NASCAR president Steve Phelps addresses future of playoff format, responds to criticism

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 this Sunday won their way in and that the playoff format has delivered “incredible racing.”

Steve Phelps and Steve O’Donnell say the playoffs are here to stay and that the format produced great racing this year. pic.twitter.com/l0WNzkgmzW

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 8, 2024

“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.

“So, if we are all gonna be honest and say, ‘Hey, how’s the racing been during the playoffs and these nine weeks?’ I don’t think it’s been ever better, and I think part of that is due to the system itself. They raced their guts out. They did. Tyler Reddick two weeks ago [at Homestead-Miami]. Ryan Blaney last week [at Martinsville]. Chase Elliott trying to get in. [Kyle] Larson trying to get in. Racing their guts out. I think it provides great, great racing for our race fans.”

The Championship 4 includes Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and William Byron. Reddick is the regular season champion and got into the Championship 4 courtesy of his victory at Homestead. Logano is a two-time champion, but has an average finish of 17.6 this season, 14th among drivers.

Blaney is the reigning champion and took the checkered flag at Martinsville. Byron, meanwhile, has the best average finish of any of his fellow championship competitors (13.2), but hasn’t gotten to Victory Lane since April 7 at Martinsville.

NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell discusses future of playoff system

The four drivers who failed to make it through were Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott. Under the pre-playoff points system, Elliott would be heading to Phoenix with a 13-point advantage over the field. Bell was consistent throughout the season and looked to have advanced to the Championship 4 after passing Bubba Wallace on the final lap at Martinsville.

NASCAR, however, issued him a safety violation for riding the wall, giving Byron the last transfer spot. Larson has won a season-high six races this season but won’t be racing for his second Cup Series championship.

Kevin Harvick definitively said on his “Happy Hour” podcast this week that the four drivers racing for a championship aren’t the four best drivers. That’s been echoed by fans and others within the racing community, some suggesting a return to the pre-playoff format in which the driver with the most points at the end of the season was awarded the championship trophy.

NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell shut down any discussion of the sanctioning body moving away from a playoff system. O’Donnell left the door open for tweaks to be made to the format.

“The format is one thing,” O’Donnell said. “But playoffs, we’re not going to go away from playoffs. We read fans [reactions] and everything. So, we will as we always do, absolutely look at what form the playoffs take in the offseason. You always learn, but playoffs in and of itself, you cannot argue with the quality of racing that the playoffs have delivered. You can talk about the format and if we do some different things. But absolutely we’re going to stick with it.”