NASCAR’s announcement on Monday of the third iteration of the championship playoff format in the last 22 years – and with a return to the original moniker of “The Chase for the Championship” – basically boils down to four words.

“Back to the basics.”

After more than two decades of racing in two distinct formats that alienated many fans or cost drivers championship trophies, NASCAR may finally have hit upon the best format of all.

Like the old wedding saying – Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue – NASCAR’s new playoff format borrows from the past while also modernizing the old with a few new twists and tweaks.

That leaves us with three key questions:

One, how will NASCAR fans respond?

Two, will fans like the new, more basic and streamlined format?

And third, will the new format bring back old fans who left the sport because they disliked the playoff system, and will it attract new fans – something the sport has desperately needed a significant boost in for nearly 20 years after the 2007 through 2009 fallout due to the global economic recession?

The new format will be easy for fans to understand and like

On the surface, the new format appears to be a winner. It simplifies qualifying for the playoffs and also takes away the old “win and you’re in” system where any driver who wins in the first 26 regular-season races automatically qualifies for the playoffs.

But more importantly, it eliminates arguably the biggest thorn in NASCAR’s side in sticking with the playoff format all these years: elimination rounds.

That’s right, no longer does a team that qualifies for the playoffs find itself knocked out from further advancing in any of the first three playoff rounds. And it also eliminates the one-race Championship Four final round.

Instead, the new format – which NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell said took nearly 1 ½ years to whittle down several choices and to finally settle on just one system – will reward drivers even more for wins throughout the 36 points-paying races, increasing points earned for a win from 40 to 55 points (points for all other positions, including stage points, remain the same).

And in so doing, we’ll finally be able to see drivers who were previously eliminated after, say, a bad first, second or third round be given a chance to bounce back in the subsequent races that remain in the 10-race playoffs.

A perfect example of that was last season when Shane van Gisbergen won five races – all on road courses – with four of those races coming during the 26-race regular season. Because SVG struggled in the first round of the playoffs, he was prevented from further advancement into the subsequent three rounds.

Now, if SVG once again wins multiple races in the 2026 regular season, he’ll still have a chance to collect points and perhaps finish in the top five by season’s end rather than 12 like he did last season.

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The old format had run its course; it was time for a new format

As I watched the live announcement, I was struck by one thing: the original Chase format had basically run its course after its 10-year reign from 2004 through 2013, which prompted NASCAR to change the format, increase the field to 16 drivers, and add elimination rounds, all in an effort to inject more excitement and attract both new and old fans to the sport.

Now, after its 12-season reign – what I like to call Chase 2.0 – has now become Chase 3.0 as of Monday.

“We felt like this was a great balance,” said O’Donnell. “It’s simple: there’s no playoff points and all those things.

“We all understand what the objective is. It’s simpler, easier and more cut-and-dry. It’s the full body of work. … We’ve got the best of both worlds, where every race matters.

“We did a lot of listening, a lot of talking and looked at a ton of ideas, modeled a lot of different things.”

Some fans may still not be happy with the revised format, and there may be some validity to their viewpoint. Many will say that NASCAR continues to make a big mistake by sticking with any type of playoff format, when such a format really doesn’t seem to fit with NASCAR’s focus on winning races and consistency.

“Not everyone’s going to love it,” O’Donnell acknowledged. “We don’t expect everyone to just go out and love it. We don’t expect this to be the magic wand we wave from a NASCAR standpoint and say everything’s now great. We’ve got a lot of work to do from our standpoint, relationships in the garage, getting back to those, getting back to who we are. And that’s hardcore racing.”

Hall of Famers Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are on board

Even though early on in the selection process, he favored going back to the system where the driver with the most points wins (as it had previously been from 1975 to 2003), NASCAR Hall of Famer and EssentiallySports contributor Mark Martin, who was part of the industry focus group that came to Monday’s decision, likes what he sees in the new format.

“I think that this is the most perfect compromise that you could ever ask for,” Martin said. “It’s going to require our 2026 champion to be lightning fast and incredibly consistent. And that’s what we can all get behind.

“So I’m really excited. I think it’s fantastic. And I just appeal to the race fans, all the race fans, but especially the classic fans who say to me, ‘I don’t watch anymore,’ I say, ‘We need you. Come on back. We’re headed in the right direction. Come back and join with us and we’ll keep making progress.’”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. concurs with Martin.

“I was really excited to hear the news that we were kind of getting a little bit closer to a full 36 race format,” Earnhardt said. “This is as close, in my opinion, that you can get without going all the way.

“But what I believe it does is it makes it simpler for our fans to follow. I’m a fan of the sport, and now I’m compelled to plug in every single week because I know there’s a long-form objective for my driver to accomplish to be able to give himself the opportunity to win the championship.

“With the way that they’re going to stack the bonus points and everything else, it’s critical that these drivers have success every single week. Every single race, every single lap will have more importance. I think that’s fun for the drivers to have a more clear objective to how to get to the championship and easier for our fans to follow.”

Not everyone is going to like the new format

Martin is right when he says the new format is the best compromise – but also added, “It’s not going to be enough for some. You just can’t make everyone happy (but) I think that it is the best possible scenario that you could have asked for.

“Everyone wins with this format. Everyone. The fans win. They were heard. They win. The drivers (and) the teams win. NASCAR wins. Everybody wins. You can’t always have everything you want. And I want it at all. But I’m sure happy. This is great for our sport.”

Time will tell if that is truly the case, but for now, any change is better than no change at all.