Will These Teams Be Hurt By NASCAR’s Switch to a Chase System?
What’s Happening? In 2026, NASCAR is reverting its Championship Format to a ten-race Chase. While fans are excited about the return…
NASCAR has turned the clock back this season, going back to the Chase format first introduced in 2004. On paper, the points system is all about drivers stacking points through wins and consistent finishes all leading up to the ten race Chase. But running alongside the fight for the driver’s championship is another tally that rarely gets the same airtime, the owner’s points.
What’s Happening? In 2026, NASCAR is reverting its Championship Format to a ten-race Chase. While fans are excited about the return…
When the checkered flag drops, points do not stop with the driver. They are also credited to the car number, which keeps its own tally from one week to the next. Unlike driver points, if a driver switches rides, sit outs, or hit a rough patch, the car number keeps punching the clock, adding points race after race.
For instance, so far in the 2026 season, it’s no surprise that Tyler Reddick’s team sits atop both standings. In the driver’s championship, those points carry his name. But, in the owner’s standings, the same total sits with the No. 45 entry. One tracks the driver, while the other tracks the team entry tied to the car.
For most weeks at the start of every NASCAR season, the two standings mirror each other near the top as drivers who run up front tend to stay in the same seat and keep the results coming. Then, once rosters start to shake up, things change.
Like the case of Alex Bowman, who has missed three races at Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Darlington due to vertigo this season.
When a driver steps out like that, a replacement climbs in. The substitute earns points for the car number (like No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports car in Bowman’s case), not for the driver on the roster. The car keeps climbing in the owner’s table, while the driver’s own total takes the hit.
The scene that best describes the whole system occurred in 2023 with Chase Elliott. He sat out seven races, and his playoff hopes as a driver took a blow. The No. 9 car, however, kept scoring with stand-ins and still punched its ticket to the owner’s playoffs.
That season, Elliott finished 17th in driver points, while the No. 9 finished 10th.
There is another case that shows how the systems differ. When Kurt Busch went down in 2022, Bubba Wallace stepped into the No. 45 car to keep it in the hunt. Wallace was not eligible for the driver playoffs, yet the car stayed alive in the owner’s fight.
In 2022, with a combination of Busch, Wallace, Ty Gibbs, and John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 45 finished 10th in owners points.
In NASCAR, money talks, and it talks through the owner’s points table. Teams are paid based on where they land in those standings, and not where a driver sits.
Last season, Kyle Larson sealed the Cup title with a win at Phoenix, while the No. 5 team at Hendrick Motorsports claimed the owner’s crown, the 15th Cup title for Rick Hendrick. I
n the O’Reilly Auto Parts series, Joe Gibbs Racing saw its No. 19 Toyota, driven by seven drivers, take the owner’s title, playing out the second scenario where it wasn’t one driver who got JGR the owner’s championship, but seven drivers did for the team.
In 2025, the NASCAR Xfinity Series roster for the No. 19 included:
In the Truck Series, TRICON Garage, owned by David Gilliland and Johnny Gray, watched its No. 11 Toyota, driven by Corey Heim, take the owner’s title in 2025. Heim also wrapped up the driver crown with 12 wins and a win at Phoenix Raceway.
The hunt for the owners championship can determine many factors for teams, including how they lineup for races in the coming season, and, how much money they get paid out by the end of the season.
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