The heated arguments surrounding the NASCAR playoffs have raged on for months, and the debate was renewed once more following the conclusion of Sunday’s (Oct. 5) NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
There were two major storylines after the race, and the first was Shane van Gisbergen’s climb in the record books with his fifth consecutive road course win in dominant fashion. That, however, got largely overshadowed by the razor-thin margin between Ross Chastain and Joey Logano in the fight for the final playoff spot in the Round of 8, which ended with Chastain’s “Fail Melon” on Denny Hamlin for 18th place in an unsuccessful attempt to advance.
When asked about the battle with Chastain and what he saw between Chastain and Hamlin on the final lap, Logano went on to praise the playoff format for the suspense it brings to NASCAR racing.
“The playoffs create drama,” Logano said. “It creates storylines. It creates awesome moments like that. I don’t understand what people don’t like about that. I really don’t get it. …
“It was real drama. If you don’t have cutoff races and things like that, what are you talking about today? (About) how Shane waxed everyone’s butt? That’s what you want? I’m just saying, I think this playoff format is wicked.”
Brad Keselowski, on the other hand, took the opposing view on social media after the race, saying that the mid-pack shenanigans generated by the playoff format served as an unnecessary distraction from the winners and the stars of the race.
The playoffs have been a ratings struggle for NASCAR, with all six races off network TV and hovering north of a measly 1 million views. The ROVAL was moved from NBC in 2024 to USA Network in 2025, and it dropped to 1.54 million viewers this time around.
There’s a clear split between drivers, fans and the NASCAR industry regarding the playoffs, and the concerns are only amplified as the ratings continue to fall.
Is Logano correct in that the playoffs provide the suspenseful moments that a full-season points format would lack? Or is Keselowski correct in that the playoffs and manufactured drama steal the spotlight from the drivers that deserve it the most? -Stephen Stumpf
Without the Playoffs, We Don’t Have Some of the Most Memorable Moments in NASCAR
The debate in 2025 and throughout the course of previous seasons have been centered around NASCAR’s playoff format. When the checkered flag fell at the finish of the Round of 12 cutoff race, the main focal point wasn’t about another masterclass performance van Gisbergen, but rather his Trackhouse Racing teammate Chastain’s last-second Hail Mary to keep his championship hopes alive.
We all watched van Gisbergen run away from the competition once again on a road course, something we’ve become accustomed to seeing. To many fans, the Charlotte ROVAL didn’t have many talking points post-race as van Gisbergen ran away with the race win by a whopping 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Larson.
While some will remember the Charlotte ROVAL as another instance of van Gisbergen landing another knockout punch to the field, Chastain’s last-lap Hail Mary attempt made headlines that far overshadowed another dominant van Gisbergen road course performance. Chastain entered the ROVAL 13 points below the cut line to advance to the Round of 8 and was bleeding spots in the waning laps, while Logano, on fresh tires, couldn’t make up positions despite the aid of fresh rubber. Needing just one position to advance, Chastain drove deep into the final chicane on the final lap, spinning playoff driver Hamlin in a failed move that eliminating the Trackhouse Racing driver from title contention with a 21st-place finish. After spinning out and crossing the finish line in reverse, Chastain ultimately missed out on advancement by four points.
Chastain’s ludicrous action, similar to his Hail Melon move at Martinsville in 2022 to make that year’s Championship 4, wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the playoffs. Without this format, several iconic NASCAR moments most likely wouldn’t have happened, the Hail Melon among them. The playoffs bring so much more excitement with four drivers being cut after three race rounds. Each title-eligible driver pushing the limits to win and have a guaranteed berth in later rounds of the postseason not only generates storylines to talk about in the days after, but more excitement throughout a grueling 36-race season.
Remember Jeff Gordon and Keselowski’s brawl on pit road at Texas Motor Speedway in year one of the elimination format? What about Logano being wrecked by Matt Kenseth a year later at Martinsville Speedway? In Gordon’s case, he was likely headed for a win and a great chance that season to win his fifth championship. Instead, an aggressive move on a late restart by Keselowski left Gordon with a cut tire and a finish outside the top 20. The rest, they say, is history. This version of the playoffs electrifies the racing we see every weekend and has fans on the edge of their seats, not knowing whether or not their favorite driver will have a chance to race for the title.
