Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Chase Elliott's call for season-long NASCAR points system

When it comes to crowning a NASCAR champion, Dale Earnhardt Jr. might have different thoughts than others on the matter. Chase Elliott let his feelings be known on how he sees the points and playoff system earlier today at Indianapolis.

Turns out, Dale Jr. and Chase Elliott are more or less in agreement. Elliott is an old-school racer. His dad taught him how to be a driver, and you can tell in how he handles himself off and on the track.

So, would it shock you to learn that Elliott favors a season-long points/championship system? Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels the same way, apparently.

“I can’t argue with this,” Dale Jr. said about Elliott’s comments. They definitely aren’t alone.

I can't argue with this. https://t.co/p1axIAffx5

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) July 25, 2025

Elliott put his thoughts out there. He clearly has his preference for how the NASCAR champion should be crowned.

“We’ve had a really good and competitive battle to the regular season [championship] over – correct me if I’m wrong – the last two or three years. It’s been really tight all the way down to Daytona. If you just take that as your sample set over the first 26 weeks, it looks pretty solid to me,” Elliott said, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic.

“The system would be just fine if you just had a full season. And if somebody runs away with it, so what? Let’s celebrate the fact that somebody ran away with it, that somebody was just that good. Motorsports does not have to be like everybody else to be successful. And I’ll stand by that till I get done.”

So, are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chase Elliott right? For what it’s worth, Earnhardt also said he wouldn’t be against the original Chase format.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced under various points formats

Any driver who was around from the late 2000s to the early 2010s was part of various points formats in the NASCAR Cup Series. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was around for the Winston Cup points, Chase, and was still around for the current iteration, which began in 2014.

So, Earnhardt is one of the few drivers who has experienced all of these forms of the championship. He doesn’t seem to be too particular to one or the other, though. I think he would prefer the season-long points format return. But his comment in the same tweet thread about the original Chase is interesting as well.

NASCAR is clearly particular about the playoffs. They do not appear to be getting rid of them any time soon. However, there could be changes coming to the format.