Friday 5: Would any of these ideas make the NASCAR playoffs better?
Just as Matt Kenseth’s one-win championship campaign in 2003 led to the creation of the NASCAR postseason in 2004, will Joey Logano’s championship this season spur playoff changes for next year or beyond?
A hot topic ahead of this year’s Championship 4 was if the Cup title contenders at Phoenix were the most deserving. While Tyler Reddick won the regular season championship, William Byron finished the regular season fifth, Ryan Blaney sixth and Logano 15th. Combined, the four title contenders won eight of the 26 regular-season races and nine stages.
Those who failed to advance to the title race included Kyle Larson, who finished the regular season second, Chase Elliott, who was third, and Christopher Bell, who was fourth. Combined, they won eight of 26 regular-season races and 21 stages.
Two days before Logano won his third Cup championship, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell opened the door to change with the playoffs.
“We'll absolutely look at what form the playoffs take in the offseason,” O’Donnell told reporters. “You always learn, like I said before, but playoffs in and of itself, as (NASCAR President Steve Phelps) said, you cannot argue with the quality of racing that the playoffs have delivered.
“You can talk about the format if we do some different things, but absolutely we're going to stick with (the playoffs).”
Series executives Steve Phelps and Steve O’Donnell covered a wide range of topics at their annual Phoenix Raceway news conference.
O’Donnell’s words set off a flurry of ideas, propositions and pleas within the sport and by fans.
While many ideas have been proposed, Austin Cindric has one request.
“If there are any changes made,” he said, “we cannot make it more difficult to educate people on how the playoffs work.”
With so much talk about playoff changes for next season, here are five to consider:
1. Revised playoff points format
In this one, playoff drivers have their own points system separate from the rest of the field.
“I think there was a really good point made by one of the drivers in our meeting (Saturday at Phoenix), that when it comes down to playoff drivers, playoff drivers race against playoff drivers,” Kyle Busch said. “So points per position are only between them, not positions in between. I think that’s probably the easiest, fairest way to do it.”
So playoff drivers only score a point when they pass another playoff driver. In the current system, a playoff driver scores a point for every position gained, whether it’s a playoff driver or non-playoff driver.
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Pro: Rewards drivers for a strong regular season because it could be harder for those at the bottom of the playoff standings to overcome those ahead of them and advance deep into the playoffs.
Con: Busch admits the potential flaw with this system, saying: “If you’re a guy that’s got 35 playoff points going into the final round of eliminations, well one point per position when you’re only fighting eight guys, it’s going to be really hard for any of those to really change hands.” That could impact the drama of who is going to advance and who is going to be eliminated in a cutoff race that NASCAR seeks.
2. Three-race final
The idea here is to not have one race — where something out of a title contender’s control could cost them a championship — but three races determine the champion. Maybe in this system, it still comes down to a winner-take-all event in the third race.
“Racing has so many variables to it, you have to create a larger sample size to get the true answer,” Denny Hamlin said. “So, I just believe we don’t live in a one-on-one sport, we don’t get a seven-game series or anything like that – we live in a world where in our sport only when our competition makes a mistake, it can cost us.
“Usually, in any other sport, competition makes a mistake you capitalize, and you score, or it benefits you. Our sport is not like that, so you must create a bigger sample size to get the right answer, and I just think that right now we’ve just narrowed it down to try to get these exciting moments week in and week out and I just think there’s a long-term negative effect to that.”
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Pro: In a three-race set, at least if a title contender is caught up in an incident triggered by a non-playoff driver, the title contender could still have a chance to win a championship. In a one-race title event, as is the case now, a significant issue is likely to cost that driver a shot at the championship. Also, this could help buildup the final race based on what happens in the two previous events.
Con: Will fans embrace this and watch all three races — which will be going against NFL games. Yes, fans have to make that choice now. Or will fans just wait until the final race to watch? Also, how does NASCAR like the idea of going away from a “Game 7 moment” that a one-race final presents?
3. The Cole Pearn playoffs
The former crew chief who guided Martin Truex Jr. to the 2017 Cup title watches the sport from afar and chimed in this week with an idea on social media.
Pearn’s plan is to carry the year-to-date points through the playoffs — instead of increasing each playoff driver’s points to 2,000 points before the round of 16, 3,000 points before the round of 12, 4,000 points before the round of 8 and 5,000 points before the title race.
Pearn would keep the concept of a playoff driver advancing to the next round with a win. The remaining spots would based on the year-to-date point totals.
Go off YTD point standings all year, top 16 get in playoffs. If you win in a round you advance, the remaining spots are filled by the YTD point standings that are being added to with each playoff race. Very high chance the best cars all make the last race, winner take all.
— Cole Pearn (@colepearn) November 13, 2024
Pro: As Pearn noted on social media, with this system there is a “very high chance the best cars all make the last race, winner take all.”
Con: There is the likelihood that the gaps between drivers could be too significant to overcome in a three-race round, if that remains. If so, what does that do to the drama of who advances?
4. Kevin Harvick’s idea
To ensure the best teams have a better chance to race for the championship, Kevin Harvick’s plan — detailed on his “Happy Hour” podcast — would have the regular season champion advance to the Championship 4 race. So, there’s no way that the regular season champ is eliminated ahead of the title race.
The runner-up in the regular season advances to the Round of 8, leaving that driver one round away from racing for a championship.
The driver who finishes third in the regular season advances to the Round of 12, meaning they have a bye in the first round.
Pro: As Harvick stated on his podcast: “It at least gives you something in the regular season to not only race for first, but we’re racing for first, second, third. … It makes winning more important in the playoffs because of the fact your Championship 4 only has three (spots left).”
Con: Will fans accept a regular season champion having nothing to race for in nine races — a quarter of a 36-race season — provided the playoff format remains at 10 races and there’s only a one-race championship event?
5. My idea
Since there is a frustration that the current format can keep some of the top teams from the regular season out of the Championship 4, let’s try this:
The top four in the points at the end of the regular season (before the reset) automatically advance to the third round, the Round of 8. In essence they get a bye through the first two rounds.
Those in positions five through 10 in the points at the end of the regular season (before the reset) automatically advance to the second round. They get a bye through the first round.
Now for the fun.
With a nod to the in-season tournament that will debut next year, those in positions 11 through 18 will face off in the first round to advance.
So the driver 11th in points will go against the driver in 18th. The driver 12th in points will go against the driver in 17th. The driver 13th in points will go against the driver in 16th. The driver in 14th will go against the driver in 15th.
Yes, this expands the playoffs by two spots, but it makes it difficult for those on the lower end to advance because of who they have to face. The driver who scores the most points in each matchup advances. If one wins a race in the opening round, they automatically advance and eliminate the other.
Pro: This guarantees the top four in the regular season make it to the final eight and are only one round from reaching the title race. This system also provides some head-to-head competition in the opening round.
Con: This violate’s Cindric’s rule of keeping it simple. But once in motion, it could be easier to understand.
