Chase Elliott, the Hendrick Motorsports driver and current leader in the Cup Series standings, has once again voiced his desire for NASCAR to end its playoff format and return to deciding the championship over the course of the entire season. Elliott’s call reignites the ongoing NASCAR playoff debate focused on whether a full-season points system better reflects driver performance.
The playoff system, initially called the Chase for the Cup, was introduced in 2004 to add excitement and maintain suspense until the final races. It features a 10-race, four-round elimination structure beginning with 16 drivers and concludes with a single, winner-takes-all race to crown the champion. This format has since expanded to the Xfinity and Truck Series as well.
Reasons Behind Elliott’s Push for a Full-Season Championship
Though Elliott himself won his first Cup Series title under the playoff system in 2020, he believes recent seasons show parity and competition have been strong throughout the regular season. Speaking ahead of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, he noted the championship battle has remained tight across nearly all points-paying events.
“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 really been pretty tight all the way down to Daytona,”
Elliott said.
He added that if the champion was determined by the full 36-race schedule, it would be a true reflection of who was the best overall performer.
“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,”
he stated.
Emphasizing his conviction, Elliott said,
“Motorsports does not have to be like everybody else to be successful. And I’ll stand by that til I get done.”
Brad Keselowski Supports a Return to Season-Long Evaluation
2012 Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski shared Elliott’s concerns, highlighting that the playoff format obscures the progress made in competition, especially with the introduction of the Next Gen car. Keselowski argued that the level of parity created by the new car is not fully appreciated under the current playoff system.
He explained on X (formerly Twitter),
“Strikes me just now, part of what’s holding the Nextgen car back in popularity is that the parity it has generated can’t be recognized and celebrated in a playoff format.”
Keselowski further added,
“The small sample size of races in the current format creates a natural oblivious state to the excellence this car requires from teams and drivers to get weekly results…”
and concluded plainly,
“Or In short: What Chase said…”
Potential Impact and Future of NASCAR’s Championship Format
The debate raised by Elliott and Keselowski highlights a growing concern among drivers and fans regarding the fairness and accuracy of the playoff system. The traditional full-season points model would reward consistent performance throughout all 36 points-paying events, potentially redefining the value of each race and the strategies employed by teams.
As the Cup Series moves forward, discussions around the playoff format may influence NASCAR’s decisions about how to enhance competition while retaining fan interest. Whether the current playoff system will evolve or be replaced by a return to full-season scoring remains uncertain, but these voices underscore the ongoing dialogue about the best way to crown a champion in stock car racing.
