The chatter about NASCAR’s next championship setup got a lot spicier this week. Jeff Gluck dropped a tweet that pointed out a weird split in what fans are saying. The bottom line is, do people even like the playoffs? Online votes scream no. But folks calling into SiriusXM NASCAR Radio sound way more okay with it. That mismatch has everybody demanding real proof.

Gluck’s tweet blew past 100K views. He said polls on X, Reddit, and YouTube keep landing in the same ballpark, give or take ten percent. Yet the radio callers lean hard the other way. His exact words:

“Polls on X, Reddit, and YouTube keep getting similar results (within 10 pct). But for some reason, Sirius callers seem far more pro playoff.”

He shared a screenshot from The Iceberg, a massive independent NASCAR YouTube channel. They asked fans to pick from three ideas for 2026. Among 10K votes, the results looked like this:

Full Season Points 67%
10 Race Chase 24%
3 3 4 Elimination Playoffs 8%

Those figures line up with what keeps popping up everywhere else online.

Fans have been pushing for an old-school, full-season title since early 2024, right when NASCAR started kicking around changes for 2026.

The timing could not be bigger.

NASCAR has a committee of drivers, teams, makers, media, and officials digging into every option. Nothing is locked out. Word is the one-race, winner-take-all finale might vanish completely by September. In short, the sport stands at a fork in the road, and what fans think actually counts.

TV partners throw another wrench in. They love anything with playoffs or knockouts because it spikes fall numbers. Gluck reported that network wishes could cap how wild the switch gets for 2026. So you have fans begging for simple points while networks crave drama and eyeballs.

That clash makes Jeff Gluck’s tweet hit harder. It is not just internet noise. It is about who speaks for the fans and where the sport heads next. Online polls are out in the open. Radio callers feel like stories, not stats. With a 2026 call coming soon, every opinion echoes louder.

Until solid numbers prove the radio crowd speaks for most, fans stay skeptical that pro playoff chatter on air matches the real mood.

Fan reactions over the NASCAR playoffs poll

“Where is the Sirius caller data to support that?…” Plenty of fans jumped on Gluck right away. They want hard numbers from SiriusXM, not feelings. Online polls like the 10,000-vote YouTube one show 67 percent for full-season points. Sirius gives zero counts, zero breakdowns, zero anything.

Fans remember Gluck and Jordan Bianchi on The Teardown talking up playoff love from just five callers. The gripe is straightforward: claim the callers represent us, then back it with the same openness polls have.

“If you polled random fans privately, the results would be wildly different.” A few folks argue online polls pull in the loud traditional crowd, while track goers or casuals might swing the other way. NASCAR’s own Fan Council has shown gaps before, like early backing for stage racing.

Research says setting changes answers: anonymous screens let strong views fly, while live at the track keeps things milder. NASCAR brass admitted in 2025 that they hear different takes depending on the crowd. So an in-person poll could shift the split, even if full-season points still lead.

“Switchboards let radio stations screen calls; they choose what you hear.” Fans brought up the obvious: radio producers pick who gets through. They decide topics, voices, everything. This happens across talk radio. In NASCAR, people have long felt SiriusXM and the sport push happy stories, like calling the 2024 finale a universal thrill despite online grumbles.

History repeats complaints from the Car of Tomorrow in 2007 or the first Chase in 2004, both shoved through over fan pushback. Today, the worry is simple: on-air callers are the selected few, not the full picture.

“How many fans even have SiriusXM? I have gone to races since 1998 and only got it recently.” Another big call out: SiriusXM reaches only a slice of fans. They had 34 million subscribers across all types in early 2024. NASCAR claims 50 to 75 million followers total.

Tons of diehards never subscribed or just did lately. New cars increasingly skip built-in XM receivers, and the company itself said new vehicle growth has flattened. Bottom line, radio callers come from a tiny corner, not the whole stands.

“Most callers agree with the host, and it is the same people calling again and again.” Regular listeners spot the pattern: the same names ring in week after week to hosts like Dave Moody, Larry McReynolds, or Danielle Trotta. Talk radio studies show a handful of super-engaged folks dominate lines.

Gluck and Bianchi even laughed on their podcast about repeat callers. When someone disagrees, hosts sometimes push back firmly. It builds an echo where callers match the show vibe. Not shady, just how curated radio rolls, but it mirrors the hosts more than the full fanbase.