If a full season points format still existed, there would’ve been absolutely zero reason for Chastain to put his car against the wall at Martinsville to make up the points he needed to race for the title in ‘22. A similar scenario unfolded in Sunday’s race at the ROVAL, with the Trackhouse Racing driver doing whatever he needed to do to make up points to have a chance at the championship. We wouldn’t have gotten that with a full-season points format, and all we could talk about was van Gisbergen’s win by 15 seconds.
Instead, we get to relive Chastain’s last-ditch effort to stay alive in the title fight over and over again. Even at Kansas Speedway the week prior, where it came down to Hamlin versus Bubba Wallace driving as hard as they could to win and advance, it allowed Chase Elliott to storm through and advance to the Round of 8 in a thrilling last lap which ultimately led to Wallace’s playoff hopes ending as well.
Isn’t this what fans come to expect in NASCAR? Drivers racing for the championship pushing themselves and their cars to the absolute limit to be crowned champion of the highest level of NASCAR racing? Without this current playoff format, I don’t foresee the same type of excitement and drama like we saw at both Kansas and the Charlotte ROVAL. -Christopher Hansen
Brad Keselowski’s Words Ring True
Keselowski’s X post regarding the on-going playoff discussion accurately addressed the folly that is the NASCAR championship playoff format.
With each successive week it gets sillier, and every cut off race more absurd. Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte was the latest entry into the book of why stick-and-ball brackets don’t work for motorsports.
Brad’s comment regarding star-power is spot on. Van Gisbergen won his fifth consecutive road course race and went five-for-six on the left and right turns this season. No small feat, but even more impressive when you factor in that three of the five margins of victory were all in excess of 10 seconds. This is an era where every team has access to see what he’s doing and how each of his inputs is being executed, and to dominate the way he has is beyond impressive.
Instead, what are we harping on? Guys who couldn’t crack the top 10 in points with a shot a championship all of a sudden. Every other sport has its star names that drive viewership and storylines. NASCAR had that in each decade up until about 2020, and it has seemingly fizzled. The playoff format is a bit to blame for that. If a driver can win a race and advance to the playoffs in the regular season, and likewise from round-to-round once the playoffs start, they absolutely will race differently and maybe won’t be in the discussion during certain races.
That simply feels wrong. As someone who grew up during the 1990s, hearing Benny Parsons say, “here comes Earnhardt!” during a race was a given. During the 2000s, there’d be a similar rise from the fans if Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Tony Stewart advanced to the lead. The most popular driver in the sport right now is Elliott, and there’s races where you have to check to make sure he didn’t fall out of the race when they haven’t talked about him.
None of this is defensible. Even if you suspend disbelief and force yourself to see it as just “entertainment” and fun, it’s watching guys wreck for 15th and seeing a pair of Chevrolets feigning tire management on the final lap to not pass a fellow Camaro so as to not propel a competing Ford into the next round. Do you know how I know it’s not entertaining? The stands looked like a Truck Series race on a Friday night, and ratings were down 35% year-over-year: 2.4 million viewers in 2024 vs. 1.54M viewers in 2025.
Sure, that was network TV versus USA, and there’s no streaming option. But please. If it was so entertaining and was going to do battle with the football game on the other side of town, it would have been on a more accessible option. By all accounts, we’ve reached a precipice with the playoffs. When Mark Martin was making the rounds back in July being the sole voice advocating for a full-season championship, he graced us with his presence on Frontstretch’s Happy Hour Podcast, and we hashed it out for an hour as to why this hasn’t been working and why a traditional motorsports season-long title would be preferable.
