NASCAR Exec Says Homestead Will Likely Host 2027 Championship Race
What’s Happening? NASCAR’s Mike Forde says that Homestead-Miami Speedway will likely host 2027 NASCAR Championship weekend, despite NASCAR looking towards a…
If you recently watched NASCAR Full Speed on Netflix, you may have some questions about how the NASCAR points and Playoff system works. What are Playoff points? What’s the point of stages? Why do drivers who finish further back sometimes score more points than the drivers who finish up front? Well, we are here to explain the NASCAR Cup Series points system and how everything works.
Every driver who is eligible for Cup Series points earns points for every race they compete in. As the regular season (first 26 races) and the Playoffs (final 10 races) go on, driver points are accumulated, and that determines the points standings. There are two ways that drivers earn points, once at the end of the race, and twice after the stages.
End of the Race
At the end of each race, points are awarded in 1-point increments from 2nd to last, and the winner earns extra bonus points. Simply put, the higher a driver finishes, the more points they accumulate.
Second place earns 35 points, 3rd place earns 34, and so on until 36th-40th, which earns 1 point each. The reason for 36th-40th getting the same amount of points is that every race will have at least 36 entrants, but, fields can be as large as 40.
The winner earns 36 points for finishing first along with 4 bonus points for winning. That means a total of 40 points for the winner. Race winners also earn 5 Playoff points, which, we will explain later.
Stages
Every NASCAR race has stage breaks during the middle of the race. Most races have 2 stage breaks, but, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte has 3. At every stage break, points are awarded to the top 10 in 1-point increments with 1st getting 10 points, 2nd getting 9 points, and so on until the 10th which gets only 1 point.
Drivers can earn a maximum of 20 stage points per race if they win both races. Winning both stages and winning the race gives a driver a maximum of 60 points. Stage winners also earn a Playoff point, which, again, we will explain later.
Stage points can help a driver if they have a bad day. For example, Brad Keselowski finished 22nd in the 2023 Daytona 500, but, he still scored 32 points thanks to his stage points. That was more points than 7th-place finisher, Daniel Suarez, who scored 0 stage points.
The system that NASCAR uses to determine its Champion is through the Playoffs, which consists of 16 drivers. The Playoffs are the final 10 races of the season after the 26-race regular season. Here, we will explain everything about how the Playoffs work, and how the normal points system factors in.
How Drivers Qualify
The Playoffs function similarly to an elimination-style bracket in other sports. Drivers can qualify for the Playoffs in one of two ways. First, they can qualify by winning any race throughout the regular season. If drivers do not win a race, the drivers with the most regular season points accumulated amongst non-race winners fill out the bracket.
In 2023, there were 15 different regular season winners, so, only Bubba Wallace qualified for the Playoffs on points. However, in 2018, there were only 10 regular season winners, so, 6 drivers made it via points. How many drivers make it on wins vs on points varies year to year, but, winning a race is the only sure way a driver makes the Playoffs.
If there are more than 16 winners, then the 16 winners who finish higher in the regular season points standings get the nod. This has never happened before, but, with 15 winners, NASCAR came close in 2023.
If drivers do not qualify for the Playoffs, they can still race in the Playoffs. Sometimes, these drivers steal wins away from Playoff drivers such as A.J. Allmendinger at the Charlotte Roval in 2023.
Playoff Seeding
Once the field has been set for the Playoffs, NASCAR then has to seed the drivers. NASCAR seeds the drivers 1-16 via the Playoff points drivers have earned throughout the regular season. There are 3 ways drivers earn Playoff points.
The first two ways are through winning races and stages throughout the regular season. As we mentioned previously, every race winner earns 5 Playoff points, and every stage winner earns 1 Playoff point.
The last way is based on how drivers finish in the regular season standings. The top-10 in points after the regular season concludes each earns Playoff points. Below is how these Playoff points are distributed amongst drivers.
These Playoff points are very valuable to drivers as well. Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron tied with 36 Playoff points heading into the Playoffs in 2023, and both tied for the 1 seed.
How Does the Elimination System Work?
After 26 races, the 16 drivers who qualify for the Playoffs have their points reset and are seeded. The NASCAR Playoff consists of 4 rounds: Round of 16, Round of 12, Round of 8, and the Championship 4. After each of the first 3 rounds, points are reset and 4 drivers are eliminated until the Championship 4.
Drivers can earn their way into the next round through 2 ways. The first way is winning. Any non-eliminated Playoff driver who wins a Playoff race automatically advances to the next round.
The remaining spots are filled out by the points standings Drivers who earn the highest combination of driver points in the round on top of Playoff points earned during the season fill out the remaining slots. The higher-seeded drivers who come into the round with extra bonus points have an advantage as a result because they already have Playoff points that put them ahead of the lower-seeded drivers.
Driver’s Playoff points carry over into subsequent Playoff rounds, but, drivers can also earn more Playoff points up until the Championship 4 via winning races and stages. For example, William Byron earned an extra 5 Playoff points at Texas in 2023 by winning there in the Round of 12, which gave him 41 Playoff points for the Round of 8.
