![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2241857959_49586c.jpg\")
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Kyle Busch expressed confusion on NASCAR’s choice to return to The Chase<\/p>\n
Two-time NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series champion Kyle Busch<\/a> weighed in on the sport bringing back The Chase points format for 2026. The driver of the #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet said he believed NASCAR went away from The Chase for many good reasons, and is skeptical on why they\u2019d bring the format back.<\/p>\n NASCAR moved past The Chase format after the 2013 season and introduced the 16-driver grid format, a 10-race format where four drivers would be eliminated from the playoffs after every three playoff races.<\/p>\n In an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio<\/a>, Busch believed NASCAR changed the format in 2014 for a reason and is confused as to why they\u2019d return to the old system.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we got away from it for a reason in the past, so I\u2019m not real sure why we went back to it. The reason why we sorta went away from it was obviously Jimmie Johnson\u2019s dominance, number one. I feel like, number two, is there were times where guys, like myself, who would have one bad race or two that would then knock them out of the championship basically.\u201d<\/p>\n Busch went on to say that things like the nature of The Chase and how one bad race in the 10-race format can drain a driver\u2019s title hopes, he doesn\u2019t agree with the decision to return to the format.<\/p>\n However, the Las Vegas native went on to say that because of the culture of today\u2019s racing with drivers \u201ceverybody running over everybody\u201d all the time could shake things up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou might see everybody, all 16 of us, have a bad race. If all of us have a bad race, then that can just be construed as your throw-away, and you\u2019ve got to be good in the other nine [races].\u201d<\/p>\n Kyle Busch on If Winning Can Make Up for a Bad Race: \u2018If You\u2019re a Winner\u2019<\/p>\n Kyle Busch pulled no punches when asked if having a bad race in the reintroduced Chase format could be made up for by winning. With 76 the maximum amount of points that can be earned in a Chase race, Busch was asked on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio<\/a> if winning would have a positive effect.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a winner. If you\u2019re a Hendrick car, a Gibbs car, or a Penske car, yeah. Name me another team that wins races that\u2019s outside of those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Busch hasn\u2019t won in the NASCAR Cup Series since June of 2023 when he won at World Wide Technology Raceway. The 63-time Cup Series winner has also failed to make The Chase, formerly the playoffs, the last two years.<\/p>\n NASCAR Returned to The Chase Format Ahead of 2026 Season<\/p>\n After 12 seasons of the 16-driver, win-and-you\u2019re-in playoff format, NASCAR has returned to the 10-race Chase for 2026<\/a>. The 16 drivers who earn the most points through the regular season, which is the first 26 races of the season, will qualify for The Chase.<\/p>\n In the 10-race Chase, whoever has the most points at the end will become the champion. The points will reset prior to the beginning of The Chase with 25-point intervals between the drivers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJohn Breeden<\/a> John Breeden is a NASCAR contributor at Heavy Sports. He has five years of sports journalism experience. He graduated from James Madison University in May of 2022 with a degree in media arts and design. John is also a sports reporter for the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Previously, John was a sports writer for JMU’s The Breeze and a NASCAR content writer for Sportskeeda. More about John Breeden<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Kyle Busch expressed confusion on NASCAR’s choice to return to The Chase Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-450139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450139","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=450139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}