In terms of drama, the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at the Charlotte Roval delivered as Joey Logano and Ross Chastain battled fiercely for every point in an effort to advance. On the final lap, Chastain wrecked Denny Hamlin and himself, reversing across the line in a desperate attempt to gain one point and escape elimination.
2012 NASCAR Cup champion Brad Keselowski wasn’t a part of the 2025 playoffs as he and the entirety of RFK Racing missed out. The veteran driver has been critical of the playoffs before, and was again after Sunday’s Round of 12 cutoff race.
Responding to another user on X (formerly Twitter), Keselowski said the following: “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.”
Discussions are ongoing about the 2026 championship format with no official decisions made by the sanctioning body. There is talk about extending the final round beyond one race, making it a four-race final round with up to six contenders. However, there remains a fierce push to return to a traditional season-long points format.
NASCAR has not used a full-season points format since 2003, and has since tweaked the playoffs various times over the years. The last significant change came ahead of the 2017 season.
As for Keselowski’s comment about fans ‘voting with their eyeballs,’ he is likely referring to the fact that TV ratings have been noticeably down during the 2025 playoff races, losing about 300k to 400k from comparable 2024 races.
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