Leigh Diffey, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton will kick off the USA Sports portion of the NASCAR schedule with Iowa Speedway, and they will experience something different.
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With NASCAR moving to The Chase and ditching the previous playoff format, the members of this broadcast trio have freedom to focus on far more storylines than the elimination rounds.
"We're all extremely positive people, and I just think it's kind of nice to get away from what we had," Diffey said in response to a question from FanBuzz while previewing the USA Sports portion of the schedule.
"Because the negativity was starting to overwhelm about, you know, just the phases of the playoffs."
The positivity is something that excites all of these broadcasters. They still have to discuss the drivers who can't realistically win a championship, but they also get to celebrate those teams and drivers who have excelled on NASCAR's toughest tracks.
"I'm looking forward to looking at the top of the standings more than the cut line," Letarte said. "And what I mean by that is celebrate the teams that have put themselves on top.
"Because without a reset, being on top week one of The Chase is a good place to be. You know, you still have to earn it for the next nine weeks, but I'd much rather start on top."
Of course, a cutline still exists. Only 16 drivers will make The Chase, and four drivers have already locked up their spots. Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and Ty Gibbs will all race for a championship.
The official cutline goes away once The Chase begins. No longer will the members of the broadcast booth have to talk about which drivers will be eliminated after Bristol, Charlotte, and Martinsville.
Though Letarte expects some elimination talk to continue in a different manner.
"I have the opinion that it frees us up because we get to give our opinion on what the cutline is," Letarte explained. "So when the cutline was determined by the system and drivers were officially eliminated, while that was dramatic, it was also definitive and you can make it in a graphic.
"Where now I believe that the concept of being cut or eliminated now comes down to the magical question. 'Jeff, how far back can someone make a run? Leigh, can this guy get here?' And I think it opens up to generate whatever narrative we believe as experts and what we feel from the garage."
Momentum will play a major role in the conversations had during races. Sure, a driver could enter as a top-five seed, but they may not have positive momentum on their side. They could quickly fall out of contention with some DNFs or bad setups.
This will be a factor for the trio to track over 14 weeks, but especially so during the final 10 weeks.
Will a lower seed have a major run and win five of the final 10 races like Tony Stewart in 2011? Will the champion be one of the drivers who entered as a top-five seed as many expect?
The members of the USA Sports crew don't have the answers to these questions, but they are very happy about being able to track the multiple storylines through the rest of the season.
The storylines are quite varied, which will only keep the USA Sports portion of the season fresh.
"Points have always been vital in this sport," Burton said. "Now, the win is supported because it creates more points. It doesn't lock you in anything, but it creates more points. So winning still matters.
"So, I don't know. I'm interested to see how it unfolds. I know this isn't the first time we've had a Chase, right? We're going back to how it used to be. The points are a little different than what it used to be.
"I'm really interested to see how it unfolds. And if anybody tells you today how it's going to unfold, they don't know."
