When planning a new schedule, NASCAR considers all possibilities. This year, NASCAR took the opportunity to change the Playoffs dramatically, and in doing so, they may have created the craziest playoff schedule ever.
This year, the Round of 16 features Atlanta, Watkins Glen, and Bristol, already pretty crazy. Next year, this round will feature three tracks that have had multiple different winners in their last few races.
The cutoff race is the last race before the playoffs. In the past, it has been on a short track. However, from 2020 to 2023, Daytona hosted the cutoff for the Cup Series.
The benefit NASCAR saw in moving Datytona to that spot was the chaos of one last Superspeedway race with everything on the line. In the first season, William Byron won his first race and shook up the playoffs.
Darlington took over this season for complex scheduling reasons involving the Olympic break. However, Daytona is back at the cutoff in 2025.
NASCAR adds Darlington back to the playoffs as the opener in 2025, and as Marty Smith says in NASCAR: Full Speed, “If you disrespect the Lady in Black, she’s gon bite your ass.” The egg-shaped track has seen lots of drama in the past, and 2025 will be no different.
WWT Raceway, just outside of St. Louis, joins the playoffs as well. Earlier this year, WWT saw a dramatic finish, with leader Christopher Bell having engine troubles as the race wound down and second-place Ryan Blaney running out of fuel, leaving the race in Austin Cindric’s hands.
This year, the Round of 12 is the chaos round, featuring Kansas, Talladega, and the Charlotte Roval. Next year, very few changes will happen in Round 12.
Kansas remains in its spot after its thrilling finish this spring. Many fans were calling for it to be the championship race, but of course, that wouldn’t happen. Though it is a fun concept to think about.
The only addition to this Round is New Hampshire. New Hampshire has a history of underdog winners, like young Joey Logano, Brian Vickers at Michael Waltrip Racing, and Aric Almirola in 2021.
New Hampshire replaces Talladega next season for reasons we will address shortly.
The Round of 12 in 2025 features another dramatic finale, much like Bristol in the first Round. It gets a bit wilder this time as the Charlotte Roval returns for its seventh race despite rumors of it reverting to the oval.
The Roval is the idea of Playoff chaos built into a track’s design. However, in past years, the racing has seen a fall from its early iterations. In 2025, NASCAR added Roval to the Truck Series playoffs, making it a triple-header weekend.
The Round of 8 has tame beginnings in 2025, with drivers rolling the dice in Las Vegas, just like this year. However, it turns into chaos from there.
No matter what tracks NASCAR features in the final elimination round of the playoffs, it will be chaotic. Drivers are beating and banging, hoping to get into the Championship 4 at Phoenix.
This year, the track is rather tame and full of good racing rather than chaotic tracks. Las Vegas and Homestead will put on competitive, fun races this year, while next year, Vegas will be the only of the two left.
Talladega, yes, that Talladega, joins the final elimination round of the playoffs in 2025. Crazier than Daytona and even crazier in the playoffs, NASCAR is showing that it wants as many highlights, clicks, and views as possible for the late playoff rounds.
With the casual fan tuning in for Talladega, NASCAR is trying to court more fans for the Championship race, now one race after Talladega in 2025. There would be no overlap in that one-race gap, as the race after Talladega can be chaotic as well while somehow being more out of control.
Once again, as tradition, NASCAR sends all three series to the paper clip for its final race of the final elimination round. Martinsville has something important happen almost every year. Be it Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano, Hail Melon, or the now back-to-back seasons of Xfinity Series teammates having it out.
This all, of course, for a spot in the winner-take-all finale at Phoenix. That race has come down to the final corner several times in the past few seasons, making the 2025 NASCAR Playoffs one for the record books.
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Where do all the drivers stand after the first official points race in the standings table?
After winning the opening points race of the season at Daytona by leading one lap, Tyler Reddick made it to the top of the standings. Under the new rules, he managed to pull up 58 points. He pocketed 55 for the win and added three more by finishing Stage 2 in P8. He may have squeezed out at least one more had he landed inside the top 10 in Stage 1, but after getting swept into a Lap 5 crash, Reddick limped the Stage 1 in P20, giving him no extra points.
Rounding out the top 10 are Brad Keselowski with 39 points in sixth despite a P5 finish, followed by his driver, Chris Buescher, in seventh with 39, Bubba Wallace in eighth with 37, Carson Hocevar in ninth with 36, and Ryan Blaney in 10th with 36.
Atlanta could be a springboard for Elliott, who owns an average finish of 11.4 across 14 starts there, with two wins, including one in last year’s fall race, plus three top fives and nine top 10s. The track could also pull Kyle Busch back into contention. Having already shown his speed at Daytona by winning the pole, he may potentially pull it off at the 1.54-mile track. The RCR driver sits P14 in the standings, but with an average finish of 8.8 at Atlanta since 2023 across six starts, the place might finally snap his 94-race drought.
Then again, Connor Zilisch has only one start at the track and came home P11 last year when he made his third Cup start there, making Atlanta a stage where he could stamp his mark.
Ryan Blaney will also have a better chance than anyone else to climb through a win or even points alone at Atlanta. The No. 12 Team Penske driver has one win there from 2021, but consistency has been his strong suit, with seven top fives and nine top 10s in 15 starts. And that puts him in a position to move the needle when the field rumbles into Atlanta.
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The Daytona 500 and Speedweeks may be over, but that doesn’t mean the chaos will cool off for the stars of NASCAR’s three National Series, as they roll into Hampton, Georgia, to the high banks of EchoPark Speedway for one of the schedule’s most unique race weekends.
Note: This article will be updated as more information about the weekend comes out.
One race weekend is in the books, and a 36-week march back to Florida is underway for the three NASCAR National Series. Whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Hampton, Georgia?
Before the Races (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the Truck Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
After the Race (8:00 PM – 11:00 PM)
Before the Race (11:00 AM – 3:00 PM)
During the Race (3:00 PM – 7:00 PM)
After the Race (7:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
NASCAR got lucky at EchoPark in 2025, and, as a matter of fact, everywhere else, but that doesn’t mean weather hasn’t affected the track’s races in the past with spot showers and major showers taking on race weekends. Take the summer of 2023, when the race took on a large rain shower that resulted in the race ending after just 185 laps, with race winner William Byron the leader at the time of caution.
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.
