By 5 GOATs,Brian Jones
Copyright yardbarker
Jeff Burton had to set the record straight on a rumor of the role TV plays in the NASCAR playoff format. While appearing on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Burton made it clear that TV does not dictate to NASCAR on how to handle the playoffs.
“I want to be clear about something, and I’m in these meetings. TV doesn’t make these decisions,” Jeff Burton said. NASCAR makes these decisions. NASCAR takes all the information from all the people that they can take it from, and they make a decision.
“When this format that we are currently racing under was created, I was in every damn meeting. TV didn’t make this decision. They had a seat at the table, as did drivers, as did car owners, as did NASCAR, as did the tracks. Everybody was in this room, and it was a great discussion. It was great disagreements. Everything we should be doing in this country was happening, and we had disagreements, but it was all respectful. NASCAR made the decision, and TV didn’t say, ‘Here’s your format. This is what we’re doing.’ That’s not how it happened. The fact that people think that’s how it happened, I don’t know where that’s coming from.”
Why the current NASCAR playoff format was created
Some people may think that TV determines the NASCAR playoff format because it plays a huge role in pro sports. TV plays an important role in the success of NASCAR, but the playoff system was created to keep fans interested during the final months of the season.
The current NASCAR playoff format was created in 2014. “We wanted to simplify our system,” Steve O’Donnell, then NASCAR’s senior VP of racing operations and now its chief operating officer, said, per NASCAR.com. “Sports fans across the country understand the idea of ‘playoffs,’ since every American sport features some kind of elimination format.”
The easiest way for NASCAR Cup Series drivers to clinch a playoff spot is to win one of the 26 regular-season races. 16 drivers can qualify for the playoffs, which last for 10 races. Four drivers are eliminated after three races, and the four remaining drivers compete in a championship race, which is normally held at Phoenix.
