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NASCAR announced Saturday that its championship format would be changed to include the top 10 drivers and ties, beginning this year. That means that anyone tied for 10th after the Richmond race next week would be graduated to the 10-race championship chase. The chase system, instituted in 2004, has largely been accepted by the competitors, although some observers consider it artificial and contrived. Under the format, the 10 drivers leading in points after Richmond are re-ranked at five-point increments, then turned loose to run for the season title under traditional points. No one else is eligible. "We are updating the rule book," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "If there are two drivers tied for 10th, there'll be 11 drivers in the chase. If there are three drivers -- any ties for 10th -- they're 10th." The reason, Poston said, is that "we didn't think tie-breakers worked in this. The way the rule book was written, you could be tied for 10th place but out of the top 10 because of traditional tiebreaking methods." There was some suggestion from NASCAR last year that such a device would be appended to the playoff, but the matter never came up. This year, Poston said, the update is official. NASCAR chairman Brian France suggested in the summer that small changes could be made to the chase format. Poston said Saturday that NASCAR is still evaluating other changes and that an announcement of other amendments would not be made until next year.(Speed Channel)