First, it was a NASCAR insider, then Denny Hamlin, and now Kevin Harvick. Harrison Burton’s surprise win at the Coke Zero Sugar 400, has brought him more attention than he had in the entire season. It was not only due to how a driver sitting 34th and without a seat for next season, came out on top at Daytona, but also how a single win propelled him to the playoffs out of nowhere.

With his father in the booth, Burton brought Wood Brothers Racing, a hallowed team on NASCAR’s grid, its 100th win. But even amidst the celebrations, a grim reality stung those watching about the fairness of the sport—including Kevin Harvick. The former SHR driver questioned the win-and-you’re-in system currently in place and had fans calling for a complete overhaul of the system.

“Traditional racer” Kevin Harvick questions NASCAR’s playoff system

Since the current playoff system was set in 2014, drivers have scrambled desperately for a victory to bunk with championship contenders no matter how poorly they fared until that point. The idea was to make every race right up to the playoffs more exciting, but traditionalists like Kevin Harvick have objections to season non-favorites sealing a playoff berth as Burton did.

Although the driver certainly didn’t have much to show for himself since he graduated from the Cup Series, the only track he showed promise on was the Daytona Speedway. Let’s talk stats for a moment before we dive into Harvick’s thoughts.

Burton holds two Top-5 and 1 Top-10 finish to his name on the track and has now added a win. Yet, his place in the playoffs has raised many questions.

On the August 28 episode of ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour’, the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver called himself a traditionalist. He said, “I just wonder what the balance is between ‘do we want our best 16 cars’ or do we want it to be exciting? This is not anything against Harrison Burton. It’s not anything against Daniel Suarez. But are those our best 16 cars that we’re going to have racing for the championship? Or does it matter? If you have five or six guys that are in there that we’re going to be 30 something in the points or 20 something in the points is the integrity of the playoffs.”

Under the new system, 16 drivers who win races during the regular season qualify for the playoffs. In case, there are fewer than 16 drivers with a win, the rest of the field is filled based on points the others have earned during the regular season.

With Burton’s win, he became the 13th driver to confirm a playoff berth and now three spots are up for grabs ahead of the regular season finale in Darlington next week.

The case with Burton’s win is that many feel a lot of deserved drivers, who have been consistent this season will miss out. As a result of his surprise victory at Daytona, one of  Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace or Ross Chastain could miss the postseason. Buescher is 11th, Wallace 13th, and Chastain 14th in the overall points standings. suggesting they have been consistent performers without a win. Compare this to Burton’s record and you can see why many feel this is a tad unfair.

Until Daytona, he had two top-10 and one top-5 finish to his name this season. He is last in average finish and has the second-worst average running position among full-time drivers. Yet he has punched a ticket to the playoffs.

Harvick added, “I have a hard time with the win-and-you’re-in strategy because we have such a long season…I can see it both ways. There’s an entertainment side, but I’m a traditional racer that wants the best 16 guys to race for the championship.”

Earlier, NASCAR insider Eric Esteep had the same question. On August 25, he talked about Burton’s win on his YouTube channel and while he said the moment was incredible, he questioned Burton’s playoff place under the current system.

He said, “Harrison Burton won tonight, a legitimate winner – he’s in the playoffs. But is Harrison Burton a playoff driver, or is the Wood Brothers a playoff team? No. They’ve been outside the top 30 in points all year…for the better part of 3 years.”

It is not as if Burton did anything wrong. The stakes for him may have been higher, considering that he will part ways with Wood Brothers at the end of the season. Like every driver outside the playoff cutoff line, he knew the task at hand. It didn’t matter if you were ranked 34th or were in the top 10, a win was all that mattered. At the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Burton cashed in on the “win-and-you’re-in format” perfectly.

Still, NASCAR’s playoff system is once again under scrutiny from those who have been around a long time. When the dissenting voices include the likes of Harvick and Denny Hamlin, it is likely the fans will have reason with their assessment.

Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick’s views echoed by NASCAR community

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Denny Hamlin on his Actions Detrimental podcast on August 26, also voiced his frustrations with the current playoff format. He admired Burton’s last-lap win but said, “I’m not equating it to that (winning a lottery), but I’m equating it to it going from, you know, they’re probably conceding that we’re going to be last, to all of a sudden, ‘Wow, we’re top 16, and now we’re guaranteed millions of dollars.”

Indeed, drivers who have consistently fetched top-fives and top-tens throughout the tough season suddenly find themselves bowing to Burton, who owns a single top-five in 97 race starts. So fans are furious as well, calling for banning the system altogether.

One fan pointed out, “The problem with NASCAR’s playoff integrity is the playoff’s existence.” Another fan hailed respecting stage points in exchange for getting rid of the playoffs. “Stage points can stay, but the playoff system needs to be put down behind the shed.”

Earlier NASCAR used to have a point system that would reward consistency. It took into account not only points for crossing the finish line first, but how many laps the driver led. It allowed for strategic competition with every lap and race contributing to your championship hopes. Then in 2004, we witnessed ‘The Chase’ format. Under this system, the top drivers in the standings qualified for the final 10-race shootout for the championship after 26 regular season races.

This format provided the excitement of the playoffs but also rewarded consistency. However, the new format introduced in 2014, changed the landscape. This meant that every race till the last mattered, which was a key reason behind the switch. In previous formats, there was the possibility of the last few races being rendered boring, if the field was already sorted for the championship round.

Some people drew comparisons with earlier times to debunk the system. With NASCAR being an unpredictable sport, even legends like Richard Petty and Carl Yarborough barely cracked 15% in terms of win percentages. So one fan opined the sport should focus on uplifting drivers’ talents instead of the win tally. “The championship format should be paying attention to how a driver performs when it isn’t their day, which is most of the time. The way NASCAR has tried to weight everything purely on winning is pretty antithetical to the nature of a racing season.”

After his maiden victory at the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Harrison Burton blew open the points battle around the playoff bubble. If an existing winner like Christopher Bell had won that race, Bubba Wallace would now be safely 6 points above the cutline. Instead, the 23XI Racing driver is 21 points below, and Ross Chastain is 27 points in the dark.

Others thought about possible solutions to reach a middle ground. Instead of throwing its weight entirely on a race winner, NASCAR should allow some scope for good racers to shine. One fan harshly attacked Burton and other drivers who were unduly stealing the spotlight. “Top 25 is a good compromise of a wide open field but not having bottom dwellers wasting playoff spots. And I was being nice to Burton by calling him a bottom dweller.” 

Then somebody else gave a radical solution, again ending with hating the playoffs. “Give the winner 100 points, and second place 50 points. Keep stage points to incentivize running up front all day. But get rid of the playoffs and go to a full season championship.”

Evidently, Kevin Harvick’s notions have received plenty of approval from fans. With the playoff system getting on so many people’s nerves, maybe NASCAR should make some changes soon.