Chase Elliott is relishing the opportunity to race in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, which he believes is a “better environment to watch and be a part of” compared to the regular season.

Back in June, Elliott punched his ticket to the postseason by emerging victorious in the Quaker State 400, his lone win of the 2025 campaign. While making an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio ahead of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, he conceded that the regular-season races following a victory can feel “stale” at times.

“It’s easy to get into that lull and part of the season becomes stale,” he said before insisting that he isn’t “not trying or not that you’re not putting in the effort or not that you don’t enjoy going, but it’s just, it’s got a different vibe to it.”

The playoffs, in comparison, provide no shortage of excitement and entertainment. “And for me, those last 10 are, they feel like the sport should feel to me,” Elliott continued. “Like I get that…this is what sports and the fall and the Playoffs should feel like. And it just makes it really easy to get up and get excited and get fired up and do your homework and everything else, just because you know what’s on the line, something’s on the line every week, and you’re getting down to it.

“It’s either go big and make it happen or don’t. And it’s totally in your hands, whether or not that happens. And I love that. So that’s why I love the last 10, just because I think it brings a level of excitement that we all need and that I think is healthy to have. And when we have that type of intensity and something’s laid on the line every weekend, I think it’s just a better environment to watch and be a part of, and all of the above.”

Not everyone is as thrilled about the playoffs as Elliott, however. In recent years, the winner-take-all postseason makeup has been a topic of fierce debate, with fans, drivers and pundits alike weighing in on the matter. After Joey Logano’s championship win last season stirred up a wave of backlash, NASCAR officials fiercely defended the format before announcing that no changes would be made this year.

While Elliott loves the competitive spirit of the playoffs, he too believes that changes need to be made. Speaking to reporters last month, the No. 9 Chevrolet driver called for a return to a full-season points championship.

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“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,” he said. “It’s really been pretty tight all the way down to Daytona. If you just take that as your sample set over the first 26 weeks, it looks pretty solid to me. 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. Motorsports does not have to be like everybody else to be successful. And I’ll stand by that till I get done.”

For now, Elliott will have to make due with the current winner-take-all format. The playoffs kick off with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, where the 29-year-old has amassed four top-5 finishes since 2015.