Talks about a potential NASCAR playoff format change have been ramping up, and Brad Keselowski’s post on X could highlight the urgency with which he would like to see a change. Apart from the format itself, he also pointed out how the media was highlighting drivers eliminated from the playoffs when the results had been anticipated, but didn’t cover the race winner enough.
Keselowski’s post on X arrives after Shane van Gisbergen won the race at the Charlotte Roval, marking his fifth road course victory. However, instead of him being highlighted, the media covered more of how other drivers made it to the Round of 8, including others who had been eliminated from the playoffs, names that had finished below P14.
The RFK Racing driver spoke about going back to the full-season format. But the real question is, will NASCAR bring about a big change to the playoffs? Revealing his views on X, Keselowski wrote:
“Clear as day, Not enough talk about winning and winners (star power) but covering 15th for known elimination is easier for media storylines.
“Fans are voting with their eyeballs and it’s definitively a Net loss for the sport vs full season format. Now is the time to fix this.” [sic]
In addition to Keselowski, Ryan Blaney recently voiced his preference for NASCAR reverting to the old playoffs format, since he dislikes the current format, where drivers secure a spot in the playoffs if they win a race in the regular season. Newsweek Sports reported his comments:
“I don’t personally like the win and you’re in type thing. I think you got to be top X in points no matter what guys they take, whether it’s 12, 16, whatever, I think it’s just those guys in points. Think you can put a bunch of more emphasis on winning, as far as a ton more bonus points for winning.
“You know, right now, I think it’s just five extra points for winning. Like, not even playoff points. Like, it’s just five extra. I think you can get, like, 20, put a big emphasis on winning, and the points gap is bigger there.”
While he revealed a liking for the playoff format that was in place from 2004 to 2013, Blaney admitted that he didn’t mind any old format as long as NASCAR changed the current one. He said:
“I do think, personally, I would like to see some kind of, if you do a playoff chase format, I would like to see more races to the end with the final guys… If you do that, and it’s your 16 guys, and it goes 10 weeks straight, and you have, you know, if you win a lot in the regular season, you have a bunch of bonus points to start it, and then it’s a 10-week sprint where you have to have some consistency.
“I’ve also thought about if you have 10 races to the end, you have five, then you cut off the bottom eight, and then you have five to the end, and those eight guys will race, and you just kind of carry over your points from the regular season and the first part of the playoffs, and then that goes on. I don’t know. I mean, there’s a lot of different scenarios out there, but I would be game for a change, you know, some kind of a change.
“But I think my biggest things are get out of the win and you’re in if you do a playoff format. And then again, if you do a playoff format, have more races to the end to determine your champion, or if they want to go 36 races that’s fine with me too. So, I’m all for whatever. But I guess those would be my couple things that I would like to see changed if they do switch around a little bit.”