The Chase for the Cup

Lore & Background

The publicly stated purpose for the NASCAR playoff system was to make the NASCAR mid-season more competitive, and increase fan interest and television ratings. The timing of the start of the playoff coincides with the commencement of the college and National Football League seasons and the final month of Major League Baseball's regular season and playoffs. Prior to this format, the Cup champion was sometimes determined mathematically prior to the season finale, a situation that continued to exist in the lower national series, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series, until they received their own playoff formats in 2016.

By resetting and compressing the scoring of the top 10 (later 12, then 16) drivers, the chances of each of those drivers winning the championship was increased, while not precluding anyone with a legitimate chance of winning. The original choice of top 10 drivers was based on the historical analysis that no driver outside the top 10, with 10 races remaining in the season, had ever gone on to win the Championship. The expansion to top 16 in 2014 made the elimination rounds possible.

Short track racing, the grassroots of NASCAR, began experimenting with ideas to help the entry-level racer. In 2001, the United Speed Alliance Racing organization, sanctioning body of the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, a short-track stock car touring series, devised a five-race system where the top teams in their Hooters ProCup North and Hooters ProCup South divisions would participate in a five-race playoff, the Four Champions, named for the four Hooters Racing staff members (including 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion and pilot Alan Kulwicki) killed in an April 1, 1993 plane crash in Blountville, Tennessee.

The system organized the teams with starting points based on the team's performance in their division (division champions earn a bonus), and the teams would participate in a five-race playoff. The five races, added to the team's seeding points, would determine the winner. The 2001 version was four races, as one was canceled because of the September 11 terrorist attacks, however, NASCAR watched as the ProCup's Four Champions became a success and drivers from the series began looking at NASCAR rides.

Reader's Guide

The NASCAR Cup Series version of the playoff system is often called the Chase for the Cup based on its former official name, and includes sixteen drivers that compete for the championship in the final ten races of the Cup Series. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase format is competed over nine races with twelve drivers and the Truck Series Chase is seven races long, with ten drivers. In 2017, the Chase was rebranded as the 'playoffs.' In 2017, NASCAR began awarding a regular season championship for the driver with the most points heading into the playoffs in all three series.

In 2026, the Playoffs would go back to being called 'The Chase' as part of a format revamp. The playoffs system was announced on January 21, 2004, as the 'Chase for the Championship,' and first used during the 2004 Nextel Cup season. The format used from 2004 to 2006 was modified slightly starting with the 2007 season. A major change to the qualifying criteria was instituted in 2011, along with a major change to the points system.

Even more radical changes to the qualifying criteria, and to the format of the playoffs itself, were announced for the 2014 Sprint Cup Series. As of 2014, the 10-race playoff format involved 16 drivers chosen primarily on wins during the 'regular season,' if fewer than 16 drivers won races during the regular season, the remaining field was filled on the basis of regular season points. These drivers competed against each other while racing in the standard field of 40 cars.

The driver with the most points after the final 10 races was declared the champion. Beginning with the 2008 Sprint Cup Series, the playoffs became known by its new name as a result of the merger of Nextel Communications with Sprint Corporation. From 2004 to 2006 some races aired on TNT, with the rest airing on NBC. From 2007 to 2009 all 10 races aired on ABC, but in 2010 NASCAR and ESPN quietly moved 9 of the 10 races to ESPN.

In 2015 coverage returned to NBC with some races airing on NBCSN. The current version of the playoff system was announced by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France on January 23, 2017. The current format is the fifth since it was introduced for the 2004 season, with significant changes made in both 2007 and 2011. The 2017 change is the 15th time since 1949 that the point system had been changed, these latest changes affect both the race format and the playoff seeding.

Did You Know?

• The playoff system has been referred to as 'the Matt Kenseth Rule' as a result of Kenseth's championship in 2003, the year prior to NASCAR adopting the playoff system.
• Starting in the 2004 season, after the first 26 races of the season, all drivers in the Top 10 and any others within 400 points of the leader earned a berth in the chase.
• In 2007, NASCAR expanded the field of contenders to the top 12 drivers in the points standings after the first 26 races. Each drivers' point total reset to 5,000 points, with a ten-point bonus for each race won.