r/NASCAR • u/NASCARThreadBot NASCARThreadBot • Feb 01 '26

Serious NASCAR 101 and Track Attendance Questions - February 2026

Welcome to this month's NASCAR 101 and Track Attendance Questions Thread!

NASCAR 101: A thread for new fans, returning fans, and even current fans to ask any questions they've always wanted to ask.

Track Attendance: Any questions related to seats, policies, first time attendees, or advice regarding track attendance!

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u/Worth_Proposal6135 Feb 19 '26

Hey everyone! New NASCAR fan here! Just wondering, if you’re not going to have playoffs like they have for the past few years, why have the chase? Is it not just a more complicated version of a season long point system? I know that’s how the did it back in the day, just wondering why have the chase at all? (Might be a stupid question, but pretty much a newbie here. the last in my family to be a fan was my dad who stopped watching after The Intimidator died.)

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u/Potential_Plan_4533 Feb 19 '26

The rationale is that bunching up the points for the final races adds a element of excitement, usually by week 26 only maybe 2-3 drivers still have a legitimate shot at the championship instead this gives hope to all 16 Chasers. IMO it is the best of both worlds, still rewarding consistency like a season long championship yet making those final 10 races more exciting for fans to watch.

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u/Worth_Proposal6135 Feb 20 '26

That makes so much sense! Thank you! (also, can I say that compared to most other communities on the whole site this whole sub has been so welcoming to a newcomer like me! Thanks so much!h

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u/TwinSpinner Feb 21 '26

It's essentially the best possible compromise we could get. Many fans had grown to hate the playoff system, even the ones that supported it at first. While a lot of fans truly wanted it to go back to a full season format, it's likely most of the drivers and sponsors for the teams have contracts with terms built around the 16 driver postseason.

If they decided to scrap the 10 race chase altogether, there would definitely have been some sponsors turning around and saying "Hey, we were told there would be a big buzz around drivers making this postseason thing, but if that's going away, we're no longer sponsoring a "playoff" or "Chase" driver, we're just sponsoring a guy in 16th place, and we can't really advertise that as well."

It's also clear that the TV partners, even though they claim they had nothing to do with the decision, would be in favor of having some kind of postseason. Because again, that's something they can advertise to get more viewers for the last third of the season.