NASCAR Announces New Championship Format, Details 'The Chase' Points System Ahead of 2026 Season

NASCAR has a new playoff format ahead of the 2026 season.

After using a playoff system for the past decade-plus, NASCAR will return to The Chase championship this year.

According to a release from NASCAR, the new format is similar to that which was used from 2004 to 2013, but with a few tweaks.

The top 16 drivers in the Cup Series, 12 in O'Reilly and 10 in Trucks qualify for The Chase, with each driver qualifying based on regular-season points. Drivers who win races in the regular season no longer earn automatic bids.

Winning a race earns drivers 55 points, rather than the previous 40 points for a win. Drivers' points will reset for each series' Chase field, and the regular-season champion will earn a 25-point premium. The top seed will begin The Chase with 2,100 points.

The Chase for the Cup Series will stretch across the final 10 races, while the final nine races will make up The Chase for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

Whichever driver has the most points at the end of the season will be crowned the series champion.

"The biggest thing was looking at who we wanted to be as a sport going forward, and that included really a focus on our core fan base and who had been with us for a long, long time and gotten the sport to where it was. So we wanted our future format to reflect that," NASCAR president Steve O'Donnell said. "A lot of things you're going to see and how we talked to the fans, from an overall NASCAR standpoint, was going to really embrace that hardcore fan, and so we felt like the format needed to absolutely reflect that."

The 2026 NASCAR season begins on Feb. 1 with an exhibition race in the Clash at Bowman Gray, followed by the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15, which will serve as the first race for points.