The elimination-style NASCAR Playoffs system, which determines the season’s overall champion, has been controversial among fans and drivers alike since it was introduced ahead of the 2014. But say what you want about the Playoffs, they’ve shaped the three NASCAR national series into what they are today.
According to a report from NASCAR.com, the Playoffs system has altered the way teams approach the racing season. Instead of a season-long points championship, the top 16 drivers in points are allowed to compete for a championship throughout the final 10 races of the year. Every three races, the field is slashed by four drivers, until only four remain heading into the final race. From there, the top finishing driver among those four is the overall champion, regardless of whether or not they win that final race – as was the case with Ryan Blaney in 2023. Blaney finished second to Ross Chastain, but because Chastain was not championship eligible at the time, Blaney was crowned champion.
The Playoffs were implemented to resemble the elimination-style playoffs system used to crown champions in other big league sports, thus appealing to a wider fan base, in theory at least.
“We wanted to simplify our system,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer. “Sports fans across the country understand the idea of ‘playoffs,’ since every American sport features some kind of elimination format.”
Joey Logano, who won the 2022 Cup Series championship in the No. 22 Ford Mustang, said that the system has its benefits, especially when it comes to on-track excitement and watchability, but it does change the way teams compete throughout the year.
“It’s just creating more do-or-die moments where you weren’t going into the final race of the year knowing who was going to win the championships, and drivers go in there, just cruise-control for the race, don’t wreck, get through, win the championship,” Logano said. “So that was one of the things they wanted to get away from, but then there’s also, how do you make every race more important where you don’t just win a race and then you’re in and then you cruise-control the rest of the year until the Playoffs start with no advantage, or you win 10 races during the season and you’re seeded the same as the guy who won one. That’s not fair, either.”
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