The NASCAR playoff format has been in question ever since its debut in 2014. While it ups the entertainment value, it certainly disregards consistency, and this is true across all three series. This could be seen in the introductory season itself, where Kevin Harvick won 10 races but did not even get to compete in the championship 4. This is the reason why Kyle Larson, even after bagging the most amount of wins (6), double that of our championship four contestants, Joey Logano (3), William Byron (3), Ryan Blaney(3), and Tyler Reddick (3), is still out of contention for a championship this year.

Even in the recently concluded Truck Series race where Ty Majeski clinched the championship at Phoenix as well as the season, was Majeski the most deserving candidate, as per the stats? Probably not. Because Christian Eckes, who finished the race and the season in P3, has outclassed Majeski by a big margin if the entire season was taken into account. This has raised a big question in front of NASCAR to decide if the system is broken or not!

Was Christian Eckes the more deserving candidate?

If we compare the 2024 stats, Christian Eckes has four wins while Majeski has three, including the Phoenix one. And in consistency, Majeski is nowhere near the #19 driver. In the 23 races, Eckes has finished 22 times in the top 10. The only race that he missed out on was the season opener at Atlanta, where he finished 32nd. That too after he led the race at the start and also won stage one, but brake issues had him retire the car in the 50th lap. Had that not been the case, he would have probably had 23 top 10s.

And even 22 is a record as he is the first driver across all three series to only have one finish outside the top 10 in a season. Still, he has to be satisfied with a P3 season-ending, had it been the time before the playoffs were introduced, Eckes would have been a champion by a great margin. Also, Majeski has 13 top 10s and 9 tops with an average finish of 11.1 this season. This is nowhere close to Eckes’ remarkable consistency as the 23-year-old has 15 top 5s and an average finish of 5.3.

Naturally, if points were considered, Eckes topples Majeski, and not by a close margin. According to NASCAR journalist Austin Konenski, “Christian Eckes entered Phoenix with a 101-point lead over Corey Heim for 2nd place and a 200-point lead over Ty Majeski for 3rd place. It’s one of the most consistent NASCAR seasons we’ve seen in a long, long time. However, consistency doesn’t win titles in this format…”

Even in the case of Kyle Larson and the Cup championship contestants, it’s the same story. Larson has 14 top fives as opposed to Blaney’s 11, Logano’s 6, Reddick’s 12, and Byron’s 12. And the difference in laps led this season so far is really eye-opening. Against Larson’s 1686, no one amongst the four even comes close to his number. Ryan Blaney has 555, Logano has 307, Reddick has 597 and Byron led 338 laps. And So far Larson’s average finish is 8.9  in the season. The only driver close is Byron with 9.6 rest are all above 10.

This continues in the Xfinity Series, Chandler Smith has an average finish of 6.7 and has 15 top 5s, but isn’t part of the championship 4. As opposed to Justin Allgaier who has only 9 top 5s and an average finish of 9.8. Had the playoff format not been there we would have seen different champions this season. Even many veterans of the sport have spoken about this recently, calling it a broken system.

Is there a need for a change?

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Recently NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin talked about how the ‘win it and you are in’ format ignores the bad runs drivers have had, in turn not valuing the drivers who constantly try to have good runs. On this, he said, “I’m not talking about me. I don’t think that we performed our best this playoff. Should we be part of the final four? By the statistics? Probably. But I would argue we didn’t have it this year. It’s more the Kyle Larsons of the world that you win the most races, you lead in every category, the most dominant car most weeks and yet, you’re out.”

However, NASCAR disagrees that the system is broken. While this heated debate is on, NASCAR president Steve Phelps said, “I go back to (how) the format itself creates incredible racing. So if we are all going to be honest and say, ‘Hey, how’s the racing been during the playoffs and these nine weeks?’ I don’t think it’s ever been better, and I think part of that is due to the system itself. They race their guts out. They did…I think it provides great, great racing for our race fans.”

While NASCAR’s only rebuttal is how exciting the races are, there is no denying that consistency and race craft are not being valued. Phelps further talked about how NASCAR is not the only sport where this happens. “The format is the format. We are always looking (and) if there are opportunities for us to tweak something, so be it. We’re not the only sport where the best statistical team does not get to the final four or the Super Bowl or the World Series…Three of the four (drivers) on Sunday, they won to get through.”

The emphasis is basically just on winning. Yet the winningest drivers are not champions, be it Larson or Corey Heim (6 wins) in the Truck Series. However, at times, there are factors beyond a driver’s control, and in such situations, despite him being capable, he is ousted out of contention. And in a system like the current playoffs, there is no compensation for this.

What do you think of the current format? Share your thoughts will us in the comments below.