Motorsports

NASCAR Crowns National Series Champions at 2025 NASCAR Awards Ceremony in Scottsdale – Speedway Digest

Published

2 months ago

November 6, 2025

In the moments after Kyle Larson and his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team celebrated his milestone second- career NASCAR Cup Series championship Sunday night at Phoenix Raceway, Hendrick executive, NASCAR Hall of Famer and four-time series champion Jeff Gordon grinned when asked if he worried Larson may one day surpass his own championship trophy total.

“I believe that records and championships, they’re made to be broken,’’ a smiling Gordon said of Larson. “As long as he’s on our team, I want him to win 10 [championships].”

On Tuesday evening in the JW Marriott Resort in Scottsdale, Larson was celebrated, toasted and even playfully roasted at the annual NASCAR Awards where the 2021 champ officially became only the sport’s third active full-time driver to earn multiple championships, adding the 2025 title to his resume of 32 series wins. And as Gordon indicated, all signs point to more of those big trophies in the future.

It marks the 15^th NASCAR Cup Series championship for NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Rick Hendrick and comes on the 30^th anniversary year from Gordon’s first title.

NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps introduced Larson to the stage as a “Future first-ballot, NASCAR Hall of Famer” noting the only question that remains about the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is by how far he will exceed so many expectations.

After thanking his wife, three young children, parents, sister, team, his public relations manager Jon Edwards, who passed away unexpectedly early in the season, and so many friends, Larson delivered a heartfelt, inspiring champion’s speech, noting the perseverance displayed for a comeback title-run in Sunday’s championship race.

“Our race on Sunday — winning the championship — really embodied everything about our season,’’ Larson said. “All the challenges, all the hard work, the setbacks we faced, and the fight we put in … it all came together in that moment.

“That win wasn’t just a finish line on a Sunday — it was a reflection of everything this team went through to get here,’’ said Larson, who closed his speech, dedicating the championship to Edwards.

So many of the sport’s other bright talents were also honored Tuesday, including the NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen. The former Australian SuperCars multi-time champion won a rookie record five races in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – all of them on road courses – and finished 12^th in the championship in his series debut.

As with his fellow honorees, the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, 20, delivered an emotional, heart-felt speech including a touching thank you to his family.

“To my mom and my sister. I know what you have sacrificed for me to chase this dream,’’ Love said. “The trips you didn’t take, the things you gave up, the years of stress and uncertainty. And I want you to know, tonight, that this championship is yours too. You both have carried me more times than you’ll ever realize.”

Love became emotional speaking about and thanking his father Duke, “My dad has been my coach, my best friend, my teammate, and my biggest believer.”

Love’s good friend and the Xfinity Series 10-race winner, 19-year-old JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch accepted the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award, reiterating despite the tough championship race outcome he is proud of his team’s record-breaking effort this year. Asked which of his many wins he considered his “favorite,” Zilisch smiled and declared his victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway this summer as his best.

“Because [team owner] Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. was on the pit box,’’ Zilisch said, grinning. “Pretty cool, his first win as a crew chief.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota co-driven by six drivers this season claimed the owner’s title in the Xfinity Series.

Another of the season’s most dominant 2025 competitors, 12-race winner TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim, 23, was celebrated for his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series title along with the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year Gio Ruggiero, who claimed his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway only three weeks ago.

The Georgia-native Heim set records in several competitive categories from his 12-trophy single season haul to the impressive record mark of leading at least one lap in every single race on the season (25).

“Before I was with Toyota — before any of this —it was just me and my dad,’’ Heim said. “My dad was my agent, my sponsor, and my number one fan. I’ve raced hundreds of times in my life, and I can count on one hand how many races he’s missed. He’s been there for every high and low. Thank you, Dad, for your unconditional support and belief in me from day one.”

Perhaps the least “surprising” moment of the night came when Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was announced as the NASCAR Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver. This is the eighth-consecutive time the 2020 series champion has claimed the honor as voted on by fans.

JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, the 2024 series champion, was the Xfinity Series Most Popular Driver for the sixth time and third consecutively. Spire Motorsports driver Rajah Caruth won the honor for the second straight year in the truck series.

Larson, now joins a short list of esteemed Californian multi-time champions, NASCAR Hall of Famers Gordon and seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson.

The 33-year-old Elk Grove native has long been considered a generational crossover – a natural talent in any kind of car he steers, but especially so in NASCAR’s premier Cup Series, where he posted three wins, earned a series best mark in laps led (1,106) and tied Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell with the most top-10s (22) on the year.

