Chase Elliott Urges NASCAR Fans to “Stop Complaining” and Enjoy the New Playoffs Format
Hendrick Motorsports veteran Chase Elliott has shared his thoughts on NASCAR new championship format for the 2026 season and beyond.
Follow Us
Chase Elliott (via Hendrickmotorsports.com)
🔍 Explore this post with:
The NASCAR community is celebrating the new format that is going to be adopted from the 2026 season. A derived version of the original Chase format, 16 points leaders from the regular season will fight for the title in the 10-race finale round that will reward consistency over clutch wins. 2020 champion Chase Elliott shared his bold thoughts on the announcement.
The Hendrick Motorsport driver was part of the group of drivers that made the announcement, and he asserted that he was proud to be part of the historic moment. Chase Elliott is looking forward to fighting for the championship under the new format, like many drivers in garage and believes the format offers the challenge NASCAR fans deserves.
Really proud to be here. I can say that with complete honesty. This is something that I’m proud of as a competitor, something I’m looking forward to competing in and against these guys with, and I think, just from my perspective, challenge the race fans this year, let’s enjoy what we got.
Chase Elliott said via motorsport.com.
At the same time, he does have some reservation about the potential response for some of the stock car racing fans, considering they are infamous for complaining about changes to the sport. The most popular driver in the sport urged this group of fans to overlook some issue they might see and embrace the historical moment.
We’re so quick to complain about everything, everything that we have and everything that we do. Let’s enjoy what we have because we’re making history whether you like it or not.
Chase Elliott added.
Further talking about the point, the veteran racer pointed out that the fans should see the change as the opportunity celebrate their champions as they now have a tougher path towards earning the Bill France Cup. Elliott highlights that the fans have a format close to what they asked for and they should be happy about it.
Celebrate the champion. Celebrate the guys who went out there and did a good job. I think this format promotes that. Let’s enjoy what we have. We’ve got a pretty cool thing at the end of the day. Let’s not forget about it, and enjoy what we got today.
Chase Elliott asserted.
Chase Elliott explains what fans forgot about the chase format’s success
In the same conversation he earlier, the veteran racer talked about how the Chase format in its earlier years produced some of the best season the sport has seen, with the likes of Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart dominating. So, going back to it is a challenging yet nice compromise for the sport.
A lot of those years of Jimmie dominating and the championship of Tony and Carl all during the Chase were incredible runs. I think we oftentimes forget how good we had it through all those years of Chase format. I think it is a really nice compromise. I think getting a full season was going to be a pretty big challenge, and I’m not sure there’s really a better place to land than a true 10-race Chase.
Chase Elliott said.
The veteran racer seems really excited about the change and the potential winning a championship in the new system, that would be more credible. It would be interesting to see how the 2026 season is going to pan out under the new format, considering majority of the garage has never raced under the old format.
Also Read: Mark Martin Brands the New NASCAR Championship Format “the Most Perfect Compromise”
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)