That's the question everyone will be asking Sunday and Monday, sometime between the time the checkered flag is dropped and the overnight ratings are released.
So, seriously, ... did it work? Did changing the way points are earned and creating a 10-car "playoff" create, well, a playoff atmosphere? Are more interested in Sunday's Nextel Cup final? Are you having a Homestead party at your house?
Or are you mildly more interested, not enough to watch the race from start to finish, but certainly curious enough to switch over at halftime of the Bucs game to see who's winning?
Chances are, your answer is somewhere in between. I'm not sure NASCAR attracted any new fans - the gulf between those that hate auto racing and those who love it is pretty wide - but the casual observer's interest is piqued.
That's probably all NBC could hope for. It wasn't expecting ratings to double, but they are slightly up. In the Tampa Bay area, the season average of 7.0 (roughly 112,000 homes) is a 4 percent increase over last season. Baseball ratings were up nationally, and the NFL continues to draw huge ratings. At the very least, NASCAR's ability to maintain its ratings is a positive sign.
On a conference call Wednesday, the NBC announcing team was predictably unanimous in agreeing that NASCAR's new scoring format has completely revitalized the sport's stretch run.
Palm Harbor's Bill Weber, NBC's lead pit reporter, thinks the "playoff" format helps bring NASCAR to the same level as the playoffs in the other major sports.
"When you get into broadcasting, this is why you do it," he said. "This is the one event a year that everyone wants to call. It's a true championship event. This is basically a Super Bowl with five teams on the same field at the same time, and any one of them can win. You win it, and you remember it forever. You lose it, you never forget it."
One thing is sure: the ratings for the Homestead race will blow last year's away. Last year, and previous years, the title generally was determined before the final race. This year, as many as five drivers have a chance to finish No.1.
There are still some things to work on. After all, Kurt Busch has won three races all year and doesn't even have to finish first Sunday to keep his top spot, which is a shame for Jimmie Johnson, who has won four of the past five races. If this were a true playoff, everyone would be chasing Johnson.
But, overall, NBC got a close enough finish to hype.
"The difference between winning the championship and not winning could be one guy dropping a lug nut during a pit stop. That's how close this is," Weber said.
NBC's improved coverage plans will include 64 cameras, including three isolation cameras focused on the top three drivers in the standings - the "Kurt-Cam," "Jimmie-Cam" and "Jeff-Cam" will be isolated on Busch, Johnson and Gordon, respectively.
NBC will also use floating cameras to monitor fan favorites Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin.
Coverage begins Sunday with a special one-hour prerace show at noon. The race starts at 1 p.m.
With perhaps a little wishful thinking, analyst Allen Bestwick harkens back to last year's final race.
"Let's not forget what happened last year at Homestead on the last lap. Bill Elliott was leading and he blew a tire off turn two," he said. "The difference between winning and where he finished was 33 points, which is more than the top 3 are separated by right now to start the race. Every position, every lap matter. It's going to be great."