He rallied to the championship win Sunday over good friend, JGR’s Denny Hamlin, JGR’s Chase Briscoe – a first time Championship Four competitor – as well as Larson’s Hendrick teammate, the regular season champion William Byron.

All four spoke Tuesday night – and for Hamlin it was an especially emotional turn considering the veteran led four times more laps than any other driver in Sunday’s race but was unable to catch Larson after a late race restart and pit stop cycle reshuffled him farther back in the field.

Hamlin was heartbroken in the moment and the 44-year-old conceded later during interviews that this will take some time to “get over.” But he was steadfast in his praise of his No. 11 JGR Toyota team and the six-win season they earned together. His win at Las Vegas in the Playoffs marked the three-time DAYTONA 500 winner’s 60^th career victory.

“Really a proud moment for myself, my team, and my family, just a great day,’’ Hamlin said of that milestone win, adding of his 2025 season, “It was a good season, a great season, almost perfect.’’

In his speech, Larson noted the emotional ending to Sunday’s race, with words for his friend Hamlin.

“I’ve got to give a special shout-out to Denny Hamlin,’’ Larson said. “Nobody in this sport works harder or expects more out of himself. Year after year, he raises the bar and pushes his competitors to be better. He holds himself to a true championship standard, and I think everyone in this room has a ton of respect for that.”

Chevrolet won the manufacturer’s championship in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series and Toyota claimed the title in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

Among the other prestigious awards, longtime race announcer Mike Joy was awarded the prestigious Myers Brothers Award, voted on by the National Motorsports Press Association members for contributions to the sport. The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award went to Alabama’s Kate O’Neal who founded the non-profit Care Closets, that serves more than 11,000 children across 15 public schools providing clothing, shoes, school supplies and food.

The Comcast Community Champion of the Year award announced Monday with the prestigious honor going to NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Dye for his longstanding work in a suicide prevention. Dye founded non-profit “Race to Stop Suicide” in 2018 as a 14-year-old eighth-grader and has used his platform in NASCAR to spread the word and offer help to others.

“If you have a platform to do something good and you don’t use it, that’s a wasted opportunity,’’ Dye said.

The evening closed with a rousing standing ovation to the competitors, teams and people who support the sport, the final word a reminder that the green flag for the 2026 NASCAR season and the iconic DAYTONA 500 is set for Feb. 15 (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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Motorsports

NASCAR restores 10-race ‘Chase’ championship format – Orlando Sentinel

Published

23 minutes ago

January 13, 2026

Your Sports Nation

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR’s nearly two-year study into an overhaul of its championship-deciding format concluded Monday with the reveal that in 2026 the stock car series will return to a 10-race version closely resembling the very first iteration introduced 22 years ago.

The system will return to a 10-race format consisting of the top 16 drivers in the regular-season standings. There will be no driver eliminations every three races, winning will be incentivized and its name will return to “The Chase.” The driver with the most points at the Nov. 8 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be the champion.

“As NASCAR transitions to a revised championship model, the focus is on rewarding driver and team performance each and every race,” NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell said. “At the same time, we want to honor NASCAR’s storied history and the traditions that have made the sport so special.

“Our fans are at the heart of everything we do, and this format is designed to honor their passion every single race weekend.”

The changes come amid fan complaints to periodic tweaks of a system that was largely unchanged from its 2004 introduction to 2013 when Jimmie Johnson won six of his record-tying seven championships.

Changes slowly followed, with eliminations, an expanded field, a win-and-in guarantee and finally a winner-take-all season finale.

Fans had grown weary of the changes. Regular-season victories guaranteed a slot in the 10-race playoffs, a win in any of the first three three-race rounds advanced a driver into the next round, while the bottom three drivers at the end of each round were eliminated.

Finally, the winner was simply the highest-finishing driver among four remaining title contenders in the season finale.

THE TIPPING POINT

That system reached its breaking point in November when Denny Hamlin dominated the race until a late caution changed the final sequence and Kyle Larson won his second title by simply finishing ahead of Hamlin despite Larson not leading a single lap at Phoenix Raceway while mired in a 25-race losing streak.

Hamlin had won two playoff races – a Cup Series high six victories on the season – and led 208 of the 319 laps at Phoenix. He was the leader with three to go when a late caution changed the outcome and sent the race into overtime; Larson finished third, two spots ahead of Hamlin, to automatically claim the championship.

It wasn’t the only race on the final weekend of 2025 that didn’t finish as expected.

