With the 2026 season on our doorstep, it’s time to take a step back with NASCAR’s biggest crown jewel on the horizon.
In the reinvented Chase format, the win-and-in part of the postseason has gone away, adding significance to individual race wins. But does the Daytona 500 also subscribe to this new framework?
It is NASCAR’s biggest event at the end of the day. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.‘s and Austin Cindric‘s Daytona 500 victories would now have the conclusion of “They won the 500!” as opposed to “They’re in the playoffs!”
This week, Thomas Dunn and Trenton Worsham evaluate whether the Great American Race ever actually lost its meaning under the former playoff format and if the Chase actually alters its pedestal.
The Daytona 500 Has Its Meaning Again
The 68th running of the Daytona 500 is set to open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season on Sunday — barring rain — and for the first time since 2017 when the former playoff system was first introduced, the winner will not be locked into the postseason.
NASCAR announced early January of this year that a variation of The Chase will be the championship format, eliminating the controversial automatic advancement to the postseason. Instead of win and you’re in, it’s win and get a trophy with lots of points. The winner at Daytona International Speedway would rack up 55 points for the win, as does every winner for every win this season.
This is a good thing, because the aptly named Great American Race has become a shell of itself, and, other than its namesake, become just another race. NASCAR has done a tremendous job with going back to its roots and focusing on who it is as a sport while looking forward, and it’s been evident in the marketing. This does feel like the ‘good ole days’ in a way again because the race matters as its own event.
Previously, other races during the season felt bigger than this one due to playoff situations. The cutoff race for the regular season which was run at Daytona as well could have been argued as such. The opening race of the Round of 8 was bigger, as it locked a driver into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway three weeks early. Possibly Martinsville Speedway, the race that decided who the four drivers would be racing for a championship, was a bigger deal. All of these seemed to make the title of being the Daytona 500 champion a moot point.
While the fuel saving racing isn’t pretty to watch, the meaning and prestige of this race is back. Drivers trying to immortalize themselves for the first time — or in William Byron‘s case, three times in a row — have nothing to lose now regardless of winning or losing. A good story of a driver who is usually racing mid pack winning isn’t overshadowed by being locked into a playoff system everyone knows is a wasted spot — rather, they get their glory and moment.
It will be good to hear a sentiment similar to that of my Seattle Seahawks winning the Super Bowl last week from a driver saying “I’m going to Disneyland” over “I’m in the playoffs.”
The Daytona 500 champion, no matter who it may be, can once again be honored as such, as they should be. – Trenton Worsham
The Daytona 500 Always Stood Above All
While acknowledging that individual races did have a semblance of falling by the wayside when it came to the old playoff format, the Daytona 500 is more of an exception.
That race, the Southern 500, the Coca Cola 600 and the Brickyard 400 are races that are crown jewels and have elevated meaning regardless of championship context. You’ve become the champion of that race by winning it, and there was no mistaking it.
Through tandems, three wide at 200 miles per hour and fuel mileage processions, the Daytona 500 has continuously had the “it factor” as a standalone event.
Regardless of some external elements changing, champions of the 500 still had their national media tours, local festivities and off-site community events to attend.
From a different perspective, one could argue that the FOX Sports TV broadcasts have also recently put too much of an emphasis on the winner of the season opener going to the playoffs, but that isn’t necessarily a representative sample of the 500’s pulse.
The TV numbers signal that the Daytona 500 still has the elevated platform it’s historically had.
2025: 6.7 million viewers (rain delayed race throughout Sunday)
2024: 6 million viewers (rain postponed until Monday)
2023: 8.2 million viewers
2022: 8.86 million viewers
No other NASCAR races throughout these four seasons broke the six million viewership mark. Fans are clearly aware of the aura surrounding the Daytona 500, and clearly the drivers know it too when it comes to their post-race interviews.
The Daytona 500 has, does and will forever have a different sense of thrill compared to the rest of the series’ racing calendar. Despite some of the perceived issues from the broadcast and season-long points perspective, the idolization of winning the Great American Race has been altered at times, but never lost.
From what Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison did for a shot at the win to Denny Hamlin‘s and Martin Truex Jr.‘s dead heat, Daytona has powered through several generations of racing.
Whether Byron becomes the first driver in NASCAR history to win three straight 500s or any of the Front Row Motorsports cars cross the line in front, the fact of the matter is that they’ll continue to celebrate this race that much harder. – Thomas Dunn
Thomas is in his second year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon. He helps manage the 2-Headed Monster Column.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college athletics in the Bay Area, writing about the California Golden Bears and doing play by play broadcasting.
I always watch Daytona because it is the first race of the year. Whether it is a good race or not is another question. For me, th answer is ‘No.” Reasons–fuel mileage race, follow the leader race, sit and ride for most of the race, wreck fest at the end. But, that said, I’ll watch because it’s ben too long since Phownix.
regardless of how fans feel about nascar, we always tune in to daytona. fresh start. hope that “this might be the year” our particular driver wins the 500 and wins the championship. also lurking is whether or not mother nature plays nice on sunday afternoon/evening.
Well said. While I have every intention of watching much less NASCAR this year, I almost certainly will watch most of, and possibly all of Daytona. It’s a tradition, and one of the first signs Spring is just around the corner.
That said, I don’t think Daytona will truly regain its luster until the idiotic stage cautions are removed. As currently structured, it’s nothing more than making a fuel number until after stage 2 is completed. Ride mostly in formation, and click off the laps until it matters.
I get that Daytona with tapered spacer racing will always be a bit of a fuel mileage race, but as it is, little matters until after that final scheduled caution, other than if someone gets rambunctious for no reason, and causes “the big one”.
I’ve reached a point I no longer have a single favorite driver, but there are always good underdog stories at Daytona, as well as a handful of drivers I like or dislike to cheer for or against.
Janice, Daytight,
Up here in the northeast just outside of Boston. Cold winter. Snowstorms. Yeah, you bet I’ll be watching the Daytona 500. Patriots lost in the Super Bowl of football. This week, we have the Super Bowl of Racing! I agree they need to get rid of the stage break cautions. Good to see some of the long-time commenters here again this year.
Hey Johnny,
In VA here. The extreme cold finally broke for us a few days ago, and now we’re watching the snowcrete slowly melt away. Been a rough winter for us soft southerners, and you folks up there have had it much worse. Hope y’all get some relief soon.
As for the Pats, as a long suffering Dolphins fan, I have to admit I was cheering against your team. It’s too soon for NE to resume beating the AFC East like a drum! Became a fan watching Marino as a kid, and still waiting for the organization to stop doing stupid things and win a Super Bowl in my lifetime. Seems it’ll be at least a few more years, after the Tua fiasco.
Was actually hoping the Rams could overcome the Seahawks for the NFC, as seeing Stafford take the pain of those Lions years made me a bit of a fan.