For many in the NASCAR community, a return to the Chase format is a welcome change for the better. Kyle Busch does not appear to be part of this group. An old-school runner, Busch is probably the type to score points all season long.
Kyle Busch raced under the old Chase format and also competed in the Championship 4 format. He won two championships at the then Champ 4. He has also been an outspoken critic of the sport regarding the championship format and other issues like power.
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On SiriusXM NASCAR RadioBusch was asked about the Chase format. He did not receive the warm and kind response that so many other pilots have received thus far.
Kyle Busch during practice at Pocono Raceway.Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
(Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
“I thought we got away from it for a reason in the past, so I’m not really sure why we got back into it,” Busch said. “The reason we kind of got away from it was obviously the dominance of Jimmie Johnson, number one, but I feel number two, was there were times where guys like me who would have a bad race or two that would then knock them out of the championship, basically. I finished 3rd one year, I finished 5th another year just because of you know, having an accident in a race, like Talladega.
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“You get in a crash and boom, you can’t score enough points to get back into the championship but you’re going to finish 3rd in points. I wrecked at Kansas one year and that put me 5th in the championship. So, it’s just stuff like that, which I don’t really agree with. But with racing, the way it’s going today, and everyone crushing everyone all the time, you could see, everyone, that all 16 of us had a bad race.
“So, you know, if we all have a bad race, then that can kind of be interpreted as a failure and you have to be good in the other nine. But you know, who’s to say, we don’t know. We’ll see how it plays out, but obviously everyone is going to look to the regular season and maximize all the stage points, things like that. The points race, basically.”
Kyle Busch isn’t entirely wrong. The Chase was discontinued for various reasons. While this version is different from what we’ve seen in the past, it’s largely the same as the old system. So, do these changes help improve the perception of the format? We’ll have to wait and see.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on February 2, 2026, where he first appeared in the Races section. Add Athlon Sports as Favorite source by clicking here.
