WEAVER: NASCAR's matter of urgency

What exactly is the point of NASCAR's regular season?

Despite two of the closest finishes in tour history, an argument could be made that the Sprint Cup Series has lacked a certain degree of urgency through the first month of the campaign. Sure, thanks to softer tires and a lower-downforce competition package, the races have been slightly more enjoyable from previous seasons, but one has to wonder just how much anything matters during the spring and summer months anyway.

Four different drivers have won their way into the Chase for the Championship and can start planning for the final 10 races, while a handful of others are already in great position to make the Field of 16. What other sport allows teams to clinch a playoff berth in the first month of the season – and why would it want that anyway?

Much of the drama produced in professional sports comes from the anticipation of watching who plays their way in and who ultimately falls just short. With such a large playoff field and so many drivers already guaranteed a spot in the Big Dance, has NASCAR marginalized its regular season?

It's hard to watch Sprint Cup races from a traditional standpoint that views the championship as the ultimate goal with every race mattering to that end. Watching the IndyCar Series on Sunday really nailed that point home as every position had real consequence towards the big picture.

Juan Montoya won and set himself up to control his destiny while the likes of Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal and Will Power must rebound following their various setbacks and misfortunes.

For comparison's sake, NASCAR penalized Martin Truex 15 championship points, while Matt Kenseth is off to one of the worst starts of his career based on his own bad luck. Both stars are in no real position to miss the Chase and will probably win their way in anyway.

Even last season, Ryan Newman was assessed a 50-point penalty (after an appeal) and easily made the Chase on points without a victory. Where's the consequence in the modern NASCAR?

The end result is the first half of the season that largely feels like a series of exhibition and standalone races that have no real bearing on the larger narrative of the sport. Perhaps fans don't even care, with a majority of them just wanting to watch exciting races, making the need to reduce downforce all the more prevalent.

Even if it comes across as random or fluky, NASCAR has produce a great deal of excitement with the elimination Chase over the past two seasons, but has it come at the expense of the first 26 races of the year?

In many ways, today's NASCAR is a lot like March Madness. The results of college basketball didn't matter until this morning and NASCAR will fade away into obscurity until drivers resume bouncing off each other in order to advance in the playoffs.

The status quo isn't necessarily bad – it's just lacking immediate urgency.