As NASCAR wraps up its 2025 season and enters the off-season, chatter about changing the playoff format is picking up pace. NASCAR’s top executives, who call the shots on everything from schedules to championship rules, are deep in talks for a playoff tweak for 2026. The current format has drawn fans as well as various drivers’ heat for turning a full year’s grind into a single final race. Yet, with fans and insiders pushing back, fresh perspectives from open-wheel racing are coming into the playoff debate picture.

Now, in the picture, Indy 500 winners are not holding back on these power moves from NASCAR’s officials. This cross-series tension underscores a bigger clash: rewarding consistent excellence versus high-stakes playoff drama. One standout voice from IndyCar just dropped a truth bomb that could shift the whole debate.

IndyCar vets slam playoff ‘gimmicks’

On the latest “The Purple Sector” podcast, Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi laid into NASCAR’s playoff system, calling it a flawed fit for racing’s demands. “In racing, you’re having to beat 27 to 40 people every single week,” Rossi said. “That performance from that entire organization throughout a season should not be undermined because of gimmicks.” His point hits hard because, unlike football’s one-on-one clashes, motorsport tests endurance across grueling fields, where a single miscue in playoffs can erase a whole year of smart racing.

Back in 2016, Rossi’s own Indy 500 win came from fuel strategy in a 33-car melee, which proved consistency trumps chaos. Critics like Rossi argue the current format, which was introduced in 2014, with its resets after 3 races, kills the effort that a driver has shown before three three-race resets.

James Hinchcliffe jumped in right after, backing Rossi fully. “I’m not a fan of the playoffs,” Hinchcliffe added. “I think the team that does the best over the season deserves the championship. Motorsports is different.” He’s spot on, as IndyCar crowns champs via points tallies over 17 races that let top outfits like Rossi shine through reliability.

This duo’s pushback targets NASCAR execs for clinging to a system that lets luck more than skill decide crowns, sidelining drivers who dominated early. It’s a direct shot at leaders who are still looking to tweak the current setup rather than ditching the whole setup altogether.

NASCAR’s Mike Forde, senior VP, stays upbeat amid the noise. “We feel good about the direction and the possibilities here because of the playoff committee and the work they’ve done on the feedback they’ve gotten from the industry,” he told the Hauler Talk podcast.

Forde’s optimism ties to 2026 plans, which include shifting the finale to Homestead-Miami. Yet, his words hide the core beef: playoffs since 2004’s Chase era prioritize wins and drama over full-season merit, and the fear of going back to the pre-2004 format might make young talents move to IndyCar.

Rossi and Hinchcliffe’s stance urges a return to pure points racing that honors the weekly wars. With IndyCar’s input adding more fire to the debate, other NASCAR insiders are floating fixes to bridge the gap.

Kurt Busch backs a shorter 5-race chase

Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup champ under the old Chase, wants a trimmed-down hybrid to fix the playoffs’ flaws. “I think we need a little bit of a hybrid of what we have currently versus a full 36-race schedule versus a 10-race playoff format, which is what I won under,” he shared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio last week.

Drawing from his title run, where 10 races clinched it after a strong regular year, Busch sees value in blending eras. He suggested carrying a minimal regular-season points into a shorter (5 races) postseason to nod at consistency without killing late excitement. This counters 2025 complaints, like Denny Hamlin‘s near-miss from a late yellow, by spreading risk over fewer events while keeping the final fierce.

Busch gets specific on the nuts and bolts. “I think you need a five-race style format, and you keep some points from the regular season, but it’s the five races, and you accumulate as many points as you can during those five,” he explained. “If you’re lucky enough to have four or five points in the bank coming into the final race, you use that to your advantage.”

As a retired driver turned analyst, Busch’s idea could ease exec worries about losing stars, offering drama that rewards the grind without the all-or-nothing sting in one race.