Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not hold back when discussing NASCAR’s previous championship run that was more of a traditional playoff format. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt opened up about how the playoff format was preventing him from having the same passion for NASCAR as he did when he was younger.
“When we had the full season points, you couldn’t take a week off as a fan because that race might be the race where your guy breaks a motor and gives up 180 points,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “That race that’s in the middle of the year that seems like it’s not really that important could be the one that loses you the championship.
“We had lost that. I had lost that. I was not being drawn to the sport every weekend. I was not wanting to devour it up. I was sitting there going, ‘You know what, I kind of know who’s in the playoffs. I can kind of check out. I’ll see the highlights in the middle of the week. I can miss this one. I don’t need to tune in today.’”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was ‘not drawn’ to NASCAR races under the playoff format
Earnhardt went on to say that he was “not drawn” to the races before NASCAR went to The Chase format to determine a champion. “I’m careful to admit this because f**k me man, I’m a broadcaster. I got all kinds of roles and responsibilities,” he said. “I don’t know if that hurts my position in the sport to say s**t, I was falling out of love with it. I really was.”
In the previous format, the top 16 drivers qualified for the playoffs, with the bottom four drivers eliminated after three races. Drivers qualified for the playoffs by winning a race in the regular season or finishing in the top 16 in points.
With The Chase, winning a race in the regular season doesn’t guarantee a driver a spot in the postseason. And for drivers who win a race in the regular season, they will earn 55 points instead of 40. NASCAR fans will see how The Chase plays out when it starts on Sept. 6 at Darlington. The regular season will start on Feb. 15 with the Daytona 500.