As often happens in the NASCAR world, a new year is making changes and these announcements are coming soon flying from different marketing departments.
This week’s news started with Announcement by Steve Phelps that he would step down from his role as NASCAR commissioner by the end of January.
Advertisement
A day or two later, we learned that seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson would use the relatively new “exemption” to guarantee himself a starting spot in the 2026 Daytona 500.
If Kyle Larson repeats as Cup Series champion in 2026, it will come through a different playoff format.
And just when we thought we were slowly transitioning into weekend mode, we received some more news – one of them potentially major, so let’s start there.
Upcoming NASCAR Playoff Format Changes
At the end of last season, NASCAR strongly hinted at a change to its current playoff format, which features a season-ending winner from among four drivers still in contention for a championship.
The new format will be announced Monday afternoon, we are now told. And you can watch.
Advertisement
The ad will air on NASCAR.com, NASCAR YouTube and The NASCAR Channel.
Some have pushed for the “old way” – as before 2004 – of establishing a champion, through season-long points collection, without any form of end-of-season playoffs.
This is unlikely, as it opens up the real possibility of entering the final race (or two) with the championship already clinched. This might have worked well once upon a time, but not so much with modern networks spending billions on coverage and, you have to assume, doing it in the hopes of late-season drama.
Front Row spends some of the money from the NASCAR lawsuit
Remember the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit? Of course yes: the hammer is practically still ringing in your ears.
Advertisement
Both plaintiff teams would have recouped some of the lost revenue as part of the settlement and all teams will likely see more money coming in, directly or indirectly, in the future.
Well, one of those plaintiff teams – Front Row Motorsports – appears ready to increase its spending in conjunction with this. The team announced some personnel moves this week, and those moves include a bit of a shakeup, but also some new positions.
The team now has a general manager of competition, which is a fairly common position on Cup Series teams. That will be Drew Blickensderfer, who previously served as crew chief for the No. 4 car for the team driven by Noah Gragson. Grant Hutchens will now be the crew chief for Gragson’s car after being hired by Team Penske.
Front Row also now has a head of aerodynamics: Jonathan DeHart, who was previously “director of body production” at Hendrick Motorsports and an engineer for General Motors’ IndyCar efforts.
Brad Keselowski’s throttle leg needs more healing before Daytona 500
We end the roundup at the orthopedic clinic, where Brad Keselowski is recovering from a fractured right femur (that’s the thigh bone, by the way).
Advertisement
The Preseason Clash is still more than three weeks away (February 1), but Kez has already announced that he will not race that day at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He will be replaced by veteran Corey LaJoie in the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford.
Kez says he broke his leg on a ski trip in mid-December in Boone, in upstate North Carolina. For better or worse, this skiing injury is nothing to get excited about. It actually happened, Kez said, while he was dropping his daughter off for ski lessons.
He got out of his car, slipped, and the next thing he knew he was facing several weeks of injury rehabilitation. And yes, he says he’ll definitely be back in time for the official season opener, the Daytona 500 on February 15.
Advertisement
— Email Ken Willis at [email protected]
This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR playoff format change, Brad Keselowski injury and other news