The Championship 4
Once the Round of 8 concludes, the Championship 4 is set, and this is where it gets very simple. The highest-finishing driver amongst the Championship 4 contenders wins the Championship. Championship 4 drivers are not eligible for stage points, so, it is only about finishing position.
Throughout most of this format’s history, the Championship winner has won the final race, but, that changed in 2023. Ryan Blaney won the Championship despite finishing 2nd to Ross Chastain because Chastain was not a Championship 4 driver. It was the first time since this format was implemented that the Championship winner did not win the final race.
This is the complete breakdown of how the NASCAR points system works. While running well throughout the season is important, the largest emphasis is on winning races. Those who win reap the largest rewards.
Denny Hamlin defends Riley Herbst, Brad Keselowski is furious, and Kyle Busch leaves everyone debating what it means to truly compete for a Daytona 500. The final lap at Daytona International Speedway sparked multiple completely different controversies that say a lot about modern superspeedway racing.
At superspeedways, instinct rules everything. Herbst reacted late, Keselowski paid the price, and Hamlin backed his guy. Meanwhile, Busch lifted from 25th, avoided the wreck, and gained ten spots, a move that looks smart in hindsight but could have backfired badly. In a new points-heavy format, are drivers thinking differently? We break down both moments, what they really mean, and whether everyone involved might actually have a point. Plus, early Cup Series power rankings to wrap it up.
Watch Also
This year marks the second season of NASCAR’s groundbreaking 2025 media rights deal, and fans are curious to see just how year two will stack up with year one. This article will walk you through the 2026 season race by race, comparing viewership week by week to NASCAR’s 2025 season.
All Races (2 Total in 2026): Including The Clash, Daytona Duels, and the All-Star Race
Network Races to Date (1 Total in 2026): Points and Exhibition/Qualifying Races
Exhibition/Qualifying Races (2 Total in 2026): The Clash, Daytona Duels, and the All-Star Race
**2026 Clash was pushed from Sunday to Wednesday due to snow, and moved to FS2 due to overrunning time on FOX.
This tracker will be updated throughout the season. Make sure to check back in for the latest!
Throughout 2026, NASCAR will announce dates for its 2027 schedule. Though the sport drops the full schedule in bulk, tracks will be announced prior to the 2027 NASCAR National Series schedules being released in full. For the dates announced throughout the 2026 season, this article will place them on the calendar to provide a clearer view of the upcoming season.
*These dates are assumed based on tradition, with the NASCAR OAP Series racing the night before the Daytona 500, and the Craftsman Truck Series racing on the Friday before. Furthermore, the Duels have occurred on the Thursday before the 500 since 2014. All of these dates are subject to change and will be updated if any changes occur.
**In February, Mike Forde of NASCAR said that Homestead will likely be the 2027 season finale host and the rotating finale could begin in 2028. This is still not confirmed, and NASCAR has yet to confirm that the season finale will stay in the same race weekend, given the Daytona 500 scheduling change.
What’s Happening? NASCAR’s Mike Forde says that Homestead-Miami Speedway will likely host 2027 NASCAR Championship weekend, despite NASCAR looking towards a…
During an episode of NASCAR’s Hauler Talk podcast, NASCAR’s Managing Director of Racing Communications, Mike Forde, said NASCAR’s 2027 finale weekend will likely be back at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Though this doesn’t mean NASCAR is abandoning the rotating. Having that in different markets is super important.”
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During an interview with Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, NASCAR Executive Vice President Ben Kennedy claimed that NASCAR was looking at “a couple of potential new venues” for its future schedules. Though he did not list tracks, many fans suggested long-rumored races like a Denver Street Race, a Philadelphia Stadium Race, and a race in Canada could be the culprits.
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The 2027 Daytona 500 will be held on February 21, 2027, to avoid conflict with Super Bowl LXI, which will be held on February 14, 2027. Although this was the first confirmation of an official race date for 2027, dates for the Duel races, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, and the Craftsman Truck Series race were not announced. It is easy to assume they will maintain the Thursday (18th), Friday (19th), and Saturday (20th) slots of Speedweek.
What’s Happening? NASCAR will not return to Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 2026, and will likely return to Chicagoland Speedway…
According to a Jul. 30 report from Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, NASCAR will not return to Mexico City in 2026. However, as there are fewer scheduling conflicts in 2027, the sport could opt to return. In exchange for Mexico City, NASCAR is likely to add Chicagoland to the 2026 schedule.
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According to NASCAR, the Chicago Street Circuit will not return in 2026, with the sport looking to find a new date for the race to return as soon as 2027.
What’s Happening? After months of speculation, Homestead-Miami Speedway has finally been named the host of NASCAR’s 2026 Championship Weekend. This marks…
According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Homestead-Miami Speedway will host NASCAR’s 2026 Championship weekend. This will be part of the new rotating Championship model often hinted at by NASCAR, which will likely see a new track host the season finale in 2027.
Keep this page bookmarked for the latest 2026 schedule rumors and confirmations.
