NASCAR insiders debate changes to NASCAR Playoffs

NASCAR announced this past Monday that there will be no changes to the playoff format for the 2025 Cup Series season.

The sanctioning body came to the decision to stay the course with its 16-driver elimination style format following a two-and-a-half-month discussion during the offseason. In the end, two-and-a-half months wasn’t enough time to come up with changes, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic wrote Tuesday. Gluck and Jordan Bianchi further discussed NASCAR’s decision to stick with the current playoff format on this week’s “Teardown” podcast.

Bianchi applauded NASCAR for not making significant changes in the short timeframe they had.

“I like the reasoning, and it makes sense,” Bianchi said. “When you step back from the emotion and all the vitriol that was kind of surrounding the playoffs and Joey Logano winning the championship and everything, I don’t think it’s a good idea to make a decision in that moment. You need to step back and really with a cooler head and a better perspective and say, ‘is this working?’ You look at the playoff format and most years, you have a pretty quote on quote deserving champ. This really was the first time we had a Cinderella type champion. And so, is it worth just because you didn’t like the champion and how Martinsville played out, are you gonna say, ‘we need to blow this all up?’ And I don’t think this is the right approach.

“If you want to make changes, I think what they’re doing is the smart thing. We’ve got new TV partners this year who are around for the next seven years. Let’s bring them into the fold, let’s talk to people. Let’s actually put some time and energy into this instead of making a decision [in two-and-a-half months] … I like the decision of we’re gonna bring everyone together, toss around some ideas and we’re gonna figure this out and we’ve given ourselves a year. I like that runway instead of rushing into a decision.”

NASCAR sticking with playoff format for 2025

Of course, the reason we’re here is because of Logano‘s Cup title win in 2024. Logano had an average finish this past season of 17.1, the worst for a driver in a championship-winning season. 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 is a winner-take-all championship race. Logano has mastered the format, winning all three of his championships since 2018.

Though no tweaks or substantial changes are on the way for 2025, 2026 could be in play for a shake-up. NASCAR said it plans to assemble a group consisting of drivers, team owners, manufacturers and media partners to determine if the playoff format should look different next season.

NASCAR insiders reveal what they would change about playoff format

Gluck said that if NASCAR were to make a change, he’d be in favor of going back to the 10-race Chase, even if it meant a driver having the championship all but secured going into the season finale.

“I think going back to the 10-race Chase with playoff points, I think that would be worth trying,” Gluck said. “And yes, you’ll say, ‘Well, yeah, you’ll go into the last race, and someone has a 30-point lead or whatever and all they have to do is finish 15th.’ OK, they earned it. They’re the champ and beat everyone over the course of 10 weeks. So, they win. Like, it’s OK. Let’s stop trying to force this. … You can keep a playoff thing. But give them a little bit of a reward, reset the points and go from there.”

As for what Bianchi would change, he mentioned the idea of possibly having a three-race finale to decide a champion instead of a one-race Championship 4.

“I like the format,” Bianchi said. “But I do think it’s worth exploring the three-race finale and doing something along those lines of if we keep the knockout, we keep the win and you’re in. Keep all the elements that set up the playoff. And then, make this playoff great where you win, you advance to the next round — I’m OK with that.

“If you wanna explore a three-race finale and have it to where those three tracks are on rotation because if you have three races, it moves up the calendar a bit where maybe it’s more advantageous if you can have a Kansas or a Charlotte that’s maybe in a little cooler climate that time of year. That is probably where I would really put a lot of my attention.”