NASCAR may have closed the book on its lawsuit with Michael Jordan and Co., but it has opened another problem entirely. As the settlement exposed uncomfortable truths and forced changes to the charter system, fans are now turning their frustration toward the sport’s ongoing silence about the future of its playoff format.

No blip on the format radar

“Wouldn’t expect anything new on the points format for next year until January,” journalist Bob Pockrass wrote in response to a fan’s question. NASCAR has rolled out hints of tweaking the Cup Series playoff format for a few months, raising anticipation levels across the garage and the fanbase. After all, Joey Logano’s worst average finish of 17.1 as the 2024 Cup champion and Kyle Larson’s besting of Denny Hamlin last month are memories that fans would not forget easily.

In mid-November, NASCAR announced that it may be considering a return to the 10-race Chase for the Championship used from 2004 to 2013. The focus is on an elimination format that culminates with an eight-driver four-race points chase. However, NASCAR’s managing director of racing communications, Mike Forde, also said that the news of the change will be late. The sport will announce its playoff tweak before the Clash race in February – hence Pockrass’s latest update follows from that.

Nevertheless, the pressure is heavy for NASCAR. Unlike many racing series that had copied NASCAR’s model for years, a local sprint racing series reversed that trend. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will return to a full-season points system in 2026. The series confirmed the change after being acquired by FloSports and after following a playoff model for the last three years. Even Kyle Larson denied pursuing playoffs in his own series, High Limit Racing.

“This is the first time I’ve seen it be the opposite,” Xfinity veteran Kenny Wallace said about NASCAR setting trends. “This is the first time I’ve seen a short track series say, ‘Nope, we’re making the move before NASCAR does. We’re going back to normal format next year.” Wallace added, “That’s how far NASCAR has fallen. That’s how wounded NASCAR is.”

Fans may agree with Kenny Wallace, as tides of discontent ruled the crowd.

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NASCAR fans raise their eyebrows

Just after 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports bested NASCAR, the spotlight is on the sanctioning body’s subsequent actions. True, the NASCAR lawsuit trial ended in a settlement – but since the terms favored the teams more, it could be seen as NASCAR’s loss. So a fan scrutinized its silence on the playoff format at this time: “Not sure that’s smart. Dinner conversation for the holidays will now be about how NASCAR got owned and questioning if they’ve learned their lesson. Announce full-season points now, and instead, it’s about how NASCAR is back.”

The lawsuit revealed holes in NASCAR’s relations with Cup teams deeper than what fans expected. Bob Jenkins’ loss of over $100 million and Rick Hendrick’s failure to turn a profit over the past five years, despite winning three championships, were among them. So fans are questioning the sport more: “Which is nuts. I would have thought they would have seen that timing is key to starting to fix relations. But sure.” Another fan highlighted the playoff format delay: “Continuing NASCAR’s tone deafness because if they were smart, they’d do it today and get positive talk about NASCAR out there.”

The lawsuit also revealed eye-opening evidence in the executives’ personal messages. Commissioner Steve Phelps is in the center, with his derogatory texts on Richard Childress and fans eliciting outrage. “Why hasn’t Steve Phelps resigned yet?” one fan wrote. Somebody else put off even the playoff announcement for this. NASCAR’s following announcement needs to be the resignations of Phelps and O’Donnell. As just some redneck fan, I can’t read, so I asked a non-NASCAR fan to help me write this.”

Clearly, the sanctioning body’s moves are under careful scrutiny. Let’s wait and see what unfolds as 2026 comes around the corner.