This week, NASCAR announced its new championship-style format, and people from all over have had much to say. The new format is a return to The Chase, the previously used format from 2004 to 2013. The new format is an updated rendition of the old Chase, still incorporating stages and stage points, but it also brings back consistency to racing. Mark Martin, formerly “The Kid”, played a role in the change, taking part in committee meetings and helping shape the final decision.

Martin has made himself known as the voice for change in formats, along with Denny Hamlin. His campaign against the format began after the Daytona 500 weekend in 2025. This is when NASCAR decided to form the committee that would discuss and introduce the changes for the upcoming season. Martin shared some insightful, but shocking, confessions on the committee’s final decision and U-turn.

The Kid’s confession

Martin appeared on Sirius XM to share some insider news on the final decision of NASCAR’s new format. He shared that at the third and final meeting, the committee shocked him because they still had the full season on the table. There were apparently multiple ideas for the format. Some of these formats mentioned were a 3-3-4 or a 4-4-3 type format.

“I’m gonna tell you that just wasn’t gonna cut it for the race fans that I know,” said Martin.

The Hall of Famer had no idea that the committee would get to where it did. Although he was shocked, it was a pleasant one.

“It was a surprise. It was a pleasant surprise, I believe everybody wins here,” said Martin.

Martin gave his opinion as to how the full-season points guys would take the news as well. He said they should be able to live with this type of format and that Martin “certainly can.”

He also gave the radio show his advice on what it’ll take to win a championship in this new format.

“It’s gonna take blinding speed, and amazing consistency to win this Championship,” said Martin.

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Credits for the format change go to Martin

Ben Kennedy, the Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovations Officer for NASCAR, gave credit for the format change to Martin. He said that Martin had created the catalyst for the first playoff committee meeting. Martin reasoned that the sport was getting farther and farther disconnected from the traditional fan.

Kennedy mentioned Martin’s particular viewpoint and that he had one of the loudest voices in the room. He then gave one sentence of full credit to Martin.

“If Martin hadn’t been in that room that day, we would be announcing something different today, where consistency may not be this important,” Kennedy said.

Thanks to Martin, the playoff format has been changed, all with the fans of the sport in mind.

The good and the bad of The Chase

When looking at the format, it is easy to tell that it is easily the best format to reward the best driver overall during each season. The elimination rounds and points resets are gone, and they are replaced with a single reset after Race 26. The 16 finalists will then have 10 races to execute better than their rivals.

Although subjective, this is a good thing. Between 2014 and 2025, drivers had to survive three chaotic rounds only to compete in a one-race showdown with four drivers tied in points. Often, the driver who dominated the year found themselves not in the same position when it came to winning the crown.

About the 2026 reset. It’s not based on points gathered through the year. Whichever driver ends the regular season in a leading position will gain 2100 points. The points drop off for the driver in second and third, and then all the way until 16th. The driver in last will be 100 points behind the leader. This rewards the most consistent driver of the year, and is the closest to a full-season format since 2003.

However, a win in the regular season does not guarantee a place in the championship. To combat this, NASCAR has raised the points haul for a race win from 40 to 55 points. Second place will have 35 points, creating a 20-point gap between first and second places, which will prove a challenging hole to dig out of.

The major negatives of the new format are more so for the fans who were big on the full-season points or bust. One downfall could be the number of drivers in the championship, which is 16. There will be, however, a smaller field in the lower divisions, with 12 drivers in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and ten for the Truck Series.

The stages are remaining as well, along with the breaks into the races and the stage points. This will prove to be an intense component, especially within the Chase itself. With this format, winning will matter quite a bit, especially consistently, but a good performance overall will be necessary, as it should always be.