So you say you don't like the Chase.  Let's take a look back at Dover and take the Chase out of the equation.

Kevin Harvick led 355 of 400 laps and won by more than 2 ½ seconds.  But, since we took the Chase elimination out of it, he didn't have to win to stay alive in the championship hunt.

(Yawn)

Everyone who isn't a Harvick fan would be screaming that they must be doing something illegal. "Check their tires to make sure they're not poking holes in them!"

Additionally, with no Chase elimination, there wouldn't have been any drama around the rest of the field.  No wondering if Jamie McMurray could get past Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  No wondering if Kyle Busch would survive to continue his championship run.  Jimmie Johnson's problems?  An afterthought.  He'd be back at Charlotte next week and right back in the hunt for his 7th title.

Take the Chase out of it, and it would have been just like Phoenix last year, when Ryan Newman's dramatic finish over-shadowed a similar dominating performance by Harvick that turned the race into a snoozer.

This is why the Chase exists: to bring interest to NASCAR in the middle of football season when it would be easy to look away on a day like Sunday at Dover; or when the champion was more or less determined with a month left in the season.