NASCAR has confirmed no changes for the 2025 Playoffs, but eyes are already on 2026 for potential tweaks. A working group of drivers, teams, manufacturers, media, and Goodyear is digging into the system, aiming for a big-picture rethink rather than quick fixes. Whispers suggest the focus isn’t a full overhaul but stretching the Championship Round, maybe shaking up the title run-in.

The current setup (16 drivers cut to 12, then 8, then the Championship 4) stays put for now, but how that final push plays out could get a fresh coat of paint.

Austin Cindric, from the Penske stable, has now weighed in, tossing fuel on the debate about whether the format’s drama outweighs its fairness. It’s the kind of chatter that lights up pit road, with everyone from drivers to fans wondering if the system’s high-stakes chaos is the real deal or just a dice roll dressed up as destiny.

Playoff drama’s hot, but fairness?

At a pre-race presser, Austin Cindric didn’t dodge the topic: “Yeah, I think there’s no denying that the current playoff format creates excitement and I mean you see what happened at the end of the round in the Roval, you know. At the end of the day, I feel like our on-track product is exciting, and I’m not sure that a points format is going to make or break the fan base.”

That’s a nod to the current format’s knack for nail-biters, like the Roval’s recent wild rides — Kyle Busch missing the cut by two points in 2023, Christopher Bell’s clutch 2022 win knocking out champ Kyle Larson. It’s chaos candy, the kind that keeps eyes glued and X buzzing, a point NASCAR’s own execs like Elton Sawyer lean into, calling the “excitement factor” the system’s heartbeat.

Cindric keeps it real: “As far as, do I enjoy racing or not? Like I feel like we are hyper-focusing on something like this, but as far as what’s fair or deserving of a champion, or entertaining, no one’s going to agree, and that’s kind of where I’ve come to, and I feel like I’ve been on both sides of it as a competitor.”

The fairness fight’s old news, with Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. all griping about one race at Phoenix crowning a champ. Harvick’s 2020 “lottery” jab after nine wins but no finale? Ouch. Truex’s 2017 title grab at Homestead? Proof it can pay. Cindric’s been burned and blessed, knowing the system’s a tightrope between grind and glory.

He crunches his own numbers: “I’d easily have two Xfinity championships if we had just a full season points format, but I also would have never made the championship 4 in my first year of trucks. I probably would have only made the playoffs twice as a cup series driver instead of three times. So at the end of the day, I respectfully say that I don’t care and I don’t think our team necessarily cares, cause we just want to go race, and in whatever the format is, we would like to excel.”

In 2019, Cindric’s Xfinity points haul screamed champ vibes, second only to Cole Custer, but playoffs flipped the script. His 2017 Truck run leaned on a late Canadian win to hit the final four. Cup? Daytona 500’s 2022 lock-in outran his 12th-place points, while 2023’s 21st sank him. Penske’s mantra, per Roger himself, is adapt or bust, same as when stages dropped in 2017.

Cindric’s shrug says it all: drama drives the show, but fairness splits the room. The Penske camp’s cool with racing what’s dealt, banking on outsmarting the system over crying for a rewrite. The playoff buzz ties tight to Ryan Blaney’s Talladega fight, where the Penske ace channels wrestling icon “Macho Man” Randy Savage to spark his title chase.

Blaney’s Macho mindset

“Unjustifiably in a position I’d rather not be in, but the cream will rise to the top.” Blaney’s Vegas crash left him last of the eight playoff survivors, 31 points shy of the Championship 4 cutline, staring down an almost must-win math at ‘Dega or Martinsville. His Randy Savage quote, a nod to the late great’s promo flair, fuels his fire to flip a DNF-plagued season (eight in 33 races, a record for any champ since 2004) into a third straight finale run.

Teammate Joey Logano, 24 points back, and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott and William Byron join the bottom-four scramble, all chasing Phoenix’s crown. Blaney’s ‘Dega record (three wins, six top fives, but six DNFs, including the last two) screams feast or famine; his 2023 YellaWood clutch is the kind of cream-rising moment Savage preached.

Blaney stays forward-focused: “I told myself like, ‘Hey, you can be upset with the Vegas deal Sunday, but when you wake up Monday, we’re gonna be full-on looking forward and heads-up looking forward to Talladega and then what challenges come at Martinsville.’”

That’s growth from his early days, ditching the stew for a reset, a mindset that syncs with Cindric’s “just race” vibe. The format’s chaos, from Roval roulette to ‘Dega’s dice roll, demands that grit, because Savage’s cream doesn’t rise without it.

Byron’s crash mess, with White’s firing and Dillon’s disputed pit call, underlines the stakes Cindric sidesteps in debate. Playoff pressure amplifies every slip, and while Penske’s crew shrugs at format fights, Blaney’s Macho mantra leans into the madness, betting on rising above the wreck to keep the title dream alive. It’s the system’s cruel charm, excitement over equity, where champs are forged in fire, not fairness.