NASCAR’s Most Popular Drivers Think It Should Kill The Playoffs
Chase and Dale have spoken!
NASCAR is currently deliberating what to do about its season-ending playoffs, and the two men who have dominated its Most Popular Driver award since 2003 have some thoughts.
The current format sees 16 drivers qualify for the post season, which is comprised of three, three-race rounds that each eliminate four drivers until the final four compete against each other for the championship at the season finale. A win during the season ensures a spot in the playoffs, regardless of where you end up in the points standings.
Fans and drivers alike have debated its merits for years, but NASCAR has been firm that, while changes might be made, it has no plans to abandon the playoffs concept entirely. But that’s exactly what Chase Elliott thinks it should do.
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“We’ve had a really good and competitive battle to the regular season (championship) over — correct me if I’m wrong — the last two or three years,” the 2020 Cup Series champion told The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi.
“It’s really been pretty tight all the way down to Daytona. If you just take that as your sample set over the first 26 weeks, it looks pretty solid to me. The system would be just fine if you just had a full season. And if somebody runs away with it, so what? Let’s celebrate the fact that somebody ran away with it, that somebody was just that good. Motorsports does not have to be like everybody else to be successful. And I’ll stand by that til I get done.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to a post on X with the quote saying, “I can’t argue with this.”
When one of his followers asked him if he’d accept going back to “The Chase for the Championship” format that was first used in 2024 when, instead of a knockout system, 10 drivers earned points over the last 10 races of the season to decide the champion, he said, “sure. 10 drivers 10 races. Or 6 drivers and 6 races. Or 5 and 5, or 4 and 4. All those sound good. Just a regular season and a final round.”
But he then added, that he thinks “it’s unlikely there would ever be a full season points championship [again].”
NASCAR hasn’t said when a decision will be made about next season, but it has already confirmed that the final championship race is moving from Phoenix Raceway to Homestead-Miami Speedway, which will be followed by a rotation of tracks, so it seems to be leaning toward keeping a grand finale event of some sort.
During the announcement for next year’s new race at the U.S. Navy base in San Diego, Ben Kennedy, NASCAR EVP, Chief Venue & Racing Innovation Officer, said the 2026 schedule should be coming out in a few weeks, which will reveal the final decision on the playoffs.