NASCAR is not yet ready to release the details of its new championship format, mainly because they have not yet made the final decisions on it.
What is all but confirmed is that the 2025 season was ultimately the last to use the version of the playoffs that culminate with a “final four” chasing the championship in a one-race finale for the best finisher of the entire season.
This format was used from 2014 to 2025.
NASCAR is unlikely to return to a one-season championship without a playoff, but that’s not completely off the table either, instead considering a return to the 10-race Chase for the Championship used from 2004 to 2013 or an elimination format that culminates with a four-race, eight-driver points race.
All kinds of ideas have been tossed around over the past year by a committee of industry figures including drivers, owners, media, broadcasters, television executives and Hall of Famers.
An update on the process was shared Tuesday by NASCAR general manager of racing communications Mike Forde on his Hauler Talk podcast.
“As it stands…I don’t think the playoff committee will meet again. I think we got all the feedback we needed from them. Great job, by the way, from the playoff committee. …Now it’s in NASCAR’s hands,” Forde said. “They’re going to take into account all the feedback they’ve received from all sides and all the ideas on the spectrum, from no playoffs, to keeping things as is and really beating everything. Those are announcements coming. Honestly, I don’t know where they are. It could be in two weeks, it could be in two months.
“We definitely want to make sure that we’ve been very thorough on this. Obviously it will be before February 5 at The Clash, but it could be sooner rather than later, it could be in January. I don’t know, I don’t think anyone knows yet. There are still discussions to be had about where we are on the playoff format. I think we’re happy with the directions and the possibilities here thanks to the playoff committee and the work that they’ve done and the feedback that we’ve had received from the industry.
Kyle Larson won his second championship on November 2 at Phoenix Raceway. It was his second in five years, but it also came during a season where he scored the most points of any Cup Series. However, he only won the championship in overtime, after a race that Dennis Hamlin dominated, only losing the championship due to a flat tire by William Byron and the results of the subsequent pit stop decision and restart.
The decision to move away from that championship format was made before the weekend, but that race and the fact that the format denied 10-race Xfinity Series winner Connor Zilisch to the championship only cemented what the fan base largely thought about it.
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