The Chase is officially back, as NASCAR announced the new 2026 championship playoff on Monday. A rendition of the Chase used from 2004 to 2013, the announcement comes with mixed reviews. Especially since the previous format for the playoffs and the stage-racing implementation garnered a lot of unhappy fan commentary.
The return to The Chase means a return of emphasis on winning, consistency, and a full regular-season points system. Jimmie Johnson dominated this playoff format, winning six of his seven championships under it. Regardless of his success, he had a heartbreaking confession about NASCAR’s entertainment pressure.
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The heartbreaking confession
With extensive experience of driving under multiple championship and playoff formats, Johnson has lived through the added entertainment pressures, and he views this as the most challenging type of format, thanks to the stage racing component.
“I do like the idea around consistency, stage points, stage-racing, brings a whole different element of pressure, it’s the world we know, and I think it’s forcing people to behave differently, and again, I think that ties back to entertainment, I think it’s a strong thing,” Johnson said.
While he found stage-racing to be the most challenging out of the ones he’s experienced, it was also a component that affected them negatively, too.
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“Now with this generation of cars, our race starts before we load the race car on the transporter.” He said, “We can’t really adjust to working on our car as we did during our kind of reign, so.”
His comments subtly point towards the manufactured intensity that NASCAR introduced through stage racing, as opposed to letting races develop naturally.
Johnson does believe, however, that since the group of racers is growing with these changes, they will be able to perform this specific way as well. Unlike them, Johnson admitted he wasn’t great at evolving into the type of racer who can convert and mold to a new system so drastically different.
Which format is more stressful?
To Johnson, who won six championships under The Chase, found the one that he won under the 10-race format was the most rewarding. He described the Chase as delivering intense emotions and a more predictable outcome. He was often left with the emotional stress of knowing where you would end up points-wise, good or bad.
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“The one Championship I did win out of this format, I wasn’t the best car that night. So I had kind of given up on the idea naturally. And with the few restarts at the end, it all shifted and changed, and led to one of my most out-of-body experiences. I just didn’t think I was gonna win,” Johnson said.
While he had the better half of the two outcomes, others are not so lucky. Denny Hamlin found himself in the same position, ahead for 208 of 319, but then a restart happened. The restart gave the chance to Kyle Larson, who came from the woodwork and won the Championship. Hamlin finished in sixth. Johnson does, however, acknowledge the pros and cons, especially since he’s raced under many of them.
“There’s good and bad that comes with it all, and I will never forget just the shock and emotion that I had after winning that seventh,” said Johnson.
NASCAR announces new championship format
The return of the Chase is here. NASCAR announced on Monday the introduction of the new championship format for the 2026 season. The words “playoffs” and “regular-season” champ will not exist anymore. This new format will emphasize consistency within the racing.
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The new Cup Series format will featurea 10-race Chase, nine races for the O’Reilly Series, and seven for the Craftsman Truck Series. There will be 16 drivers based on points won throughout the season. No driver will earn an automatic entry into the Chase, like previously, and there are no driver eliminations every three races in the postseason.
Race winners will receive 55 points for any victory across the season, an addition from the previous 40, and stage points will be awarded. Elimination playoff points will reset at the beginning of the Chase as well.
The driver in first will start with 2,100 points in the Chase, and have a 25-point lead over second and a 35-point lead over third. Five points will separate the rest of the drivers from places four to 16.
The champion crowned will be the driver with the most points after the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.
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