“We Got Away for a Reason!” Kyle Busch Questions NASCAR’s Return to Chase Format

The 2026 season will mark NASCAR’s return to a 16-driver version of the original chase format, after the leadership finally decided to listen to fans who demanded the end to the playoffs. Though this makes the championship legitimate again, two times champion, both in the playoff era, Kyle Busch has some reservations.

In his recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Kyle Busch questioned why the sport is going back to a format that was abandoned for a reason. He pointed out that the sport was forced to make decisions after the absolute dominance of Jimmie Johnson in the era and how the elite racers often get out of championship conversation over one race.

I thought we got away from it for a reason in the past, so I’m not real sure why we went back to it. The reason why we sorta went away from it was obviously, Jimmie Johnson’s dominance, No. 1, but I feel like No. 2, is there were times where guys like myself who would have one bad race or two that would then knock them out of the championship, basically.

Kyle Busch said via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

He recalled how many times over his career where he has had bad races of DNF’s that took him out of the championship conversations in a blink. According to the RCR veteran it was a massive issue and the sport had to make changes accordingly to avoid such situations, where bad luck in superspeedways become costly.

Like, I finished third one year, I finished fifth another year just from you know, having a wreck in one race, like Talladega. You get caught up in a wreck and boom, you can’t make up enough points to get back to the championship but you’re going to finish third in points.

Kyle Busch added.

Kyle Busch isn’t a big fan of one bad race having championship ramification

Further talking about the same topic, the champion drivers highlighted how once a small wreck at Kansas made got him from championship contender to P5 in the table. He doesn’t like the front runners founding themselves in such situations.

I got wrecked at Kansas one year and that put me fifth in the championship. So, it’s just stuff like that, that I don’t really agree with it.

Kyle Busch said.

Furthermore, he pointed out how the evolution of NASCAR racing will make this situation much worse, as the young racers are more aggressive than ever causing more wrecks. The results of the format change will be much uncertain with this aspect of the sport.

But with the racing, the way that it is today, and everybody running over everybody all the time, you might see, everybody, that all 16 of us have a bad race. So, you know, if all of us have a bad race, then that can sort of be construed as your throw away and you’ve gotta be good in the other nine. But you know, who’s to say, we don’t know.

Kyle Busch added.

The comments from Kyle Busch have some merit, but still NASCAR made the right call by going to the chase format. It makes the championship more legitimate and is the perfect compromise, considering the majority wanted the full-season points format instead.

Also Read: Kevin Harvick Raises Red Flags Over Chris Gabehart’s Exit from JGR

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