Gluck: Embrace the entertainment of NASCAR’s Chase – USA TODAY

USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Ryan breaks down the four drivers battling for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Dear Agitated NASCAR Fan:

It’s here. The weekend you say you’ve been dreading all year, when NASCAR will crown its champion with a one-race playoff among four drivers.

If I’ve read your tweets, emails and Facebook posts correctly, the finale is the cherry on top of a sour cream sundae. You can’t stand the thought of the championship losing credibility, and it pains you to see someone win a title through such a manufactured format — joining the esteemed ranks of Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson, knocked out of this format after Round 2.

Mostly, you’re having a hard time accepting the direction NASCAR is headed, even as ratings increase and the sport gets more attention because of the new Chase.

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Here’s my advice: As a modern-day NASCAR fan, you have to accept entertainment over purity of sport in order to enjoy what you watch every Sunday.

At the start of this season, I was firmly within your ranks. The idea of messing with the championship just to get more viewers at the expense of fairness bothered me deeply.​

But something happened over the course of this season, again and again: I found myself entertained.

In particular, the Chase for the Sprint Cup has been wild, intriguing and fun. As a whole, it’s been the best Chase yet.

And even for someone like me, just an observer with no rooting interest, it’s been enjoyable.

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​There are plenty of things in NASCAR that aren’t “pure.” It’s not just the new Chase format and its constant point resets, but also free passes for cars off the lead lap, wavearounds to regain track position, frequent debris cautions (called “NASCAR yellows” in other forms of racing) and even the idea of a playoff itself, since most other racing series’ champions are decided by a season-long format.

If you’re looking for “pure” sport, try IndyCar. That series doesn’t have any tricked-up racing, but it also has fewer viewers than the Nationwide Series. For better or worse, NASCAR saw the well-documented declining ratings and attendance, which prompted NASCAR chairman Brian France and his officials to take a major action to shake things up.

PHOTOS: Top shots from 2014 Chase races

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Yes, the new Chase format is different. But if you can’t accept change, you’re probably going to have a hard time enjoying NASCAR these days.

Ultimately, NASCAR is in the sports entertainment business. It’s a sport, but its purpose is entertainment.

That phrase is mostly associated with the WWE, but NASCAR is certainly not pro wrestling. WWE is a scripted show where the outcome is predetermined. The results of NASCAR races are anyone’s guess, but officials have created a structure which forces more dramatic situations.

Trying to provide more entertainment is not something to be ashamed of, though. Just look at this year’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway compared to last year.

This year, four drivers are tied for the points lead and whoever finishes first among them is the champion. Last year, Johnson just had to finish 23rd or better to clinch the title.

Which sounds more interesting?

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There are still some fans who would like to see the Chase disappear altogether. They’d like NASCAR to return to the 36-race championship format in which the best car throughout the entire season won the title, because this is sports and the best team should win.

NASCAR literally can’t afford to take that chance in today’s crowded media landscape, where entertainment properties fight over a fractured audience with short attention spans.

Reality TV is NASCAR’s new reality.

That leaves you, the viewer, with two options:

1) You can either be miserable and pine for the old days, expressing your outrage until your fingers ache from tweeting.

2) You can accept the direction NASCAR is going, put aside the notion of fairness, and simply let yourself be entertained.

Trust me: Option No. 2 is more enjoyable no matter the capacity in which you watch the sport.

After all, “gimmick” doesn’t have to be a bad word. If you type it into Google, the first definition that pops up is “a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity or business.”

NASCAR, like other businesses whose purpose is entertainment, is supposed to be a fun distraction from everyday life.

So relax. Enjoy it. If you’re looking for entertainment, the Chase is providing plenty.​

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck