NASCAR officials signaled Monday that the sanctioning body will consider making changes to its playoff format for the 2026 season.
No changes are imminent for the 2025 campaign, which is set to begin with the exhibition Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday. However, the structure of the postseason could take on another shape in 2026.
“We are always looking if there are opportunities for us to tweak something,” NASCAR president Steve Phelps said of the playoffs in a November press conference.
“We’re not going to go away from playoffs,” added Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief operations officer. “We’ll absolutely look at what form the playoffs take in the offseason. You always learn. … But playoffs in and of itself, as Steve said, you cannot argue with the quality of racing that the playoffs have delivered. You can talk about the format if we do some different things, but absolutely we’re going to stick with it.”
No definitive change has been suggested, nor are any alterations guaranteed for the 2026 season. But the sanctioning body will look to gather an industry-wide committee to determine what changes could be made, if any, ahead of the 2026 season, seeking opinions from drivers, teams, manufacturers, media and officials.
— NASCAR.com —