just isn't cooperating in this Chase. NASCAR would like to see the title fight stretch to the Homestead finale. JJ is looking like he'll lock it up by Phoenix.

It's a new year, a new Chase and a new beginning for championship contenders. But it's the same old Jimmie Johnson, who happens to be the best race car driver on the planet.

NASCAR is halfway to the Chase, but don't expect many changes among the playoff 12 in the second half of the regular season. Since the Chase went to 12 drivers in 2007, 11 of the 12 men who were inside the Chase cutoff at the halfway point the last ...

Carl Edwards has cut Jimmie Johnson's Chase lead almost in half the past two races. The Sprint Cup title is still JJ's to lose, but at least Edwards is making things interesting, writes Terry Blount.

If you were waiting for Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team to slip up in the Chase, you got it at Texas. Problem is for the points leader's pursuers, he still salvaged a 15th-place finish, writes Terry Blount.

The Chase was supposed to add a little playoff buzz during NASCAR's stretch run to Homestead-Miami. Someone forget to tell that to Jimmie Johnson, writes Terry Blount.

Carl Edwards could've played it safe during the stretch run of Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. But what's the fun in that? Edwards tried every trick in his repertoire to pass Jimmie Johnson on the final lap -- including a barrier-banging "banzai move" -- before conceding victory to the new Chase points leader, writes Terry Blount.