How the NASCAR Cup playoffs work: A simplified guide

The regular season comes to an end at Daytona International Speedway, and William Byron has already clinched the regular season title. 14 drivers have won their way into the playoffs, and the final two spots will be decided this weekend. But if you’re already lost, or a fan who needs a refresher, look no further.

This year marks the eleventh year with the knockout-style format. Originally called ‘The Chase’ in 2004 and involving ten drivers who simply tried to gather more points than the others over the course of the final ten races, the system has become something entirely different in the modern era. It was just over a decade ago when NASCAR decided to do a a complete overhaul and introduce an expanded playoff field, eliminations, and ten races split into four distinct rounds to determine the Cup Series’ Season Champion.

So, how exactly does it work? Here’s a simplified breakdown of it all:

Resetting the points with the 16 contenders

After the first 26 races, every full-time driver with a win is locked into the playoffs. The rest of the 16-driver field is made up of those with the most regular season points, but no wins during the year. Entering Daytona, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman are the only drivers currently in on points alone, but a new winner at Daytona could knock either of them out. Once Daytona passes, the playoff grid is locked in for the final ten races of the year.

Points reset: The standings will reset with all 16 playoff drivers awarded 2,000 playoff points. Bonus points accumulated during the regular season are added to the total — five points per race win, one point per stage win, and a handful of additional points for the ten highest drivers in the standings before the reset. This includes a whopping 15 for the regular season champion. However, they won’t be alone out on the track. All of the drivers who failed to make the playoffs will still be competing every race weekend. What are they racing for? Well, there’s still races to win and a higher finishing position in points to reach. Some are also racing for a job next year, like Daniel Suarez.

Three rounds of elimination

Round of 16: The first three races of the playoffs make up the Round of 16, where the four lowest drivers in points (usually 13th through 16th) will be eliminated from title contention. Like the regular season, a win by any playoff driver — no matter how few points, automatically advances them into the following round. 

2025 races: Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway

What to expect: This is the round where many of the ‘pretenders’ fall out of the playoffs, such as those who aren’t normally competitive but managed to find their way to Victory Lane at one point during the regular season. In 2025, Gateway will be part of the playoffs for the very first time, while the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington will open the playoffs. Bristol is known for chaos, but it has been tamer in the Next Gen era due to how difficult it has become to pass. This is the round where you simply want to avoid any unforced errors. The drivers who make mistakes and fail to finish races will be the first to be eliminated.

Round of 12: The points are reset to 3,000 with all of the bonus points added back, as well as any additional bonus points earned during the Round of 16. The format between these rounds is very similar with another three races, removing the four drivers with the least amount of points (9th through 12th). When this round ends, half of the original playoff field will be gone.

2025 races: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

What to expect: The mid-point of the playoffs is known to have its fair share of surprise exits, as it gets harder to fall back on bonus points with only eight advancing onward. Should he make it to this round, playoff spoiler Shane van Gisbergen will be the obvious favorite at the Roval, while Kansas is known to be one of the wildest intermediate tracks. NHMS also returns to the playoffs for the first time in several years, and with the same soft tire utilized at Richmond, strategy will be critical. 

Round of 8: The points reset to 4,000, including bonus points for one more three-race stretch. This leads into the penultimate race of the season where the bottom four drivers without a win will once again be eliminated (5th through 8th). A win by any of the remaining eight drivers over the course of this round automatically ensures them a shot at the title in the finale. There will be up to at least one driver transferring in on points, depending on who wins these races. 

2025 races: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway

What to expect: This round is known for its drama with the championship drawing near. It has featured several physical altercations between title combatants, notably in 2014 when an all-out brawl ensued between the teams of Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski. In 2015, Matt Kenseth was suspended after intentionally wrecking Joey Logano out of playoff contention in payback for a previous incident. The list goes on, including the now banned wall-ride maneuver that launched Ross Chastain into the 2022 Championship 4 and made him a viral sensation. This round is usually the climax of the season, even more so than the title-decider. But in 2025, it should be even crazier as Talladega has moved into the Round of 8 for the very first time. This is a radical change, and one that will make it easier for a surprise driver to win their way into the title-decider.

Watch: See multiple angles of Chastain’s last-lap move to advance at Martinsville

Note: Any points ties during these rounds will broken by a driver’s highest finish during the three races within that individual round. 

Championship 4

The winner-take-all finale. As expected, this is one of the most controversial aspects of the current playoff format. You could dominate the entire season, but one mistake in this race means you’ll end the year fourth-best. At Phoenix, the four remaining drivers will battle it out in the 36th and final race of the season as the points are reset to 5,000. During the race, there are no stage points awarded for the Championship 4 drivers. The format becomes very straightforward here — whoever finishes highest, wins the title. A tie, which happened in the old format during the 2011 season, is no longer possible. Also, regardless of where they qualify, the four contenders are guaranteed to select their pit boxes before the rest of the field. 

Host track: Phoenix Raceway 

What to expect: Since the current format’s inception eleven years ago, the champion has had to win the finale every single season — until 2023. Chastain became the first non-playoff driver in the knockout era to spoil the party and capture the checkered flag in the title-decider, drawing the ire of 2023 champion Ryan Blaney as he did so. Team Penske is also undefeated since the Next Gen car was first introduced in 2022. Joey Logano won the title that year, followed by Blaney in ’23, and then Logano won again with Blaney a close second last year. If any Penske driver makes it this far, then they will become the automatic favorite.

The four drivers for the 2014 Sprint Cup: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: NASCAR Media

Phoenix has hosted the finale since 2020, known for its wild restarts where the entire field fans out as they cut the frontstretch apron in a bizarre, but perfectly legal display. Four of the last five champions have all started on the front row Phoenix, so qualifying will be critical. Blaney is the outlier, winning the title from 15th on the grid in 2023.

And one last thing to keep in mind about the current format: Anything can and will happen. The dominant driver is guaranteed nothing and underdogs are given the chance to write their names into the history books. It’s certainly not be the fairest way to crown a season champion as the dominant driver is one mistake away from their title hopes vanishing, but it never lacks for drama. Conversations are ongoing about moving away from a one-race finale in the future, but for now, this remains the only way NASCAR crowns all three of its national division champions.