Corey Heim had 11 victories at the start of the Truck Series finale at Phoenix but needed to dip his truck low in an outrageous seven-wide scramble in overtime to secure the title. He did pull out the win and NASCAR dodged the controversy of the most consistent driver being denied a championship because of a gimmicky format.

NASCAR wasn’t so fortunate the next night in the Xfinity Series when 10-race winner Connor Zilisch lost the championship because Jesse Love won the race. Love opened the season with a win at Daytona and closed it with a win at Phoenix – his only two victories of the season but good enough in that format for a championship.

Fan discourse – which had been building for several years and intensified after Joey Logano won two titles in three years including in 2024 when he advanced on another’s driver elimination – exploded after Hamlin.

The changes announced Monday were already in the works and came after an extensive review that included collaboration between owners, drivers, automobile manufacturers, tracks, broadcast partners, and fans.

“Going into Phoenix was a hold your breath moment,” O’Donnell said. “We recognize someone winning the championship, absolutely they won it by the rules. But was it the best format that we could go with? The tide had turned in the garage.”

The new format is designed to bolster the importance of each race and reward consistency while maintaining the importance of winning. It will be known as its original name, ‘The Chase,’ with an also accepted use of ‘postseason,’ NASCAR is eliminating the vernacular ‘playoffs’ and ‘regular-season champion.’

NASCAR’S NEW FORMAT

Moving forward, the driver with the most points after the postseason finale will be champion in all three NASCAR national series. The Chase will comprise of the final 10 races for the Cup Series.

NASCAR has eliminated the automatic berth into the playoff field earned by winning during the regular season, a move designed to increase the importance of every event on the schedule and emphasize consistency throughout the regular season.

A race victory win will now earn the winning driver 55 points, up from 40 points, to reward drivers who battle for wins instead of settling for a solid points days. NASCAR hopes it encourages aggressive racing and strong team performance.

Points for all other positions, including stage points, remain the same.

The points leader after the regular season will receive a 25-point cushion over the second seed as the points will be reset for the 16 Chase drivers. A win in a playoff race no longer earns the automatic advancement into the next round – a move NASCAR says prevents teams from using the remainder of that particular round as preparation time for the finale.

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NASCAR returns to 10-race Chase format to decide national series champions – Speedway Digest

Published

2 hours ago

January 13, 2026

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR is heading full-steam into the future with a return to the past.

In response to growing sentiment among fans and stakeholders in the sport, the sanctioning body has opted to revive the Chase format to crown champions in its top three national series.

In the Cup Series, NASCAR’s top division, 16 drivers will qualify for a 10-race Chase based on the number of points they score during the 26-race regular season, according to the format announcement on Monday at NASCAR’s Production Facility in Concord, N.C.

Gone is the “win-and-you’re in” provision that governed qualification in the elimination Playoff format in use from 2014 through 2025. Under the Chase format, the top 16 drivers in points will compete for the series title irrespective of the number of regular-season victories they accumulate.

To provide balance and to elevate the importance of wins in the Chase format, NASCAR will award 55 points for a victory versus 40 under the elimination system. Points for all other positions, including stage points, remain the same, though Playoff points, an important element of the elimination format, are now a thing of the past.

No longer is there Regular Season Champion, but finishing first in the standings will continue to have substantial value. The points leader after 26 races will start the 10-event Chase with 2100 points, 25 more than the second-place driver and 35 more than the third-place qualifier.

From third on down, the value of each position to start the Chase declines in five-point increments, with the 16th-place driver receiving 2000 points. Under the Chase format, there are no eliminations and no single championship race to decide the title. The driver who scores the most aggregate points in the final 10 races will be crowned champion.

In the newly christened NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, 12 drivers will compete in a nine-race Chase; in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, 10 drivers will vie for the championship over seven races. Those numbers are commensurate with the respective proportions of the schedules of those two national divisions.

Landing on the Chase format followed lengthy discussions involving owners, drivers, manufacturers, tracks, broadcast partners and fans.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, a vocal advocate for a full 36-race championship format, was delighted with the compromise that revived the Chase.

“I think that this is the most perfect compromise that you could ever ask for,” Martin said at the announcement. “It’s going to require our 2026 champion to be lightning fast and incredibly consistent, and that’s what we can all get behind.

“So, I’m really excited. I think it’s fantastic. I would just appeal to the race fans, all the race fans, but especially the classic fans who say to me, ‘I don’t watch anymore.’ I say we need you. Come on back. We’re headed in the right direction. Come back and join with us, and we’ll keep making progress.”

