Shane van Gisbergen stepped into a new format of racing as a NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie in 2025. Thanks to his supremacy on road course races, he was able to lock himself in the knockout stages of the competition, better known as the playoffs. This was SVG’s first experience of the playoffs after his dominant run clinching 3 championships in the Supercars Series. And he’s still trying to wrap his head around the format and how it works.

Although he is enjoying his first season competing for the championship, this style of racing did come as a surprise to him. “The playoff system is crazy. It’s the most overcomplicated racing series I’ve been a part of, but I think it’s pretty cool.” However, it looks like his previous racing series Supercars is also adopting a similar model in 2025.

The Supercars revealed the 13-event calendar and are expected to drop the full list and format at the Bathurst 1000 race next week. According to a report by Speedway Cafe, the championship will be divided into three parts – Sprint, Endurance, and Finals. The Finals are expected to be a three-race event similar to that of the NASCAR playoffs.

Like NASCAR, the Supercars version of the knockouts could see the top 10 drivers in the championship standings after the Bathurst 1000. Only these 10 drivers would be eligible to race for the championship. Three drivers will be eliminated after the first two events, creating a four-driver finale at Adelaide. “The expansion to 13 events not only brings back Ipswich but solidifies Supercars’ national and international footprint.” Supercars CEO Shane Howard said this in a press release.

While the new format is expected to have a different structure and tweaks, NASCAR fans were left worried for the series. It is fair to say that the playoffs have been a controversial topic and highly debated among NASCAR circles. So, the move by Supercars to follow suit was like a headscratcher for most fans who shared their thoughts on this move.

Shane van Gisbergen’s former racing series following in NASCAR’s footsteps leaves fans concerned

The playoffs have been in NASCAR since 2004. Initially, overall points in the regular season allowed the drivers to compete for the championship. The top 10 drivers would be eligible to compete for the trophy; the field was then expanded to 12 drivers. But the big changes came in 2017 when the series adopted stage racing along with playoff points. This also gave rise to one win, and you’re in a strategy that has been exploited by teams and drivers. A format that is under such scrutiny isn’t a template for other series to follow, but seeing Supercars following suit had this fan in disbelief. “The cancer spreads.”

This year’s playoffs have been frustrating for the fans who are rooting for their favorite drivers and teams. Two non-playoff drivers, Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain, have already spoiled the party with their wins. And this is only because the format forces the drivers to race conservatively and collect points. Unable to make sense of the move Supercars made, another user on Reddit wrote, “The absolutely disastrous consequences NASCAR and its disgrace of a championship format have had on Motorsports as a whole need to be studied by future generations to come.”

Despite the criticism and backlash, the playoff format hasn’t changed but only added new layers to the existing format since its inception. The idea behind the playoffs is to make the business end of the season more exciting, like other major stick-ball sports like the NFL and NBA. Reacting to this news, a fan opined that the playoffs aren’t going away anytime soon and also made a bold prediction. “The playoffs aren’t going away. It will be hilarious if F1 or IndyCar ever adopts it.”

Unlike NASCAR, other popular motorsports series like Formula 1 and IndyCar still have the traditional format of racing. Which is to grab the most number of points throughout the season to claim the championship. However, this trend could soon change according to this race fan, “It was just a matter of time before other series picked up the playoff format.”

One of the big problems a new NASCAR fan has is understanding the complicated format. There are stage wins, playoff points, the regular season, and the rest of the points after every round of knockout stages. It’s a lot to take in for a viewer of a fan who tunes into NASCAR for the first time, and going by this fan’s reactions, he’s still unable to understand how playoffs work. “Thought it was too confusing lol.”

It will be interesting to see what changes the Supercars series makes to their knockout stages and how it differs from NASCAR.