The Chase has had its critics through the years.

And there is no question, the system may not be perfect. In fact, it isn't -- and never will be.

But as the positive vibe from Sunday's Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway resonates in NASCAR Nation and the buildup for this Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway commences, it's hard to argue against the playoff system that was incorporated into the Cup Series in 2004.

Oh, there are those who can -- and will. Even seasoned members of the media who should know better still sit around some nights and talk loudly about how the Chase system is on borrowed time and won't possibly last more than another two or three years.

But those folks are starting to sound increasingly like the neighborhood dog who barks incessantly as bedtime approaches. At first they are heard loud and clear, and it's even considered that there is legitimate reason for them to sound the alarm. But after a while, they simply become annoying before fading away altogether into the night, eventually ignored by the masses who drift off into a peaceful sleep.

Hear this, folks: the Chase is here to stay and with good reason. Sunday's race in Atlanta offered further evidence of why the Chase format is far superior to the old non-Chase format that was scrapped in 2004.

History lesson

Without the Chase this season, there is no chance for Atlanta Motor Speedway to reinvent itself as a viable Cup Series venue with a Labor Day weekend event.

Tony Stewart went into the weekend with a sizable advantage in the season's point standings and left with it intact. Despite a rather nondescript 11th-place finish Sunday, he still holds a 237-point lead on Jeff Gordon, his closest pursuer, in the standings.

If not for the Chase, general interest in this season's "battle" for the championship long ago would have lost its appeal to the general masses.

Instead, fans are pumped about this weekend's final race before the Chase at Richmond. They are intrigued about what will happen beyond, when the Chase begins and the points are reset for the 12 drivers who qualify to participate in the 10-race version of NASCAR's Cup playoffs.

Stewart will enter merely as the favorite, and perhaps not even as the No. 1 seed. That could go to Mark Martin, whose series-high four wins this season would give him 40 bonus points to Stewart's 30 -- assuming neither wins at Richmond.

Then again, Martin might not even get in the Chase. Same with Kyle Busch, who enters Richmond 14th in the standings and 37 points out of 12th despite four Cup wins of his own. Martin sits 10th, but he's only one point clear of Greg Biffle in 11th and just 49 in front of Matt Kenseth in 12th. Sitting just behind Kenseth and just ahead of Busch in 13th is Brian Vickers, who is only 20 points out of the final Chase spot.

Rather than bash the system for the precarious position Martin and Busch find themselves in despite combining for eight wins this season, let's celebrate it. Under the old system, they wouldn't have any hope whatsoever of sniffing a championship. At least now, they have a chance to race their way into the Chase at Richmond and then, with the points reset if they make it, a legitimate opportunity to win the title.

If they falter, well, that's sports. In football or baseball or basketball, the best teams aren't always rewarded with championships -- as numerous factors play in, including consistency over the long haul. Sometimes teams pay a bitter price for even a brief spell of incompetence, even if it is brought on by forces outside their control.

Get over it

So-called racing purists always want to say the Chase is garbage, that it takes away from the season as it was meant to be.

These are the same people who can't stop talking about how great racing used to be, and how awful it is now.

Listen, the old Richard Petty-David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip-Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison-and-whomever rivalries were great. No question about it. And one must respect history.

Those legends laid the foundation for NASCAR as we know it today. But really, how much drama was there at the end of the season in 1976 when Yarborough "edged" Petty by 195 points for the title? Or worse yet, the next season when Yarborough won over Petty by the margin of 386 -- or in 1978, when Yarborough won the last of his three consecutive championships by beating Allison by 474?

How much drama was there with 11 or 12 races left in those seasons, or countless others?

At least now people care about the end of the Cup season. They care about the end of the regular season, which concludes with Saturday's race at Richmond and will involve plenty of interesting sub-plots in addition to the main event.

Saturday's race not only will be about who wins, but about who moves up and down in the standings. Can Martin, Biffle, Kenseth and others hold on? Can Vickers and/or Busch get in? Could Stewart pad his total of bonus points and build momentum going into the Chase by winning his fourth points race of the season?

What happens next is anybody's guess. But it's got people talking and watching, and most importantly, caring.

Those who think the Chase was and remains a bad idea are being left behind like the drunks who sit at their barstools too long arguing about what's wrong with the government -- year after year, closing after closing, no matter who's in charge. They need to get over it and go home.

Or they can keep talking. But fewer and fewer folks are listening to them any longer.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.