Like Martin, NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell feels the return to the Chase provides a delicate balance between those who favor a full-season points race and those who prefer a postseason playoff.

“We believe we’ve struck that balance,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve got the best of both worlds where every race matters. We’ve talked to a lot of folks in the industry. We’ve run a lot of different models and believe this is the best place to land really to get back to who we are.

“That’s the core of NASCAR… and we’re really excited about the 2026 season.”

Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, grew up watching drivers compete in the Chase, the system used from 2004 through 2013, and was enthralled by what he saw.

“A lot of those years of (seven-time champion) Jimmie (Johnson) dominating and the (2011) championship of Tony (Stewart) and Carl (Edwards) all during the Chase were incredible runs. I think we oftentimes forget how good we had it through all those years of Chase format.

“I think it’s a really nice compromise. I think getting a full season was going to be a pretty big challenge, and I’m not sure there’s really a better place to land than a true 10-race Chase, really similar to what we had through those years of the epic battles that we saw.”

Kyle Larson, who won his second Cup title in November at Phoenix Raceway, favors the longer format, even when it was just theoretical—and even though next year’s final race is moving to Homestead-Miami Speedway, one of his favorite tracks.

“Even though Homestead’s arguably my best track and most dominant track, I still would feel like I have a better opportunity to win a championship going off—whatever it may be—a 10-race, three-race, four-race sort of point-earning thing,” Larson said two weeks before the Chase format was announced.

“With more races, it’s a little bit more in your hands… I think what we had kind of ran its course.”

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Motorsports

NASCAR restores 10-race ‘Chase’ championship format – Press Telegram

Published

2 hours ago

January 13, 2026

Your Sports Nation

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer

“As NASCAR transitions to a revised championship model, the focus is on rewarding driver and team performance each and every race,” NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell said. “At the same time, we want to honor NASCAR’s storied history and the traditions that have made the sport so special.

“Our fans are at the heart of everything we do, and this format is designed to honor their passion every single race weekend.”

The changes come amid fan complaints to periodic tweaks of a system that was largely unchanged from its 2004 introduction to 2013, when Jimmie Johnson won six of his record-tying seven championships.

Changes slowly followed, with eliminations, an expanded field, a win-and-in guarantee and finally a winner-take-all season finale.

Finally, the winner was simply the highest-finishing driver among four remaining title contenders in the season finale.

THE TIPPING POINT

It wasn’t the only race on the final weekend of 2025 that didn’t finish as expected.

NASCAR’S NEW FORMAT

Moving forward, the driver with the most points after the postseason finale will be champion in all three NASCAR national series. The Chase will comprise of the final 10 races for the Cup Series.

Points for all other positions, including stage points, remain the same.

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Motorsports

‘Shelby Legacy: Past, Present, and Future’ Tireside Chat at Savoy Automobile Museum

Published

3 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Your Sports Nation

CARTERSVILLE, GA – The Savoy Automobile Museum announced that its next Tireside Chat Series will be January 24, 2026. Join Wayne Carini—television personality and owner of F40 Motorsports—and Aaron Shelby, grandson of Carroll Shelby and member of the Board of Directors of Carroll Shelby International, for an engaging conversation on the Shelby name’s lasting impact on car culture, the importance of preserving its legacy, and the future of performance vehicles.

Wayne Carini—television personality and owner of F40 Motorsport

Aaron Shelby, grandson of Carroll Shelby and member of the Board of Directors of Carroll Shelby International Savoy Automobile Museum

The evening begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by the program at 7:00 p.m. This is a ticketed event. Tickets can be purchased on the event page at savoymuseum.org.

A ticket purchase to the program includes admission to the museum. Attendees are encouraged to take a few minutes to visit the temporary exhibit, Shelby Built, on exhibit now through March 1, 2026.

For those few left out there that do not know, Carroll Shelby was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur best known for his involvement with AC Cobra and Mustang-based performance cars. He was the only individual to win 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver, team manager, and manufacturer, as well as known for creating high-performance cars for both the street and track. He not only worked for Ford but also collaborated with other manufacturers. This exhibit highlights not only the most well-known vehicles, but also some of the lesser-known ones.

