NASCAR is a sport for all to enjoy

Since 2004, the NASCAR Cup Series has had a variety of different postseason formats. What once was a simple points-earning system with the top-performing driver being crowned the champion became a convoluted, confusing, and sometimes unnecessary gimmick. 

In 2016, NASCAR introduced its current version of the “Playoffs”. In it, 16 drivers would qualify after a 26-race regular season. With a “win and you’re in” model, it intends to make every race important throughout the season, where a driver is guaranteed a playoff spot if they win a race. Once all the winners are in, the remaining slots are filled by the remaining best drivers by order of points awarded throughout the season. 

With the playoffs lasting for 10-races, there are four drivers eliminated every three weeks.

This leads to one final winner-take-all race at the end of the season between four playoff drivers. 

This sounds exciting, right? It is, but for the wrong reasons. The playoffs have created some thrilling finishes such as Jimmie Johnson’s seventh championship in 2016, or even Kyle Larson stealing the title from under Denny Hamlin after a late caution in the 2025 championship. There have been plenty of moments in the title and in the preceding rounds, but it comes on the heels of situations that are often unnecessary. 

With this system, drivers who underperform all season can simply win a title by a series of fortunate events in the final portion of the season. In 2024, Joey Logano entered the playoffs as the 16th and final driver to qualify. After seemingly being eliminated in the round of 12, his hopes regained life after Alex Bowman was disqualified from the final race of the round. The following week, Logano won at Las Vegas to punch his ticket to the championship and outlasted the other three contenders to steal a championship. Had the season used the regular points system for the entire season, he would have finished 15th in points. 

NASCAR is not football. It is not basketball, baseball or any other “ball and stick sport.” Whileother sports play one team at a time and often do not see every opponent in one season anyway, these drivers are racing the same field of 40 every week, all season. There is no need for a “playoff” since that is what the entire season is designed to be. 

NASCAR began under a simple system that made it easy for the “simple man” to watch the sport. With already higher prices than ever before, the playoff system continues to cause lifelong fans to lose interest over what has become a complicated system. 

The goal of this postseason format was to draw a younger audience by creating more drama and storylines. Something younger and older audiences both appreciate is when a rightful champion is crowned. If NASCAR hopes to garner attention from both age groups, they’ll return to a standard, full-season points format.