NASCAR Veteran Uncovers Playoff Systems’ Crucial Role in Highlighting Drivers’ Versatility

Oval short tracks, dirt tracks, superspeedways, or winding road courses- few sports have more track variations than NASCAR. Drivers competing in the Cup Series are expected to adapt to different challenges every week, earning them the reputation of being the most versatile drivers in the world. A modern Cup Series driver is expected to be a jack of all trades, showing mastery in different racing styles, track types, and across surfaces.

According to FOX commentator Mike Joy, the playoff system has played a big role in highlighting just how versatile NASCAR drivers can be. Only the very best emerge on top after Championship 4 to make their way into the history books.

How playoffs made NASCAR competitive again

When Jimmie Johnson won four NASCAR Championships in a row from 2006 to 2010, it was largely due to his talent, consistency, and skill. However, the lack of unpredictability in the sport led to falling viewership numbers, leading to NASCAR revising its playoff system. As per the new rules, playoff points could be won in a variety of circumstances, like stage points, winning races, or finishing in the top 16 in the regular season. This meant that after Jimmie Johnson won his last Championship in 2016, there have been seven different winners in the last seven years.

Speaking about drivers from yesteryears, NASCAR race announcer Mike Joy said, “They had a lot more freedom. Ray Hendrick back in the day, never ran for points except one year. He would cherry-pick and run whatever races paid the best. The way you went about racing back in the day was very different than the way you go about it now.” When asked when that changed, Mike Joy replied, “Well, it really changed for NASCAR, when NASCAR introduced the playoff system.”

Mike Joy’s comments will ring true for NASCAR fans who have been following the sport for decades. Gone are the days when the winner of the Championship was the racer who accrued the most points at the end of the regular season.  Moreover, the playoff system has made sure that drivers can’t “cherry-pick” races they want to participate in if they hope to win the Championship. The reasoning behind the rule is to ensure drivers don’t compete in only those races that play to their strengths while avoiding races where they will struggle. The objective is to also provide more value to fans, who are guaranteed to see their favorite drivers every time they watch a NASCAR race.

NASCAR drivers showing versatility across motorsports

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What makes Mario Andretti one of the greatest race car drivers ever? He is one of just three drivers (the other two are Juan Pablo Montoya and Dan Gurney) to have won races across NASCAR, Formula 1, IndyCar, and the World SportsCar Championship. The answer to that question is Andretti’s ability to adapt across motorsport formats and still achieve success. Modern NASCAR drivers are not too dissimilar in that regard.

One of the best examples of a versatile modern NASCAR driver is Kyle Larson. Having already triumphed in one of the biggest races in the world: the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, he took on another challenge. He attempted to do ‘The Double’, making his open-wheel debut in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 and participating in the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. While weather played spoilsport, it showed just how versatile modern NASCAR drivers are to compete across different motorsport formats.

Speaking about Larson paving the way for competing across motorsport formats, Mike Joy said, “Kyle Larson, he convinced his car owner in cup, Rick Hendrick, who has tremendous investment in Kyle Larson that he was a better driver the more he raced. And I think it’s going to be more up to the car owners than it is the drivers. How much of this opportunity that we see and how much of it that they embrace.”

“I think once you get outside of NASCAR, other sanctioning bodies are seeing that the drivers who wheel these cars at 190 miles an hour on Sunday, they’re really talented. They’re not just stock car drivers, they are racers and they can climb in just about anything with an appropriate acclimation period and be running right with the front runners. Talent finds a way.”

Do you think the playoff system has highlighted NASCAR drivers’ versatility? Let us know in the comments!