NOW ON DISPLAY

1966 Shelby Mustang GT350 Fastback, On loan from The American Muscle Car Museum
1966 Shelby AC Cobra MKIII 427 Roadster, On loan from The American Muscle Car Museum
1967 Shelby Mustang GT500, On loan from The American Muscle Car Museum
1983 Dodge Shelby Charger, On loan from The American Muscle Car Museum
1986 Dodge Shelby Omni GLHS, On loan from Larry and Rachelle Weymouth
1989 Dodge Shelby Dakota Pickup, On loan from The American Muscle Car Museum
1999 Shelby Series 1 Roadster, On loan from The American Muscle Car Museum
2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 Super Snake Coupe, On loan from Rickey & Pat Stone Collection, Calhoun, GA
2022 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 Heritage Edition, On loan from The American Muscle Car Museum

This exhibit, Shelby Built, is sponsored in part by Tom & Ann Earley

Savoy Automobile Museum is located at 3 Savoy Lane, Cartersville, GA. The museum is open Tuesday – Sunday. Savoy Automobile Museum is the latest program to join Georgia Museums, Inc. (GMI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates Bartow History Museum, Booth Western Art Museum, and Tellus Science Museum. Dedicated to growing the resources of these cultural institutions, GMI strives to provide the highest quality museum experiences. For more information, visit savoymuseum.org.

If you like stories like these and other classic car features, check out Old Cars magazine. CLICK HERE to subscribe.

Want a taste of Old Cars magazine first? Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter and get a FREE complimentary digital issue download of our print magazine.

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Motorsports

NASCAR reverts to the Chase for the Championship format in 2026

Published

3 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Starting in 2026, NASCAR will revert to a variation of the Chase for the Championship format it used to crown its champions from 2004-to-2013.

In other words, no more win and you’re in and no more multiple elimination rounds. Most importantly, the sample size to determine the champion is no longer a single race but a 10-race points race.

However, unlike NASCAR’s first version of a playoff, which included 10 and then 12 drivers, this version will feature the expanded 16 that the most recent version used over the past decade.

But again, winning is no longer the point of entry as the top 16 drivers in points following the 26-race regular season will make the Chase for the Championship. However, winning races will have an increased impact on the new format as wins count for 55 points instead of 40.

Second place will still pay 35 points, third 34 points, so on and so forth.

Once the Chase for the Championship begins, the regular season champion will begin the final 10 races with a 25-point advantage over the second-place finisher down to 100 over the 16th seed.

1st: 2100
2nd: 2075
3rd: 2065
4th: 2060
5th: 2055
6th: 2050
7th: 2045
8th: 2040
9th: 2035
10th: 2030
11th: 2025
12th: 2020
13th: 2015
14th: 2010
15th: 2005
16th: 2000

The O’Reilly Series and Craftsman Truck Series will feature a Chase for the Championship too with 12 and 10 drivers respectively. The NOAPS Series will feature a nine-race Chase and the Trucks will feature a seven-race Chase.

NASCAR will still feature stages, which also continue to pay stage points, which provide even more opportunities to score points to make the playoffs and race for the championship over the final 10 races.

Quotes

“I was really excited to hear the news that we were getting a little closer to a full 36-race format. This is as close in my opinion that you can get without going all the way.

“What I believe it does is it makes it simpler for our fans to follow. I’m a fan of the sport, and now I’m compelled to plug in every single week because I know there’s a long form objective for my driver to accomplish to be able to give himself the opportunity to win the championship.

“So even though my driver may have success early on in the season, it does not assure him success in the postseason. So with the way that they’re going to stack the bonus points and everything else, it’s critical that these drivers have success every single week. Every single race, every single lap will have more importance. I think it’s fun for the drivers to have a more clear objective for how to get to the championship and easier for our fans to follow.”

Watch: Mark Martin on 10-race Chase: ‘This is the most perfect compromise’

The fans were yelling at me we want full season points. So I yelled even louder and almost got thrown out, as Steve said.

“I think that this is the most perfect compromise that you could ever ask for. It’s going to require our 2026 champion to be lightning fast and incredibly consistent, and that’s what we can all get behind. So I’m really excited. I think it’s fantastic. I would just appeal to the race fans, all the race fans, but especially the classic fans who say to me, I don’t watch anymore. I say we need you. Come on back. We’re headed in the right direction. Come back and join with us, and we’ll keep making progress.

“One more thing. For the broadcasters, for the media, the journalists and everyone, this is a time for a change, a change in how we cover the sport, and that means, instead of every week talking about the cutoff line, the playoff, who’s in, who’s out, all these things, we need to focus even more on our heroes.

“These guys behind me that are winning these races are our Pearsons and our Yarboroughs and our Buddy Bakers of today, and we need our fans to connect with these guys. We need them to connect with the crew chiefs. We need to connect with the engineers as well. Give the fans something that they can connect to and help us bill these superstars like they deserve to be.”

