Change is bad.(NASCAR)

When NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France discussed tweaking the points structure of the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup last week at Daytona, people listened.

True, France spoke of minor adjustments, not sweeping changes, but I say leave the system alone.

It took long enough for drivers, owners and fans to warm up to the Chase itself. Some still haven't. But the bottom line is folks hate change. So now that many fans have embraced the system, why fool with it?

"If it's confusing for me in the car, imagine what it's like for the people in the grandstands," Dale Earnhardt Jr. says. "Any time you get confusion and inconsistency, you lose the interest of the fans."

Racing at the Nextel Cup level is more intense than it ever has been. You can feel the pressure from the moment qualifying begins for the Daytona 500. Unlike most sports that pimp out additional playoff spots to squeeze more revenue from sponsors and fans, NASCAR allows only 10 Nextel Cup drivers to have a shot at the title come September. The cutoff race at Richmond should be renamed the Pressure Cooker 400--that's when the competition really heats up.

Right now, the top 10 drivers and any others no more than 400 points behind the leader qualify for the Chase. When France says NASCAR might tinker with the 400-point margin, that clearly would be a move to please sponsors by adding drivers to the Chase. Such a move, however, would compromise the integrity of the championship in favor of the almighty dollar.

Current points leader Jimmie Johnson, who has finished in the top five in each of his first four seasons, favors making the 400-point margin the sole determinant of who qualifies for the Chase. "I would love to see it be a five-car race," Johnson says.