Starting in 2026, NASCAR will revert to a variation of the Chase for the Championship format it used to crown its champions from 2004-to-2013.
In other words, no more win and you’re in and no more multiple elimination rounds. Most importantly, the sample size to determine the champion is no longer a single race but a 10-race points race.
However, unlike NASCAR’s first version of a playoff, which included 10 and then 12 drivers, this version will feature the expanded 16 that the most recent version used over the past decade.
But again, winning is no longer the point of entry as the top 16 drivers in points following the 26-race regular season will make the Chase for the Championship. However, winning races will have an increased impact on the new format as wins count for 55 points instead of 40.
Second place will still pay 35 points, third 34 points, so on and so forth.
Once the Chase for the Championship begins, the regular season champion will begin the final 10 races with a 25-point advantage over the second-place finisher down to 100 over the 16th seed.
1st: 2100
2nd: 2075
3rd: 2065
4th: 2060
5th: 2055
6th: 2050
7th: 2045
8th: 2040
9th: 2035
10th: 2030
11th: 2025
12th: 2020
13th: 2015
14th: 2010
15th: 2005
16th: 2000
The O'Reilly Series and Craftsman Truck Series will feature a Chase for the Championship too with 12 and 10 drivers respectively. The NOAPS Series will feature a nine-race Chase and the Trucks will feature a seven-race Chase.
NASCAR will still feature stages, which also continue to pay stage points, which provide even more opportunities to score points to make the playoffs and race for the championship over the final 10 races.
Quotes
"I was really excited to hear the news that we were getting a little closer to a full 36-race format. This is as close in my opinion that you can get without going all the way.
"What I believe it does is it makes it simpler for our fans to follow. I'm a fan of the sport, and now I'm compelled to plug in every single week because I know there's a long form objective for my driver to accomplish to be able to give himself the opportunity to win the championship.
"So even though my driver may have success early on in the season, it does not assure him success in the postseason. So with the way that they're going to stack the bonus points and everything else, it's critical that these drivers have success every single week. Every single race, every single lap will have more importance. I think it's fun for the drivers to have a more clear objective for how to get to the championship and easier for our fans to follow."
The fans were yelling at me we want full season points. So I yelled even louder and almost got thrown out, as Steve said.
"I think that this is the most perfect compromise that you could ever ask for. It's going to require our 2026 champion to be lightning fast and incredibly consistent, and that's what we can all get behind. So I'm really excited. I think it's fantastic. I would just appeal to the race fans, all the race fans, but especially the classic fans who say to me, I don't watch anymore. I say we need you. Come on back. We're headed in the right direction. Come back and join with us, and we'll keep making progress.
"One more thing. For the broadcasters, for the media, the journalists and everyone, this is a time for a change, a change in how we cover the sport, and that means, instead of every week talking about the cutoff line, the playoff, who's in, who's out, all these things, we need to focus even more on our heroes.
"These guys behind me that are winning these races are our Pearsons and our Yarboroughs and our Buddy Bakers of today, and we need our fans to connect with these guys. We need them to connect with the crew chiefs. We need to connect with the engineers as well. Give the fans something that they can connect to and help us bill these superstars like they deserve to be."
"Not only to Mark and Dale and even guys like myself and Ryan, who I think have kind of screamed at some of these things over the course of time of just wanting it to be better. I think we all want it to be better because, to Dale's point, we are fans of this sport. I grew up a fan. I watched that video. A lot of those years of Jimmie dominating and the championship of Tony and Carl all during the Chase were incredible runs. I think we oftentimes forget how good we had it through all those years of Chase format. I think it is a really nice compromise. I think getting a full season was going to be a pretty big challenge, and I'm not sure there's really a better place to land than a true 10-race Chase, really similar to what we had through those years of the epic battles that we saw.
"I personally appreciate Steve and the folks at NASCAR for being able to come together with our TV partners and making everyone happy. That's a really hard thing to do, and I think sometimes we all forget about that and just how many pieces make this puzzle.
"Really proud to be here. I can say that with complete honesty. This is something that I'm proud of as a competitor, something I'm looking forward to competing in and against these guys with, and I think, just from my perspective, challenge the race fans this year, let's enjoy what we got. We're so quick to complain about everything, everything that we have and everything that we do. Let's enjoy what we have because we're making history whether you like it or not.
"Celebrate the champion. Celebrate the guys who went out there and did a good job. I think this format promotes that. Let's enjoy what we have. We've got a pretty cool thing at the end of the day. Let's not forget about it, and enjoy what we got today."
"I think probably all three of us sitting up here are at the age where we all grew up, the Chase was in place, and this is what we watched as kids. I loved seeing it, and I loved seeing close battles.
"I feel like it also is going to -- I sit back, and I look at this new format, and sometimes we all get grief about over aggressiveness and things like that, and sometimes you get put in these situations where it's a win and move on type scenario. I think it's going to clean up a lot of the racing side of it and get back to the purity side of it to where it is a little bit more of not brash, a little bit more of the beautiful art form that I grew up loving.
"I am a huge fan of it, like Chase said and all these guys said. I appreciate NASCAR for listening. I appreciate all these guys, Mark and Dale, for being big voices for us. It's just fun to be a part of it. I look forward to next year, and consistency is going to be a massive part of it.
"It's not going to be -- I don't think you're going to get guys who get out and say good points day. It's still going to be winning is a huge product of it because of the increase in the winner's points. Yeah, I'm excited. I hope everyone is as excited as we all are to be a part of it and for them to watch it on TV."
Read and post comments