Watch: Elliott on The Chase returning: ‘We’re making history’

“Not only to Mark and Dale and even guys like myself and Ryan, who I think have kind of screamed at some of these things over the course of time of just wanting it to be better. I think we all want it to be better because, to Dale’s point, we are fans of this sport. I grew up a fan. I watched that video. A lot of those years of Jimmie dominating and the championship of Tony and Carl all during the Chase were incredible runs. I think we oftentimes forget how good we had it through all those years of Chase format. I think it is a really nice compromise. I think getting a full season was going to be a pretty big challenge, and I’m not sure there’s really a better place to land than a true 10-race Chase, really similar to what we had through those years of the epic battles that we saw.

“I personally appreciate Steve and the folks at NASCAR for being able to come together with our TV partners and making everyone happy. That’s a really hard thing to do, and I think sometimes we all forget about that and just how many pieces make this puzzle.

“Really proud to be here. I can say that with complete honesty. This is something that I’m proud of as a competitor, something I’m looking forward to competing in and against these guys with, and I think, just from my perspective, challenge the race fans this year, let’s enjoy what we got. We’re so quick to complain about everything, everything that we have and everything that we do. Let’s enjoy what we have because we’re making history whether you like it or not.

“Celebrate the champion. Celebrate the guys who went out there and did a good job. I think this format promotes that. Let’s enjoy what we have. We’ve got a pretty cool thing at the end of the day. Let’s not forget about it, and enjoy what we got today.”

“I think probably all three of us sitting up here are at the age where we all grew up, the Chase was in place, and this is what we watched as kids. I loved seeing it, and I loved seeing close battles.

“I feel like it also is going to — I sit back, and I look at this new format, and sometimes we all get grief about over aggressiveness and things like that, and sometimes you get put in these situations where it’s a win and move on type scenario. I think it’s going to clean up a lot of the racing side of it and get back to the purity side of it to where it is a little bit more of not brash, a little bit more of the beautiful art form that I grew up loving.

“I am a huge fan of it, like Chase said and all these guys said. I appreciate NASCAR for listening. I appreciate all these guys, Mark and Dale, for being big voices for us. It’s just fun to be a part of it. I look forward to next year, and consistency is going to be a massive part of it.

“It’s not going to be — I don’t think you’re going to get guys who get out and say good points day. It’s still going to be winning is a huge product of it because of the increase in the winner’s points. Yeah, I’m excited. I hope everyone is as excited as we all are to be a part of it and for them to watch it on TV.”

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NASCAR Brings Back ‘The Chase’ Championship Format for 2026 Season – Speedway Digest

Published

4 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR is turning back the clock in 2026, reintroducing “The Chase” as the championship format for its three national series. The move marks a return to the postseason structure that defined the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2013, following an extensive review process involving team owners, drivers, manufacturers, tracks, broadcast partners, and fans.

The revamped system emphasizes consistency and performance across the entire season while maintaining the drama of a playoff-style finish. Under the new format, the driver with the most points after the postseason will be crowned champion in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The Chase will span the final 10 races for the Cup Series, nine for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and seven for the Truck Series.

Several key changes accompany the return of The Chase:

No More “Win and You’re In”: A race victory will no longer guarantee a playoff berth. Drivers must perform consistently throughout the regular season to qualify.
Bigger Points for Wins: Winning a race will now earn 55 points, up from 40, reinforcing the value of aggressive racing and strong team execution.
Points-Based Qualification: The top 16 drivers in regular-season points will make The Chase in the Cup Series, with 12 and 10 drivers qualifying in the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Truck Series, respectively.
Regular-Season Champion Advantage: The points leader entering The Chase will start with a 25-point cushion over second place.
Seeded Points Structure: Drivers will begin The Chase with tiered points, starting at 2,100 for the top seed and descending to 2,000 for the 16th seed.

The changes aim to create a larger sample size for determining champions, increase the significance of every race, and reward season-long excellence while keeping winning central to the sport’s identity.

Chase Seeding Points:

1st: 2100

2nd: 2075

3rd: 2065

4th: 2060

5th: 2055

6th: 2050

7th: 2045

8th: 2040

9th: 2035

10th: 2030

11th: 2025

12th: 2020

13th: 2015

14th: 2010

15th: 2005

16th: 2000

With The Chase returning, NASCAR hopes to blend tradition with modern competition, delivering a format that honors its history and keeps fans engaged through every lap of the season.

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