- - NASCAR announces new championship format for 2026, return of The Chase

Scooby Axson, USA TODAY January 12, 2026 at 10:18 PM

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NASCAR announced Monday, Jan. 12, its new championship format for the 2026 season and beyond, bringing back the Chase for the Championship and emphasizing winning with a return to a full-regular season points system.

NASCAR utilized the Chase format from 2004 to 2013 when it first introduced a postseason. During this time, Jimmie Johnson won six of his seven championships.

The top racing series in the United States is looking to get past a turbulent offseason that culminated in a nasty federal antitrust trial that ultimately settled, but the company was accused of being a family-owner bully and ruffled feathers when a former commissioner's emails disparaging long-term owners were discovered during the trial.

In the new Cup Series format, there will be a 10-race Chase – nine races for the O'Reilly Series (formerly the Xfinity Series) and seven for the Craftsman Truck series – with 16 drivers based on points. (The O'Reilly Series Chase field will be set at 12 drivers, while the truck field will be 10.) No driver will earn an automatic entry into the Chase – as was the case in previous playoff editions with the "win and you're in" – and there are no driver eliminations every three races in the postseason.

Also, NASCAR will no longer use the terms "playoffs" or "regular-season champion."

NASCAR CUP SERIES 2026 SCHEDULE: Tracks, dates, how to watch each race

10 (tie). Denny Hamlin, 60 career wins (through Oct. 12, 2025).

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10 (tie). Denny Hamlin, 60 career wins (through Oct. 12, 2025).

">10 (tie). Denny Hamlin, 60 career wins (through Oct. 12, 2025).

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10 (tie). Kevin Harvick, 60 career wins.

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12. Rusty Wallace, 55 career wins.

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1 / 8Drivers with the most NASCAR Cup Series wins all time2. David Pearson, 105 career wins.

Race winners will receive 55 points for any victory across the season – up from 40 – and stage points will still be awarded.

Another change is the elimination of playoff points, which will be reset at the beginning of the Chase. The top driver will start with 2,100 points in the Chase, and have a 25-point lead over second and a 35-point lead over third. Five points will separate the rest of the drivers from fourth to 16th.

The driver with the most points after the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8 will be crowned the champion.

“As NASCAR transitions to a revised championship model, the focus is on rewarding driver and team performance each and every race,” NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell said. “At the same time, we want to honor NASCAR’s storied history and the traditions that have made the sport so special. Our fans are at the heart of everything we do, and this format is designed to honor their passion every single race weekend.”

In 2014, NASCAR announced it would adopt a four-round, 10-race elimination-style playoff, with the top 16 drivers advancing to the postseason based on points, but putting the emphasis on actually winning races, where a win in a regular-season race would automatically secure a playoff berth. The round of 16 would feature three races, and at the end, the field would be cut to 12, then to eight, with the final four competing for the title in the last race of the season – with the highest finisher taking home the series championship.

From 1948 until 2014, the sport had no playoffs, relying on a points system to determine the overall season winner.

The new changes followed a study by industry leaders, drivers and broadcast partners, among others, as fans grew more and more discontent about how a champion was crowned, especially after last season when Denny Hamlin led 208 of the 319 laps at the season-finale at Phoenix, only to be undone by a caution with three laps to go, forcing the race into overtime. Kyle Larson ultimately won the title, finishing third in the race, while Hamlin came in sixth behind race winner Ryan Blaney.

1 / 25Every NASCAR Cup Series race winner of 2025 in photosAug. 23: Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Monday's press conference was attended by former drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, and current drivers Blaney, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott, all of whom applauded the changes.

"What I believe it does is it makes it simpler for our fans to follow," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm a fan of the sport, and now I'm compelled to plug in every single week because I know there's a long-form objective for my driver to accomplish to be able to give himself the opportunity to win the championship.

"Every single race, every single lap will have more importance. I think it's fun for the drivers to have a more clear objective for how to get to the championship and easier for our fans to follow."

The 10-race Chase will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock for three races and USA Network for the seven other races. The 2026 season starts with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 which will be broadcast by FOX.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR championship format returns to The Chase for 2026 Cup season

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