NASCAR is tearing up the playoff system it has run for more than a decade. For 2026 the sport reverts to the Chase format it last used in 2013, ending the elimination brackets and winner-take-all finale that had decided its champion every year since 2014.
Under the revived system, the top 16 drivers after the 26-race regular season contest a 10-race run to the title. The driver who banks the most points across that stretch is crowned champion at Homestead-Miami. There are no eliminations, no bankable playoff points and no single-race shootout to settle it.
Drivers will be seeded one through 16 on regular-season form, with the top seed opening the Chase on 2,100 points and the 16th seed on 2,000. From there it is a straight points race over 10 weekends, closer to the original Chase of the mid-2000s than the bracket format fans have watched for the past 12 seasons.
NASCAR president Steve O'Donnell framed the reset as an attempt to win back long-time supporters who had drifted away. He recounted being bluntly told the sport needed to "get the garage back", and conceded there was ground to make up. "We've got work to do on this. It's not lost on any one of us at NASCAR," O'Donnell said. "We're going to work our asses off for the industry to deliver to our race fans."
Few drivers have more reason to welcome the change than Denny Hamlin, among the winningest drivers of his generation yet still chasing a first Cup title after two decades. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran said the accumulation format better rewards a strong campaign. "The destination of where you want to go is more in your hands," he said. "The sample size is bigger. I don't think that one freak race or incident or one win just completely changes the outlook of your championship hopes."
Hamlin sat on the committee that pushed for the overhaul, and had long argued the one-race decider lacked credibility. "Most of the room, if not all of the room's, general opinion is that the one-race thing needs to go," he said. "There is a large concern of the legitimacy of it."
The fine print, though, stung. Reading through the announcement on air, Hamlin realised the regular-season championship — a prize he has a strong claim to this year — had been quietly scrapped along with everything else. "As part of the press release for the new playoff format, the regular season title is gone," he said. "So there is no regular season champion anymore." He was incredulous: "It's incredible. The one time you win the regular season, they get rid of it." Then, half-joking: "They don't want me to be a champion."
His co-host Jared was blunter still, calling the decision to axe the regular-season crown "the stupidest thing I've ever heard".
For all the grumbling, Hamlin sounded like a man who fancies his chances under the new maths. "If we can keep this momentum going and avoid bad luck, I think it'll be hard for the field to catch us," he said. "But you never know what kind of wreck you can get caught up in."
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/nascars-chase-returns-as-hamlin-rues-lost-regular-season-crown). Visit for full coverage.*