NASCAR legend slams 'BULL****' playoff rumors

NASCAR Cup Series playoff season is in full swing, which means of course the controversial postseason format is yet again the hottest of topics.

The Round of 16 is now complete on track, with 12 drivers still in with a chance of a title in 2025 as the field heads for New Hampshire this weekend.

But off the track the talk is all about whether the existing format will continue into 2026 as fans and analysts alike call for change.

The current system - three stages comprising three races in each, followed by one championship race to decide who wins it all - appears to be universally disliked. Unless your name happens to be Joey Logano (insert laughing emoji).

When something is hated by most people, generally there is a lot of backtracking and blame about how it actually first came to be. That is definitely the case with the current playoff system.

One of the theories is that TV played a big part in the decision - lobbying for an epic season-ending finale rather than handing the prize to the best driver over 36 races.

Former NASCAR star Jeff Burton though disputes that version of events strongly - after all he was in the meetings when the format was decided on.

He says there was only one decision maker to blame here - and that is NASCAR.

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Blame NASCAR, not TV

Speaking on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, he revealed: “Hold on, I hear that all the time [that TV does not want a 36-race season]. And I want to be clear about something, and I’m in these meetings.

“TV doesn’t make these decisions, okay, NASCAR makes these decisions. When this format that we are currently racing under was created, I was in every damn meeting. TV didn’t make this decision.

“They would’ve had a seat at the table, as did drivers, as did car owners, as did NASCAR, as did the tracks.

“And TV didn’t say: ‘here’s your format, this is what we’re doing’ - that’s not how that happened.

“And the fact that people think that’s how it happened, I don’t know where that’s coming from.

“And if anyone thinks that TV wrote a prescription - ‘here’s how you’re gonna do this’ - that’s bull****.”

What next for Cup Series playoff format?

So we now know how we got here, but where does NASCAR go next with the playoff format?

That desire for change appears to be gathering momentum, with the Playoff Committee set to meet this week to discuss the potential options for a new format.

Committee member Mike Forde revealed: “I think the plan for that meeting is to discuss the shortlist, potential formats and get the playoff committee’s opinion on that.

“We’ll go through that process and then hopefully make a determination of an even shorter list, really come down, whittle it down to one final format. NASCAR will decide to move forward and we may see something as soon as 2026.”

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