In early 2025, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer John Probst announced that while the 2025 playoff format will remain unchanged, the organization has assembled a working group of stakeholders, including media, OEMs, Goodyear, and drivers, to holistically review the postseason format ahead of 2026.

Later in September 2025, the playoff committee wrapped up its meetings and signaled that one major change likely coming is the end of the one-race championship finale, with NASCAR saying they want “a bigger sample size” rather than four drivers battling for the title in a single event.

That’s pretty much all that’s been confirmed. Details like how many races will count toward the title, whether the elimination rounds will expand or contract, or how many drivers will compete for the championship still remain under wraps. Kyle Larson, who wins this year’s Cup championship under the current format that’s been hated, chooses to stay tight-lipped but hopes for the best on what the 2026 season could hold.

Larson speaks on playoff fix

On the Rubbin is Racing podcast, when the host asked, “Next year, we’re toying with a new playoff format. What is the ideal Championship format?” Larson’s response was refreshingly frank. He made it clear there’s no perfect format everyone will agree on.

“I don’t think there’s ever a clear 100 % … perfect format that everybody in the world is going to agree on,” he said. That kind of honesty hits home because, with the current format, drivers have repeatedly voiced frustration. And no matter what changes NASCAR does, there always has been a certain section of people who’ve disliked the system. Larson himself has noted that under today’s structure, you “could win 20 races and not win the championship.”

But he also emphasized the need for more than one race to determine the champion: “But I think what we can all agree on, Sunday maybe it proved, we need more than one race … whether that is 36, or 10, or 4, or whatever the number is. It should be more than one,” he said.

That view aligns with what NASCAR officials have been publicly hinting at lately. The sport has signaled that it’s exploring a broader sample size for the title, rather than one winner-take-all finale.

Regarding the coming changes, Larson admitted he doesn’t yet know exactly what it will look like: “I haven’t heard exactly what the for sure format is, but I think whatever it’s going to be, it’s going to be a compromise, a good compromise to what everybody sort of wants.”

His comment reflects the fact that NASCAR is still in deliberation mode, as reported, the playoff committee recently met and said no changes will be announced until after the 2025 season ends.

The backdrop here is important. The current format, in place since 2017, features 16 drivers and a 10-race elimination structure culminating in a single Championship race. While it has produced dramatic moments, it has also drawn criticism for rewarding one race over a driver’s body of work. Larson and others have voiced concern about that.

Larson’s perspective resonates especially given his own success: as the 2025 champion, he has seen both the power and the flaws of the format. In one interview, he said, “I think we all would feel like we have a better opportunity to win a championship if there were more races that factored into it.”

In short, with NASCAR preparing for potential changes, Larson is keeping his cards close but making one thing clear: the next format won’t be perfect, but the hope is for something fairer and more reflective of a full season rather than just one defining moment.

Meanwhile, as Larson eyes a playoff shift, his daughter skates to a new path.

Audrey Larson hits the ice

Kyle Larson’s kids may still be in grade school, but competition already runs in their veins. Both Owen and Audrey Larson have been squaring off in the Junior Sprint division, cutting their teeth on the way to becoming successful racers just like their father. However, seven-year-old Audrey seems to have more than racing on her radar. She’s branching out and extending one hand for checkered flags and the other for hockey sticks.

In a recent chat with Bob Pockrass, the 2025 NASCAR Cup champion revealed that Audrey has laced up for ice hockey. She has only just started playing, is still learning the ropes, but her father already sees the spark. Practices happen on Mondays, scrimmages on Wednesdays, and, as Larson put it, she’s taking to the ice with gusto.

“But there’s actually a lot of girls in it, too. It’s really cool. She’s really competitive and likes to do everything, try everything, so it’s pretty neat. And she enjoys going out there and roughing some kids up and all that,” Larson narrated.

When asked how hockey entered the picture and whether the Larsons had any ice-rink pedigree, he added, “No hockey in my background. So she watched ‘The Mighty Ducks’ a couple of years ago. And so then we got her roller blades and all that. She’s really good at skating, I feel like, for her age and size.”

He is no expert on slap shots or power plays, but  Kyle Larson has long enjoyed hockey from the stands. Now, he’s wearing a new title, “hockey dad.” Watching Audrey dive into a world far removed from race fuel and tire smoke might be a big token to him that competition comes in many forms, whether on dirt, asphalt, or ice, but a Larson is still a Larson, competitive as ever.