What’s Happening?

NASCAR’s elimination-style Playoff is gone, and the Chase for the Cup is back on for 2026. But, looking back at NASCAR’s playoff era, what were some key moments that led to the playoffs’ eventual demise?

NASCAR introduced its elimination-style playoff format in 2014. Though the system would not be called the playoffs until 2017, its introduction, still under the Chase name, essentially killed off the final version of the original Chase format.

But now, NASCAR is reverting to a new version of the Chase, with the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series field set to be cut down to 16 eligible drivers after 26 races and reset in points with 10 races to go.

This new Chase, much like its past iterations, is a simplified take on a playoff, removing the elimination format’s multiple resets, eliminations, playoff points, and the oh so controversial win-and-in stipulation.

Throughout its life, the original system saw many moments that depleted fan sentiment, with top drivers missing the field, legendary seasons crumpled to nothing, and consistency, at times, thrown out the window.

But if NASCAR fans were to pick three junctures that really cut into the playoff format’s legitimacy, they would likely reflect these select moments from the system’s tenure.

Carl Edward’s 2016 Heartbreaker

While it would be easy to kick off this list with Kyle Busch winning the 2015 championship after competing in only 25 races, the drama of the 2016 event served as the first true loss of fan sentiment for the system.

Entering that season’s finale at Homestead Miami Speedway, the four drivers gunning for the title were Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch.

Edwards looked to have the best car of the four on race day, leading 47 laps. But, on a late race restart, Logano and a train of other drivers ran him down the track and into the frontstretch wall, ripping what could have been his first title right out of the veteran’s hands.

Johnson, who finished the season seventh in total points earned without a reset, won the championship that evening, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt’s record for seven total NASCAR Cup Series titles.

Though Johnson’s historic win eased fan tensions, Edwards’ abrupt retirement from NASCAR in the months after this race, and his then multi-year hiatus from the sport entirely, soured this finale in the minds of many fans.

Kevin Harvick’s 2020 Season

Kevin Harvick’s 2020 season did not have the grace of ending in the Championship Four; instead, after scoring two wins in the first round of the playoffs, Harvick scored an average finish of 12.7, failing to make the final grouping of playoff drivers in Phoenix.

Now, this has happened to many drivers during the Playoffs, but when a driver had a season to the caliber Harvick did in 2020, they usually would go on to win the title.

That year, the No. 4 team led the series in wins (nine), top-fives (20), top-tens (27), and average finish (7.3). This was by far one of the best championship efforts of the playoff era, only rivaled by drivers like Martin Truex Jr. in 2017 and Kyle Larson in 2021, though both of those drivers won the championship in their given season.

At Phoenix, Chase Elliott, who in any other season would have had a championship-worthy effort, brought home the title with an 11.7 average finish, though Harvick’s post-race interview at Martinsville, which somewhat dismantled the playoffs, still lingered in the minds of race fans.

“Look, these championship aren’t like winning like Petty and Earnhardt used to win them.  You have to put them together three weeks at a time and it comes down to one race and it came down to one race for us tonight and came up short.” — Kevin Harvick After Being Eliminated From the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

Joey Logano’s 2024 Championship Season

If every die-hard NASCAR fan were surveyed about their breaking point with the playoff format, they would likely point to Joey Logano’s 2024 championship season.

That season, Logano scored four wins, the second most in the series, seven top-fives, 11th most in the series, and had an average finish of 17.1, 13th best in NASCAR.

Though tensions rose after he won his title, the debate was already on entering that weekend as Logano had used the system’s win and in to make the playoffs, the Round of 12, the Championship Four, and to win the title outright at Phoenix.

In fact, Logano is the only NASCAR Champion in the Playoff era to be eliminated from the playoffs before Alex Boman’s disqualification at the ROVAL propelled the No. 22 back into contention.

His win, as loathed as it was by traditionalists, is and should be recognized with the greatest the sport has to offer; after all, he won the title under the sport’s given rules just like Petty, Earnhardt, and Johnson.

But, without a doubt, in doing so, Logano sparked the fire that eventually torched the playoff system and brought the Chase back into play.

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