NASCAR wants to "do it right" if they change the playoff format

Following the release of the 2026 schedule for all three national divisions, NASCAR executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovation officer, Ben Kennedy, took part in a media availability to discuss some of the changes. He was joined by Jusan Hamilton, the managing director, competition operations.

Along with schedule-specific questions, Kennedy was also asked about the playoff format for 2026, which has been a topic of intense debate over the summer months. NASCAR’s official social media graphic lists the usual elimination-style rounds, but Kennedy revealed that the format is not yet set in stone.

“It’s not yet,” said Kennedy when FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass asked about the format being locked in. “I know the playoff committee has had a number of meetings over the past several months on different formats that we could look at, and they’ve run a handful of simulations on just various formats, collected some fan feedback.

“I know there are conversations as early as a couple days ago on what the future of the playoff format looks like. Nothing to announce today. What I would say, though, is we want to make sure that we take the time to do it right, that we collect as much information as we can, and hopefully whatever this new format is, if there is a new format, it’s something that will last a long time.

“We want to be thoughtful and diligent about it, make sure we make the right decisions and moves and give both our fans and our competitors something that they can be really proud of going forward. Move to come on that in the future.”

What could change?

While no details have been revealed by the sanctioning body, there are several alternatives to the current format that continuously come up in public discussions: 1. Keeping the current format, but remove the one-race finale and extending it into multiple races like the previous rounds; 2. A return to the original playoff format with the driver with the most points over the course of the final ten races being crowned champion; 3. Going back to a full-season points championship like the series had from 1949 through 2003.

The main issue with the current format, which has delivered some incredible moments like Ross Chastain’s 2022 wall-ride, is that it often produces a champion who wasn’t truly one of the best drivers from that particular season. 

Another point of contention has been the ‘win and you’re in’ aspect of the current system. Austin Dillon entered Richmond 28th in points, but his impressive victory knocked Chris Buescher (11th in points) off the playoff bubble.

If there is a new winner from below the cut-line this weekend, it will eliminate either Tyler Reddick or Alex Bowman, who enter Daytona seventh and ninth in the regular season standings, respectively. There are 20 drivers with a chance to do that, going all the way back to Cody Ware, who is 36th in the championship standings.