NASCAR insider: 'Playoff format is here to stay,' attributes Martinsville controversy to system

NASCAR’s current Playoff format to determine its yearly Cup Series champion isn’t going away, at least according to one NASCAR insider.

Earlier this month, the Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi made it clear to NASCAR fans on The Teardown podcast that slight tweaks to the system might be up for discussion, but wholesale changes in Year 11 of the current Playoff format are not on the horizon, regardless of complaints from drivers and fans alike.

“The Playoff format isn’t going to change. I’ll say, before the last 20 laps of this race, or whatever it was, this was a damn good playoff race,” Bianchi said earlier this month on his podcast with fellow NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck. “This underlined the fact of why this playoff format is so good, because you had (Ryan) Blaney and (Chase) Elliot and I’ll throw (Kyle) Larson in there, and you had (Denny) Hamlin’s great run from the back, which is going to get overlooked today.

“All these guys are going at it, the gloves are off, they’re racing hard but clean – physical but clean – and they’re going for the win. This is a byproduct of the Playoff system, and it was fantastic to watch unfold. And it’s not going to change, I’m sorry. This playoff format is here to stay.”

The current playoff format came under fire following Joey Logano’s victory in the Cup Series championship race at Phoenix earlier this month, in which the Team Penske driver captured his third career title despite an average finish this season of 17.1, the worst for a driver in a championship season.

Adding fuel to the fire was the “race manipulation” at Martinsville Speedway that saw NASCAR penalize drivers Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace, deducting 50 driver points and a $100,000 fine. In addition, NASCAR fined the owners of each team $100,000 and deducted 50 owner points each. Crew chiefs Phil Surgen, Justin Alexander and Bootie Barker along with their respective spotters Brandon McReynolds, Brandon Benesch and Freddie Kraft, were suspended for the race at Phoenix.

“Honestly, by suspending the crew chiefs, I feel bad for them, because they’re effectively just delivering the message from above,” Bianchi said. “So I don’t know what you do. Again, if I’m Chevrolet and the 1 and the 3 get fined, I’m happily writing that check. Like, cool, thanks, here you go. Moving on. We’re going for the championship. Because it worked. I’d take that trade-off any day.”

But in the playoff format, adopted in 2004 and tweaked along the way, winning is everything. NASCAR switched to an elimination-style format in 2014, where 16 drivers make up the field. Winning at least one regular season race grants entry into the postseason, as Logano did at Nashville.

The playoffs take part across 10 races with four drivers eliminated after every three races until four remain. The season finale at Phoenix was a winner-take-all championship race and Logano has mastered the format, winning all three of his championships since 2018.

Ratings, meanwhile, went up 1% from last year. NASCAR averaged 2.892 million viewers over 36 events, with 2.895 million tuning into the Cup Series championship race at Phoenix. Playoff viewership was up 6% in 2024 from 2023.

NASCAR president Steve Phelps addresses future of playoff format

NASCAR president Steve Phelps pushed back Friday on criticism of the Championship 4 field, stating that three of the four drivers racing for a championship at Phoenix Raceway in early November won their way in and that the playoff format has delivered “incredible racing.”

“The format is the format. And we are always looking if there are opportunities for us to tweak something, so be it,” Phelps said. “We are not the only sport where the best statistical team does not get to the Final Four or the Super Bowl or the World Series. The format — there was a huge emphasis put 10 years ago when the format was put into place about winning. Three of the four on Sunday, they won to get through. I go back to the format itself I think creates incredible racing.”

Stern reported that several topics that could be examined include “whether a win should automatically qualify a driver for the playoffs, as is the case now, and possible changes like whether the regular season champion should get locked into one of the latter rounds of the playoffs, whether the final round should have more than four drivers, and whether the final round should be contested over multiple races instead of just one.”

While changes to the playoff format could ultimately be made, NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell confirmed the playoffs itself won’t go away. A return to the season-long points format to crown a champion is not on the table.

Nick Geddes contributed to this report.