{"id":410824,"date":"2026-01-15T11:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410824\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T11:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:49:08","slug":"what-top-nascar-prospect-connor-zilisch-thinks-of-new-playoff-format","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410824\/","title":{"rendered":"What top NASCAR prospect Connor Zilisch thinks of new playoff format"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor Zilisch<\/a> might be the only NASCAR Cup Series driver who can say the following.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a long time ago. I\u2019ve seen videos and stuff, but I don\u2019t have much memory of it,\u201d he told the News-Journal.<\/p>\n

No, at 19 years old and three years younger than anyone else in the Cup Series, he doesn\u2019t really remember the sport\u2019s first stint using \u201cThe Chase\u201d<\/a> as its postseason format<\/a>. The Chase was instituted in 2004, two years before Zilisch\u2019s 2006 birth. Its final season occurred in 2013 when Zilisch was 7.<\/p>\n

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But now, he\u2019ll receive an up close and personal look at it.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Jan. 12, NASCAR announced a return to that system, ending the four-round, winner-take-all playoffs it has used since 2014. The move arrived after more than a year of internal conversation \u2014 and fan outrage directed at the old format.<\/p>\n

The top 16 drivers in points at the end of the 26-race regular season will gain entry, and points will be adjusted based on position in the standings. From there, they\u2019ll compete in a 10-race Chase. Whoever has the most points at the end is the champion.<\/p>\n

No eliminations. And drivers can no longer guarantee postseason berths with a regular-season win.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI definitely think all drivers are pretty excited about this \u2014 just the legitimacy of crowning a champion,\u201d Zilisch said. \u201cI certainly think that, in the long run, this is for sure a better way to go. I think it\u2019s good for everybody. I think a lot of people are excited. The fans are excited, and it\u2019s certainly going to help put us back in a spot where the champions that we crown are 100%. All the fans can be appreciative of it, and there\u2019s not going to be any controversy around it going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

That last sentence might be a stretch. Controversy is always possible, and a loud contingent of hardcore fans wanted a comeback of the season-long points battle.<\/p>\n

But many drivers and fans felt the Chase represented a good compromise when the news dropped Monday.<\/p>\n

\"NASCAR's<\/p>\n

NASCAR’s best prospect, Connor Zilisch, will enter his rookie season in the Cup Series with a new playoff format.<\/p>\n

NASCAR pulled all the Cup Series drivers onto a call that morning to inform them of the switch before the broadcast announcement that afternoon. It didn\u2019t shock Zilisch. He had heard rumblings about the Chase returning throughout the offseason.<\/p>\n

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For him, it came one offseason too late.<\/p>\n

If the Chase was in place for 2025, Zilisch would\u2019ve claimed the Xfinity Series title<\/a>. He set a circuit record for wins in a season with 10. He finished in the top five in five of the seven postseason races, including one victory and two runners-up.<\/p>\n

But he placed third in the winner-take-all finale. Afterward, he sat on the ground next to his car with tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, the thought crossed my mind (when the new format was unveiled), but it\u2019s one of those things you can\u2019t really think about,\u201d Zilisch said. \u201cYou\u2019ve kind of just got to move on from it after it happens. It certainly was a tough couple days for me, losing that championship. But those are the things in life that are just going to happen. You\u2019ve just got to kind of let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Now, he enters his rookie campaign in the Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing. He remains the sport\u2019s best prospect.<\/p>\n

And regardless of playoff format, he doesn\u2019t think his approach will change.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal, no matter what the playoff format is, is to go out and win each weekend,\u201d Zilisch said. \u201cI think that goal remains the same. It\u2019s going to be exciting to see how it all plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n

When is the 2026 Daytona 500?<\/p>\n

The new NASCAR season will commence with the 68th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. The green flag is scheduled for shortly after 2:30 p.m. The race will air on Fox.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Connor Zilisch supports Chase as new NASCAR playoff format<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connor Zilisch might be the only NASCAR Cup Series driver who can say the following. \u201cIt was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,9398,634,82,171013,172897],"class_list":["post-410824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-connor-zilisch","tag-nascar","tag-sports","tag-the-chase","tag-zilisch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}