Jeff Gluck reveals growing momentum for 36-race NASCAR championship, possibility of future change

Jeff Gluck, a NASCAR insider for The Athletic, shared the latest on the possibility of a 36-race championship for the Cup series. On The Teardown podcast, Gluck revealed that the NASCAR Playoff committee had a meeting last week, and there were more discussions about going back to the old format to determine a champion.

“This meeting was interesting in that numerous people, maybe half a dozen, spoke about 36 races, and made the case for 36 races, and why they feel that that would be the best thing for the sport,” Gluck said. “It was compelling for all the reasons we talked about all year. I am on that train myself. …There’s momentum within the industry of why 36 makes sense.”

But does that mean NASCAR will make the change and have a 36-race championship format? “I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Gluck said. “Sorry to burst your bubble, as I’m talking about this for those who want it.” But Gluck then said the format “has been considered and is on the table as an option. They have looked at it. They are looking at it. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility.”

The 36-race championship format was the format NASCAR used from 1972 to 2003. The playoffs began in 2004 for multiple reasons, including making the mid-season more competitive, TV ratings, and increasing fan interest.

Will the NASCAR championship format change in 2026?

The current playoff system includes 16 drivers competing in the final 10 races of the season. The bottom four drivers are eliminated after every third race, and the remaining four compete in a championship race, which the driver that has the highest finish wins the title.

The way to clinch a spot in the playoffs is winning one of the 26 regular-season races or being in the top 16 in Cup points. The driver who is on top of the standings when the regular season ends wins the NASCAR Regular Season title.

Earlier this month, Mike Forde, NASCAR’s managing director of racing communications, talked about potential changes to the playoff format in 2026. “We’re getting very close. We have a final playoff committee meeting, which I’m on that committee. That is coming next week, mid-week next week,” Forde said on the Hauler Talk podcast. “I think the plan for that meeting is to discuss the shortlist of potential formats and get the playoff committee’s opinion on all that. We’ll go through that process, and then hopefully, make a determination of an even shorter list until we can whittle it down to one final format.”