There is no Round of 16, Round of 12 or Round of 8 before the Championship 4 anymore, with wins no longer ensuring advancement. Rather, the new NASCAR playoffs will consist of 16 drivers, one reset and zero elimination rounds (scheduled, at least) with the most points after all 10 races winning the title (NASCAR Schedule). 

The elimination playoff of NASCAR from the 2025 is getting replaced with these new changes. There are no schedule eliminations before the finals and a win doesn’t up the driver. With the Chase of 10 race, the championship considers the highest total points, cumulated by the driver throughout the season. What matters now is the driver’s consistency throughout the season.

Also note NASCAR moved off of the Roval at Charlotte in 2026 in favor of a traditional oval race there, so there isn’t a road course in the NASCAR playoffs this year 

Kyle Larson (2,318) leads Denny Hamlin (2,278) by 40 points with Christopher Bell (2,263) just 15 behind Hamlin. Joey Logano (2,247) is fourth, followed by Ryan Blaney (2,238). That’s the top five within 80 points ahead of Tyler Reddick (2,212) in seventh. Reddick leads the group with five wins to Larson’s two, Hamlin’s four and just one apiece for Bell. Logano and Blaney have three apiece. Austin Cindric (2,190) in ninth and Bubba Wallace (2,181) are winless in a tight points race in which Ryan Preece is 16th in the standings but has 2,118, about 200 shy of the best total (Motorsport).

The most recent race at Las Vegas displayed a huge difference between Kyle Larson, the leading player and Denny Hamlin, the second most leading player. During the race, Larson fell behind by a full lap, leaving a major gap between him and his win. Nevertheless, he caught up and finished off at second, still ahead of Hamlin with 40 points. Even so, Hamlin had a bad race this time as he finished off at 16th place. Now, the next race will be on October 11 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Motorsport). 

Written by

Dee