The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway delivered a dramatic, yet deeply polarizing, conclusion to the season. The event saw the title ultimately claimed by Jesse Love, driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, who passed season-long dominator Connor Zilisch with 24 laps remaining to secure the emotional victory and the championship trophy. Love, whose victory at Phoenix was only his second win of the entire 33-race season, defeated his friend and rival on the strength of just one night.

Love’s championship stands in stark contrast to the unparalleled season put forth by 19-year-old Connor Zilisch. Driving the No. 88 for JR Motorsports, Zilisch was a statistical powerhouse throughout 2025, shattering records by accumulating a staggering 10 race wins. He also led the series with 20 Top 5s and had a record-breaking streak, performing like a seasoned veteran in his debut Xfinity campaign. Yet, because the championship format resets points for the final race, all of that dominance evaporated. His third-place finish at Phoenix was insufficient to overcome Love’s race win, leaving him with an incredible season resume but no championship hardware.

The resulting debate on the playoff format was amplified when Kevin Harvick addressed the playoff controversy on his Happy Hour podcast. He dismissed co-host Mamba Smith’s argument for prioritizing regular-season consistency, saying, “They raced all year to put themselves in that position and have dominated their series and could not be the champion.” When Smith interjected to offer the common defense that a championship upset is simply “what happens in sports,” Harvick immediately shut down the comparison, saying, “We race. We’re racing,” emphasizing that NASCAR is not just any sport.

The contemporary NASCAR playoff system, which features elimination rounds culminating in a single-race, winner-take-all final at Phoenix, is explicitly engineered for television drama. Even in the Cup Series, a driver could win 5 races in the regular season, build a massive points lead, but be eliminated by a single mechanical failure or accident in an early playoff round. This happened in 2024 with Christopher Bell, who amassed the highest number of playoff points but missed the Championship 4.

Ultimately, the core of the controversy lies in the diminished value of the regular season, turning 35 races into an elaborate qualifying round for a final 4-person lottery race. While the playoff system does achieve its goal of creating a climactic final race, it frustrates a substantial portion of the fans who value the historical narrative of NASCAR’s ‘dumpster fire’ championship, where drivers like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt won titles through superior performance across a long, grueling schedule.

NASCAR’s Playoff controversy erupts again

One fan’s sarcastic defense of the winner-take-all system, “He JuSt DiDnT pErFoRm WhEn ThE lIgHtS wErE bRiGhT,” is precisely the argument used to dismiss the historic, season-long dominance of Connor Zilisch in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Zilisch won 10 races and the Regular Season Championship, posted an Xfinity rookie record 18 consecutive top-five finishes, and was the overwhelming favorite. However, in the single-race Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway, Zilisch’s car faded late in the final stage.

Another added, “I can’t wait for nascar to change this format. They kept saying winning is everything. In this case, it don’t make sense. Connor won more races, more top tens & more top fives than anyone. This format is a joke!” Conversely, the eventual champion, Jesse Love, secured the title on the strength of his final race win, finishing the year with only 2 total victories, 9 top-5 finishes, and 22 top-10 finishes, thereby confirming the criticism that the format devalues a statistically dominant season.

Some fans added to that sentiment, saying, “Someone that got his second win of the year is crowned Champion over someone that’s won more races than RCR did all year combined.” Under the elimination format, Zilisch’s impressive consistency and win total were rendered secondary to the result of the final, winner-take-all race, where he finished 3rd, allowing Love’s clutch performance to take the championship trophy.

Most of the comments illustrate how a single event’s setup or track condition can nullify 9 months of unparalleled, record-breaking consistency, saying, “Such a waste of 9 months for people who care about the championship. Zilisch dominated this year and has nothing to show for it because of the results of one race…” But others brought back memories from the past and the duality of the NASCAR fandom, saying, “Them: we need the playoffs because Matt Kenseth won the championship with only one win. Jesse love wins the 2025 championship with only one win prior to Phoenix.”

Whether playful jab or pointed criticism, Harvick’s post has once again spotlighted NASCAR’s most polarizing question: what truly defines a champion?