NASCAR’s Search for a New Playoff: What You Need to Know
What’s Happening? NASCAR is publicly seeking a new Playoff or even Championship Points system for the future. This story will unfold…
Following Shane van Gisbergen’s dominant win in Mexico City, NASCAR has been discussing the fact that the driver 30th in points has made the playoffs. As part of this debate, NASCAR fans, industry members, and now the King himself have weighed in on the matter.
Though NASCAR’s playoff format is already controversial, its ‘win and in’ stipulation has become a hot-button issue among fans and industry members in recent seasons.
This is because the ability to win a race and automatically qualify for NASCAR’s Playoffs can result in scenarios in which a driver sitting at the tail end of season points finds themselves racing for a championship. Though the debate for and against the stipulation has happened time and time again, it was likely never going to die off.
Entering this past weekend, rookie Shane van Gisbergen was off to a miserable start to his NASCAR Cup Series season. The road course ace had just one top 10 finish and a best finish on an oval of 14th. He and 23XI Racing’s Riley Herbst had been swapping the Rookie of the Year lead back and forth for several weeks at the very bottom of regular-season points.
Nonetheless, entering this season, the topic of conversation regarding van Gisbergen was not when but if he would qualify for the playoffs. This, of course, stems from the heavy number of road courses on the NASCAR schedule and the win-and-in stipulation, helping the New Zealand native’s odds.
After sitting on the pole for Sunday’s race, van Gisbergen dominated, leading 60 laps and winning by over 17 seconds. Of course, this win locked him into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs despite his 30th-place season points position, reigniting the debate about the NASCAR playoffs. Amongst all the debate in the online NASCAR echo chamber, an unlikely commentator has entered the ring: seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty.
On the Tuesday morning episode of the Petty Race Recap, Petty discussed how he feels about van Gisbergen’s automatic qualification for the playoffs, saying:
“The way they got this thing [the playoffs] fixed, you win and you in, that can’t be right, from the standpoint that you got somebody that’s 30th in the points, is gonna make the playoffs? Hey, man, what happened to the guy that’s 15th or 16th or 18th… Been running good, finished good everywhere.” — Richard Petty
Petty’s sentiment here seemingly matches that of a group of NASCAR fans. After van Gisbergen’s win, these fans pointed out that drivers like Michael McDowell, 16th in points, and Ryan Preece, 14th in points, who have had solid seasons in new rides, could face the possibility of not qualifying for the playoffs.
Furthermore, Petty voiced his displeasure with the playoff-changing win coming on a road course. “You’re making a championship situation by winning a road course, which is not really NASCAR to begin with,” Petty said.
Petty then said that NASCAR needs to look into shaking up the playoff format, saying, “I think they’re going to have to jockey around and change some of this kind of stuff.” A change to the playoff format is something NASCAR is actively working on, with rumors that a new format could be announced by the end of the summer.
What’s Happening? NASCAR is publicly seeking a new Playoff or even Championship Points system for the future. This story will unfold…
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