Brad Keselowski, who earned his NASCAR Cup championship in 2012 when the Chase was the post-season format, said he was surprised with this year’s reintroduction of it that more drivers haven’t changed their approach to the 2026 races.
“I am actually quite shocked we haven’t seen more of a difference,” Keselowski says in reference to how the drivers are racing this year. “I don’t think it’s really clicked yet for a good part of the field.”
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Two years after Keselowski won his title, NASCAR switched to a win-and-you’re in for the post-season and instituted elimination rounds in the playoffs. In the season finale, the series champion was determined by who had the best finish among the Championship Four. However, an uproar among the competitors and the fans that grew louder with each passing year led NASCAR during the off-season to revert to the champion being decided over the season’s final 10 races. The top 16 in the point standings at the end of the regular season—26 races—advance into the post-season title hunt. Keselowski says a “good part of the field” didn’t grow up racing for a championship with this year’s format.
“With the old format, you could throw races away. You can’t throw races away.”
“They’re going to have to adapt or be replaced,” says Keselowski, co-owner of RFK Racing. “That’s kind of how this sport works. It’s one of those things that sometimes you have to feel the pain first. I went back and re-watched the race at Darlington, and I saw a number of moves that I was really surprised by.”
Keselowski said he saw drivers who should have been content with where they were running and focused on finishing the race in that position even though it wasn’t the one they wanted.
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Kyle Larson speaks to crew chief Cliff Daniels.
“I see guys who don’t finish out the day and… you can’t do that with this format,” Keselowski said during preparations for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. “With the old format, you could throw races away. You can’t throw races away. I’m surprised by the lack of adjustment I’ve seen so far.”
Kyle Larson says his Hendrick Motorsports team hasn’t changed its approach this year, but teammate William Byron has noticed fellow competitors are a “little more protective of their finish.”
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“I think there’s more emphasis on finishing the race strong,” Byron says.
However, Byron notes this brings the importance of Stage points into the equation.
“Last year, we had a really good start to the season,” Byron recalled. “We scored a lot of Stage points. This year, we’re not scoring as many Stage points and we’re not as high up in the points.”
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William Byron.
Entering the season’s seventh race, Byron was sixth in the driver standings. Last year after six events, he was leading the points.
“You can’t overcome not having a good couple Stages,” Byron continued.
Larson says the change this year doesn’t seem different to him.
“I hear a lot of people talking, you know, points mean so much now. Points have always meant a lot,” Larson says. “I believe points racing was just as much, if not more important, before. I don’t think the racing has been any different this year. I think the media has played into it way more than it’s actually been on the track. The racing is every bit as aggressive as it once was.”
After six races, Larson was 10th in the standings, six points behind Keselowski in ninth.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.