Having raced through the evolution from the old full-season, 36-point championship to the modern 10-race elimination format, Brad Keselowski certainly knows a thing or two about playoffs. In fact, earlier in the week, he remarked, “The whole playoff thing has to go away. The nuance of having 10 races that are more important than 20-some others is very unhealthy for the sport. It’s demeaning to the other tracks and races.” Now, as the dust settles on the Charlotte Roval race, his anger reached fever pitch.

True to its nature, Bank of America Roval 400 delivered intense playoff drama with Joey Logano and Ross Chastain fighting for every point to advance into the Round of 8. On the final lap, Chastain collided with Denny Hamlin and spun across the finish line in a desperate bid to earn a single point and avoid elimination. Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen dominated the race, winning by over 15 seconds and securing his fifth consecutive road course victory of the 2025 season. But that isn’t enough for racing purists like Keselowski.

The 2012 Cup Series champion, who missed the playoffs as RFK Racing fell short of the cutoff, has long voiced concerns about the Series playoff format. Following the chaotic Charlotte Roval race, Keselowski took to X to reiterate his criticism, saying, “Clear as day, not enough talk about winning and winners (star power) but covering 15th for known elimination is easier for media storylines. Fans are voting with their eyeballs and it’s definitively a net loss for the sport vs full season format. Now is the time to fix this.”

Talks are ongoing about the 2026 championship format, with proposals including a four-race final round featuring up to 6 contenders. Still, some voices push for a return to the traditional season-long point system, including Dale Jr. NASCAR hasn’t used a full-season points format since 2003; the playoff structure has been tweaked several times, most recently ahead of the 2017 season. Keselowski’s comment about fans “ voting with their eyeballs” reflects the noticeable drop in 2025 playoff TV ratings, down roughly 300-400K viewers compared to 2024. These numbers are no joke.

But as Brad Keselowski supports NASCAR in the midst of the charter legal battle, he definitely calls for changes on the playoff front of things. However, Joey Logano has a contrasting view as he turns into a white knight in defense of the current playoff system. The Team Penske driver, having claimed his titles in 2018, 2022, and 2024 under the system, narrowly advanced into the Round of 8 after a dramatic race at the Charlotte Roval.

Speaking on pit road, Joey Logano defended the system with all his heart, saying, “The playoffs create drama. It creates storylines. It creates awesome moments like that. I don’t understand what people don’t like about it. I really don’t get it. And if you’re one of those people who say the regular season doesn’t matter, playoff points don’t matter — one point would have been the difference there… If you don’t have cutoff races and things like that, what are you even talking about today? How Shane waxed everyone’s b*tt? That’s what you want? I’m just saying, this playoff format is wicked.”

Logano powered past in a tense showdown for a final transfer spot, underscoring the drama the playoff format creates. But NASCAR is adamant about making a change in the format, with Mike Forde dropping the format post the Phoenix race, as all eyes will be squarely on the push for the Chase format.

Brad Keselowski faces a challenging day at Roval amid playoff rants

Brad Keselowski’s 2025 Bank of America Roval 400 race proved frustrating as mechanical issues forced him to slow on the backstretch on lap 91, ultimately pulling off the track. Starting 22nd, by lap 16, he had climbed to 4th place, running behind his teammate Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, and Bubba Wallace, showing strong pace in the early stages of the race.

However, as the laps progressed, the 41-year-old struggled to maintain his position among the leaders while others like SVG, Kyle Larson, and Christopher Bell battled at the front and cycled through pit strategies. Ultimately, the No. 6 Ford driver’s race came to an abrupt halt on lap 91 with no caution called for the incident. He did not return to the lead, and his race ended prematurely, far from the front-running pace he had shown early on.

One thing is certain for sure, the NASCAR veteran may not be in the fight on track, but off-track, he will still be standing tall in the fight for a change in the current playoff format.