With each successive week, the case for it is being strengthened. So much so that when the committee NASCAR assembled to discuss this topic first broached it, Martin was the only voice in the room brave enough to call it out. Since then, with each race, a couple of more drivers are speaking up, and now it’s gaining momentum in the other direction toward abandoning this experiment. One need only hear who the advice is coming from:
Full-Season Championships: Richard Petty, Martin, Earnhardt and Keselowski
Playoffs: Affiliates of the Sanctioning Body
While I understand the appeal for sponsors who want the opportunity to see their brand featured on TV more frequently if they are to be mentioned in playoff discussions, what’s the point if fewer people are watching or are on-hand in person to see it? If it’s frequently associated with something seen as unserious or illegitimate, then it’s a net negative for everyone involved. –Vito Pugliese
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf
Vito is one of the longest-tenured writers at Frontstretch, joining the staff in 2007. He’s been a contributor to several other outlets, including Athlon Sports and Popular Speed in addition to making radio appearances and podcast appearnces here on Stock Car Scoop and Happy Hour. He forever has a soft-spot in his heart for old Mopars, late model Fords, and is generally a warehouse of useless automotive information.
Maybe now fans of the eliminated drivers are not watching? I wouldn’t want to be a sponsor of any of those cars and expect TV exposure.
Playoffs are terrible. They usually don’t reflect the real champion, and they generally create a situation where the media basically ignore the drivers not in the chase. I really don’t see why sponsors shell out the cash, knowing full well their car isn’t going to get any coverage at all unless it is involved in a crash with a chase car.
How many times did the media focus on a driver outside of the 5 or so at this point who could still win the full season championship? They didn’t back then, either.
Probably not…but there were still drivers trying to improve their season points standings. Even if the title was decided before the last 2 races, other drivers still were fighting for positions. But basically, it seems so silly to have a ‘playoff’ when every teams ‘plays’ in every race against every other team. In other sports they aren’t always competing against the same teams all year. plus, fans have a hometown team to root for. With racing, it’s all about the driver or team, so fans have to pick a driver. no guaranteed fans from the hometown or home state.
The playoffs are great, they create new stories, they just need a little more tweaking. Without them, we’d be only talking about 2 or 3 drivers who could still win at this point. Now we’re talking about 4-12 drivers.
I say go to 12 drivers, so we eliminate the “fluke one-off wins,” and change the rounds to 4-4-2. You can advance with one win, but you better be running the rest of the races well enough to be in the top 12 in points.
How many more years do you think it will take the suits to tweak the format until fans will accept it?
I’m sure the fans were vocal in ’72 when the format was changed then, too. Fans will never be happy.
While I don’t agree the playoffs are great, I 100% agree a certain subset of fans will be LOUD and ANGRY no matter what NASCAR does. This is true of most things. Humans are interesting creatures.
Judging from the empty stands at the ‘elimination’ race, they better do something soon, because this doesn’t seem to be gaining interest.
Well, the media gets to drool all over Kathy Legge in Vegas.
“The striking Desnuda car, which first appeared earlier this season at Watkins Glen, will bring bold new styling to Las Vegas Motor Speedway that embodies the spirit of both driver and brand. From the car to her custom race suit, the design captures the shared essence of authenticity, energy, and craftsmanship that defines Desnuda Organic Tequila and Katherine Legge’s career.”
Do we really wonder why the playoffs focus on the wrong storylines?
The playoffs don’t focus on the wrong story lines, they create the wrong story lines. Finally, it appears TV ratings are beginning to dovetail with what so many have been saying for so long, which may bring an end to a failed experiment.
The NA$CAR suits will never admit that Brian’s brilliant idea of a “Playoff” is a failure. They will keep on trying to get it to work until no one is watching the farce.
lol. I get what you’re saying, but we can’t have it both ways.
If they’re “NA$CAR”, they’ll chase the almighty dollar, and continuing the playoffs given recent ratings drops will likely cost them money next TV contract.
They are still getting the television money, although I can’t see them using the real numbers for the sales spiel. What viewership numbers are they using and how do they come up with them so that the networks believe them?
They don’t create or control viewership statistics. Those are derived from Neilsen and other independent monitoring groups. Agree they won’t lose any money under the current contract, but if they don’t right the ship, the next contract will suffer greatly.
The viewership was down going into the latest contract. What numbers did NA$CAR use to convince the networks to increase the money? But now it is 4 network deals and not 2 so it seems the networks changed how much they pay for the events.