The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season begins this weekend with the Daytona 500, and one very exciting change, or rather a reintroduction, to look forward to is the return of the Chase format. After eleven long years, it will once again be the system that decides the champion.
This move has been met with a positive response from all sides and is expected to make the season far more compelling than it was under the playoff format. That said, welcoming the Chase does not necessarily mean rejecting the previous playoff system.
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Richard Childress, one of the sport’s most iconic personalities, expressed his thoughts on the format in a recent interview with Fox8 WGHP. He said, “I think it’s better for the race fans and the sport to have this type of playoffs.
“I didn’t see anything wrong with the other one. But you gotta make changes. Change is the future. We have to do things to keep our sport moving in the right direction,” Childress added.
The playoff format was criticized mainly for the perception that it allowed “undeserving” drivers to become champions. Many felt that luck played too large a role in determining the title winner. Under the Chase format, however, a driver must be consistent throughout the season to win the championship, a requirement that demands both skill and endurance.
Furthermore, expertise on a single type of racetrack will not be rewarded as heavily as it was under the playoff format. Only the most well-rounded drivers will be able to make the Chase and reach the final stages of the season. Whether it works out as expected or not, the change is a much-needed one, as Childress pointed out.
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The sport’s core fanbase felt increasingly left out with the former playoff format. The change ahead of the 2026 season signals that NASCAR values their opinions as well.
Childress on the importance of the core fanbase
Childress is a 50-plus-year NASCAR veteran who has seen the sport continually evolve from the days of Lee Petty to Dale Earnhardt and into the present day. The one point he emphasizes, with all the wisdom he carries, is that old-school fans should not be left behind. He does not want the sport to forget where it came from or who helped get it to where it is today.
He said, “Never forget what got you here, and that’s the old-school race fans. We gotta have our new fans. Our young fans. Our new fans out there.” The benefactor believes that NASCAR has some great young drivers coming up the ranks and believes they will define the sport someday, just like how Dale Earnhardt and the other icons of the past did.
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Change cannot be ignored if the goal is improvement. For a sport like NASCAR to regain its lost luster and recognition, it needs to adapt to multiple changes in quick succession to figure out what’s working and what’s not.
The post Richard Childress Supports NASCAR Going to the Chase Format, but Not Because He Disliked the Playoffs appeared first on The SportsRush.
