Last weekend, Shane van Gisbergen triumphed in Mexico City to book his NASCAR Cup Series playoff berth. On one hand, he put on a masterful display at the road course and fully deserved the win, but this win ignited a fierce playoff debate. The NASCAR Playoff system has long been a divisive topic, largely thanks to the ‘Win and You’re in’ formula. Take Joey Logano’s 2024 campaign as a fine example.
The #22 Team Penske driver recorded the worst average finish ever by a Cup Series champion, 17.1, and won just one regular season race, only to win 3 out of 10 races en route to the championship. In the same 2024 season, Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe both won a race and made the playoffs despite being outside the top-20 in points for most of the season. Now, the fans are not the only ones complaining, but even prominent NASCAR legends like Mark Martin have weighed in.
Mark Martin feels NASCAR does not care
It’s no secret that Mark Martin has been a critic of the playoff system. Earlier this year, on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Martin voiced his displeasure toward the format, saying, “I personally don’t like the whole point system. I don’t like it, I think it should be a full season, and I think there’s some tweaks to the old classic points system that could be made… Winning a race shouldn’t be a ticket to the championship.” He wants NASCAR to revert to the Winston Cup days, where each driver fought for every position tooth and nail, as long-term consistency played a huge part.
With the playoff format, all it takes is being in the right place at the right time in 10 crucial races, and then you are set. Now, when Shane van Gisbergen, 30th in points, locked himself into the playoffs, many feel that this takes away from the consistency of a driver placed 15th – 16th in the standings. NASCAR icon Richard Petty even criticized road course wins overall, saying, “You’re making a championship situation by winning a road course, which is not really NASCAR to begin with.”
Recently, the Scene Vault Podcast on X posted a poll for fans to vote on which championship format they preferred. The results? Unsurprisingly, 80% opted for a full season championship over the playoff format, and when Mark Martin saw this, it only deepened his frustration towards the governing body. Mark Martin wrote on X, “I did a similar poll recently and saw similar results. Problem is decision makers don’t care what the fans want. It’s all about what broadcast partners want. I’m sorry, but I can’t win this battle for our great fans. It’s extremely frustrating to me.” The results of Martin’s poll had revealed that 60% of his fans preferred ‘The Winston’ classic points format.
I did a similar poll recently and saw similar results. Problem is decision makers don’t care what the fans want. It’s all about what broadcast partners want. I’m sorry but I can’t win this battle for our great fans. It’s extremely frustrating to me. https://t.co/YeQPc5fRod
— Mark Martin (@markmartin) June 16, 2025
Fan displeasure toward the playoff format has been loud and clear over the past decade. In fact, the governing body has even admitted to actively working on tweaking the format after backlash received following Joey Logano‘s 2024 run. NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development, John Probst, admitted that they want to explore changes, but not for the 2025 season, targeting 2026 as a timeline for change.
“We just didn’t get to a point where you felt like, ‘We have to do it.’ But we hear the fans loud and clear and are looking at it actively,” Probst told the Athletic. In January 2025, NASCAR even sent out a letter to the drivers ahead of the new season, writing, “It’s important to note this is not a guarantee that we’ll change anything. But we owe it to the sport and our fans to explore the potential.”
Then, NASCAR also admitted to using AI technology to explore the financial and logistical viability of different formats, as NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell said in January 2025, “When we created even the stages or playoff format (years ago), you did that with the best data you had and best minds you had, but now being able to plug in and work with AI in terms of, ‘OK, if you tweak the playoffs this way, what should we be watching out for?’ or ‘How could that affect the sport?’ — there’s so much data and technology out there that you can throw into a model.”
It’s safe to say, NASCAR is admittedly exploring new possibilities, but as long as this playoff format exists, backlash is inevitable, and fans went all in.
Fans on Reddit express their displeasure along with solutions
It didn’t take long for people to add to the playoff debate that Mark Martin ignited, and many vented their frustration. NASCAR Reddit was where the discussion started, with one fan writing, “Something NASCAR has lost is a good championship duel. Long gone are the days of Kenseth v. Johnson 2013, Edwards v. Stewart 2011, Hamlin v. Johnson 2010, etc. Bring back a 10-race dash if you can’t bring back the Winston Cup format.”
The championship fights mentioned by this fan are undoubtedly some of the finest the sport has ever seen. Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart in 2011 saw the final be decided on a race-win tiebreaker after the two were level on points after the finale at Homestead! Such thrilling deciders will never be seen again, and that’s what fans sorely miss.
Another fan added, “I mean they keep talk about how the regular season championship came down to a point last year and all I can think is “OK, what if that was for THE ACTUAL CHAMPIONSHIP” that would have been an amazing all time classic season and instead it’s only for a point boost going into the lottery where neither one of them even got a chance at the cup. So stupid.” This fan is reflecting on the loss in value of the ‘regular season championship’, which has just turned into a placeholder title that gives you extra playoff points.
On a similar vein, some expanded on the rivalry issue or the lack of it. Another fan said, “There’s a lot of stuff like that gone. Especially rivalries – true rivalries, like drivers straight up hating each other. Not the Hamlin/Larson stuff where they wreck each other and play golf with each the next day.” Once you win and get into the playoffs, getting wrecked out on a random Sunday before the playoffs is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. That’s why this fan feels rivalries have significantly died down as drivers don’t feel much pressure of losing before the playoffs begin.
Speaking of the playoffs, some people actually missed the format’s predecessor, “The Chase era in my opinion was the perfect compromise format. If I could have my way, I would go back to 10 races, 10 drivers, no elimination.” The Chase format was the brainchild of NASCAR’s eventual playoff system. Introduced in 2004, the Chase format saw the top-10 drivers in points standings with 10 races to go, face a reset in points within 5 points of the next driver, and fight for a championship. This produced some incredible drama, as drivers could significantly recover or lose points in just a few races, changing the complexion of the championship overnight.
For the playoff format, a lot of blame was laid at the feet of the NASCAR ownership, as one fan wrote, “I can’t believe Brian France was stupid enough to get rid of the OG Chase format, and I can’t believe NASCAR’s current leadership is too stupid to realize that it’s 100x better than what they have right now. I’d love to have full-season points back, but if that’s not possible, the playoffs need to be the 10-race chase with 10 drivers. No rewarding mediocrity, the true best of the best, a sample size that isn’t stupidly small, and the championship actually means something.”
‘Rewarding mediocrity’ has been the tone of all complaints so far, as fans feel the best drivers of the season rarely get a chance at the championship, the more mediocre but consistently surviving drivers get a fortunate shot at winning it all. What do you think NASCAR should do with its playoff format? Let us know in the comments!
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