For NASCAR, what's old is new again – and that's a good thing

What is old is new again in NASCAR, and that might be the best compromise the series will get for the championship format.

The playoffs are gone. So, too, thankfully, is the win-and-in variable. NASCAR has reverted to its original postseason format, The Chase, which was rolled out in 2004 and uses the final 10 races to decide the champion in a straight-up battle among drivers reset in the standings.

No more eliminations. No more continuous resets. So long to having two different points standings.

It’s a compromise, as NASCAR continues to shy away from a full-season championship format. Perhaps the leadership is still of the belief that the sport will lose eyeballs in the fall if one driver is in firm control of the championship by that time of the year, or that it isn’t the most entertaining way to crown a champion. Either way, NASCAR cannot afford to lose any more eyeballs.

But a final 10-race stretch without the other add-ons has its positives.

One of the most significant sticking points had been the the need for a larger sample size than a one-race, winner-take-all in order to maintain the integrity of crowning a champion. The final 10 races deliver that. It will no longer come down to who is good on one given race day in November.

RACER had an inside look at the playoff format committee discussions through being invited to join the panel. There were many ideas thrown around, and in-depth discussions concerning what should or shouldn’t be involved in determining a champion. Yes, there were also split opinions on a playoff format versus a full-season format.

Among the points of contention from RACER and others was that a fuller body of work should matter, with a mix between winning and consistency. NASCAR awarding more points for race wins helps. A driver will be awarded 55 points instead of 40, and the driver leading the points at the end of the regular season will also be rewarded with a buffer of 25 points to start The Chase.

Even better, winning a NACAR race is all about winning a NASCAR race again. By dropping the win-and-in scenario, there will no longer be an overshadowing of a driver’s accomplishment on that day with debate about who is or isn’t in the postseason.

A win should be about a win. But a win will also help a driver’s cause if they want to compete for a championship. Both of those things should be true in 2026 and beyond.

The Chase format is, by far, simpler to understand, and that importance shouldn’t be undersold. The drivers who rank in the top 16 in points are the championship contenders.

On the one hand, 16 drivers being championship-eligible is still too many (as RACER argued to the playoff committee), and the field is arguably watered down. It needs to matter who is championship eligible. The problem with the win-and-in scenario was that teams and drivers were capitalizing on a race win to qualify for the postseason when they were far down the championship standings for the other 25 weeks. They had no shot, and no business being in the championship discussion.

But without eliminations and automatic bids into the next round, even in a field of 16 drivers, the non-contenders will naturally fall by the wayside – and likely do so pretty quickly. The good news, at least, is that the 16 drivers are the best 16 drivers in the standings, and not manufactured by a grid put together based on winners, and thereby, shoving non-winners, who were good enough to sit inside the top 16 in points, out of those positions and out of championship contention.

There are positives to this format, and it’s easier to buy into this method for crowning a NASCAR champion. The playoff format served its purpose when it was first announced, but over time, it became convoluted, had far more negatives than positives, and became far too much of a conversation. It was time to move on.

No, it’s not a full season format, but it’s a compromise. And sometimes, in a sport that has been stubbornly resistant to change and accused of not listening, that is the best that can happen.