NASCAR’s top officials gathered at Phoenix Raceway for the State of the Sport address, laying out future plans amid a storm of legal battles and fresh OEM buzz. Steve Phelps, NASCAR commissioner, confirmed advanced talks with new manufacturers, building on Ram’s 2026 Truck Series comeback after 13 years away. Yet, whispers of playoff tweaks hung in the air.

For more than a year now, fans have expressed their dismay at a system that crowns a champion in a single final race while sidelining one who dominated the entire season. But as pressure mounts from die-hard fans boycotting races, NASCAR leaders acknowledge the public and internal pressure to defend the playoffs. And now, Steve O’Donnell’s voice is starting to echo those calls for change.

Jeff Gluck’s recent X post captured NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell‘s candid take from a recent press conference. O’Donnell nailed it with this: “One of the concerns is future drivers coming up through the system, having multiple wins, and not necessarily winning a championship. I think that’s a challenge for a sport where I think the light really goes on is having that driver be deemed a potential superstar.”

NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell likes the idea of “making sure a driver who has delivered all season long has the ability to be named a champion and not have something come down to one race.”

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) October 31, 2025

O’Donnell’s take resonates with Corey Heim‘s 2025 Truck Series run. Heim has 11 wins and a record chase, yet he could lose to Ty Majeski, who entered the finale with zero victories and only on points. Both drivers have an equal shot at winning the championship, where Ty can win the championship if he just bags one win in the finale. Does this sound fair?

This setup, born in 2014 to add more drama, has fans fuming since it buried consistent runners like Connor Zillisch, too, who faces the same fate in his Xfinity finale despite 10 wins in this season alone. These examples of the format not being suitable to crown champions on their consistent dominant performance finally forced O’Donnell to realize the imbalance.

Diving deeper, O’Donnell followed up, “I think that’s something that as you look at the future of the sport, making sure that a driver who has delivered all season long has the ability to be named a champion and not have something maybe come down to one race, that’s really been the focal point, is we want to reward winning.”

Connor Zilisch’s only 10 wins this season are more than enough to name him the champion of the Xfinity series this season, but under current playoff rules, he’d risk losing to Carson Kvapil in the finale, who has zero wins this season. This shows how the current playoff system is biased toward one-race-wonder players and ignores the all-season performer.

This echoes 2024’s Truck finale, where Majeski snagged the crown despite Heim’s edge, showing how the format’s randomness erodes trust. Fans, who’ve pushed this debate since the Chase era, now see the change as O’Donnell himself sees it: the unfavorable nature of this system to the worthy winners.

With officials now realizing the downside of the playoff format, NASCAR’s loyal base lit up online, sharing raw takes on the shift.

Fan fireworks over the playoff pivot

One user cut straight: “Don’t know what got into Steve O’Donnell, but I sure like it.” This take by Steve O’Donnell lands like a piece of relief news after seasons of debates over the playoff system. This nod from the fan to O’Donnell’s take on the playoff feels earned, tied to empty seats at short tracks and pleas from veterans like Denny Hamlin for a fairer sample size to crown a champion.

Shifting gears, the broadcast bosses’ grip drew sharp jabs, as another fan quipped, “Man, their TV overlords that put races on USA Network, which no one under 35 gets, have them so tight by the cajones.” The USA network has about ~1 million viewers, which looks very thin against NBC’s 2 million-plus viewers, per Phelps‘ own stats. And races being telecast to these USA networks are the reason behind the younger fans’ moving to Amazon streams, which stream Xfinity races, forcing NASCAR to rethink formats that chase news headlines rather than lasting memories.

Doubts linger on the details, though. A skeptical voice popped up: “BUT MY GAME 7 MOMENT. All this means is it won’t be 3-3-3-1 in the Cup anymore, which we all already knew. If anything, this statement leads me to believe it’ll be 3-3-4 because they are still in love with the idea of elimination formats.”

Echoing the 2017 tweak from a 10-race Chase to rounds, this hints at half-measures, like extending the finale to four races for better odds. Yet fans recall how eliminations amplified 2024’s Truck surprises, keeping the surprise element intact without full surrender to one race show.

“They’re sweating because Heim and Zilisch, despite having historic seasons, only have a 1 in 4 chance of being champions.” Heim has 11 wins this season, and Zilisch has 10 wins, but both still have only a 25% chance of winning the race. And this mathematics is the main reason the NASCAR officials are now doubting the current playoff system themselves. Much like Majeski’s 2024 title grab on fewer poles.

Wrapping the buzz, excitement bubbled over: “Wow, this is the most concrete indication I’ve heard of so far that we might actually be looking at a full-season points format next year.” After non-interesting claims like regular-season stats “still mattered,” this teases a 36-race throwback, rewarding all-season grinders like 2002’s Tony Stewart.

Fans were fed up with one race crowning the title; now smell the turnaround, and this is proof that if fans came together with their voices, they could make the system kneel.