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Racing fans shouldn’t expect to hear what the 2026 NASCAR Playoffs format until the new year, but one team executive thinks it will go over well with most fans.
Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice recently spoke to retired driver Kenny Wallace and told him, “I know a lot more than you think,” about what to expect, without spilling all of the still secret beans.
Rice said, “you’re gonna like it,” and elaborated that “it’s not exactly what everybody’s posting about.”
“I feel like 75% of the people are going to love it, 10% are going to be, ‘aaaah, OK,’ right? And that’s gonna leave 15% of the people that’s gonna hate it.”
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Speculation has been that it there will still be multiple knock-out rounds, but that the champion will be decided over several races, rather that with a final winner-take-all race. There’s also the possibility that the 10-race Chase will be revived, but Rice made it sound like something new is in the works.
Anyone hoping that NASCAR will switch back to a full-season points championship should probably get ready to be disappointed, however.
“The traditional way of doing points would be tough to do in this era,” Rice said. “Because we are looking towards a younger group of people.”
“Man, I go back and watch them old races on Tubi and then like, dude, there might be one car on the lead lap and somebody’s winning the points series by 487 points, like that ain’t exciting to the young guy, or young woman, so we gotta make it exciting.”
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NASCAR is the only major circuit racing series with a postseason-style championship. IndyCar and Formula 1 both use full season points standings as the decider and do not have plans to change. The NHRA currently uses something similar to The Chase called the Countdown to the Championship, which resets the points for the final six races. The smaller Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model series has used a playoffs for the past three seasons, but is switching back to a points format next year.
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The only thing certain about the 2026 NASCAR season is the schedule, which is set in stone regardless of how the champion is decided and will once again end with a finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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