“I’m old school in a lot of ways,” Chris Buescher said at the end of 2023. Last season, the RFK Racing driver clinched three stellar Cup Series victories and stamped his way into the playoffs. But this season, the No. 17 Ford driver encountered bad luck. Despite putting up consistent finishes of 12 top-tens and 5 top-fives, Buescher fell just one spot short of the playoffs. So his team owner Brad Keselowski also looks back at older times.

The No. 6 Ford driver snapped a 107-race winless streak at Darlington’s spring race. But despite his 8 top-five finishes, Keselowski occupies 13th place on the playoff grid. This has got the RFK owner missing the old format, as NASCAR fans also join him.

Brad Keselowski looks back longingly at old format

Created in 1975 by Bob Latford, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series points system is now a thing of lore. It rewarded different points for different events, taking things like mileage and purse money into account. Yet the lack of importance given to winners (who earned the same points as runner-up finishers who led the most laps) was concerning. So after Matt Kenseth pulled off a championship in 2003 after a single-race victory and finishing last, NASCAR decided to change the format.

But two decades later in 2024, some drivers are left looking longingly at that format. Number in RFK Racing‘s two stellar drivers in that regard. Brad Keselowski slipped inside the playoff grid with his Goodyear 400 win. However, his teammate is not so lucky. Chris Buescher almost clinched a playoff spot, only to get bested by Chase Briscoe. Despite this situation, a recently released average finishes ranking list spells otherwise. Keselowski ranks 3rd, while Buescher is in 6th. Ryan Blaney, the current points leader, is nowhere to be seen in the list. Keselowski said it’s “Fun stat.” while slipping a 4-word wish, “Wish it meant more.”

This vibe reverberates across the RFK fold. Last year, most drivers sanctioned the current format, including Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, and other veterans. But only one voiced a different opinion – Chris Buescher. He echoed Brad Keselowski’s current emotions: “If you’re going to take three races and add up points from those, I’d say just go back and add up points from the (season-opening) Daytona 500,” he said. “Now you come down to one race, and you say this is the one that matters. It’s tough for me to say that’s the best way to do it…I’m very traditional on that side of things.”

Despite their lonesome opinion in the Cup garage, the RFK folks got a lot of support from the fanbase.

NASCAR fans side with Keselowski

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Seeing your favorite driver fall through can be disappointing indeed. Especially when the lowest-ranked driver in points soars past him to clinch a playoff spot. That was how some Rowdy fans felt when Harrison Burton won in Daytona in a last-lap shocker. Although Kyle Busch has not been so consistent this year, the lack of a win clubbed his chances further. So fans could not help but concur with Brad Keselowski: “it used to 🤷🏻‍♂️” wrote a fan while somebody else lamented losing consistency: “Sadly, consistency means nothing now. I wish it meant more as well.”

The Winston Cup system was a snoozer for fans – sometimes, a champion was decided way before the season ended. That snapped the build-up and excitement for the final championship race, as the winner could not make a difference. Yet current fans are in favor of sacrificing entertainment for fairer races. “This right here proves #nascar is in worst spot competitively it’s ever been. There has to be a fair amount of competition mixed with entertainment and we’ve tipped the scales too far to entertainment.” 

Some more fans outlined possible variations to the format. Cutting down the difference between the leaders and the poor performers can go a long way. “If they’re not going to go back to a full season points format at least just take the top 16 in points or so whatever, and whoever rakes in the most points in the following 10 races wins.” Another fan made a passionate plea for reserving playoff spots for top-average finishers. “Reserve 10/16 for top 10 in points, 6 wildcards, top 26 cap 🙏🙏🙏”

Evidently, the current playoff system is not whipping up a lot of popularity. That is if you count the RFK Racing fold and their fanbase at least. Let us see if that is enough to create ripples of change in the format.