Kyle Larson Declares the Next-Gen Era Deserved a Playoffs Format Change  

The NASCAR community finally got what they are asking for years, as it was announced that all national series will be scraping the winner takes all playoffs format for a return to the original Chase format. In the words of Hall of Famer Mark Martin, the fans got the most perfect compromise they could have hoped for with the 2026 announcement.

The reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is one of the many in the racing community that is excited about the new change. Talking about the announcement during the Tulsa Shootout weekend, the veteran asserted that he is happy the rumors he has been hearing about the format is finally true and pointed out that the Next-Gen car deserves the change.

I kind of heard rumors of it for at least a month and yeah, just happy. I think the old playoff system was exciting, but I think it also ran its course, and I think the style of what we’re at now with the race car that we got, I think it deserved a format change.

Kyle Larson told Matt Weaver of Motorsport.com.

The veteran racers seem confident that everyone in the racing community would just as excited as himself over the format change and would love to contend for the championship under the new system. The two times champion pointed out that the new format gives drivers a better shot at winning the Bill France Cup.

So yeah, I would assume — I haven’t heard everybody’s comments on it — but I would assume anybody who is a previous contender for a championship with the playoff format is probably more happy that we have this format because I feel like your chances of winning a championship is higher for all of us now.

Kyle Larson added.

Talking about the challenges many elite drivers faced under the season finale format, the veteran admitted that unlike in the past that the current format reward consistency over clutch performance. But just finishing upfront won’t be enough, as the points system being updated to reward race winners more will play an important role in the championship bettle.  

It’s really tough to win, to make it to the round of four and then beat three other guys. Now, it comes down to 10 races, you can have a lot of belief in team like I do, be consistent and hopefully win some races as well. It sounds like there’s more points paid for wins, so wins are still really important. And as always, just try to do a good job.

Kyle Larson asserted.

Kyle Larson’s teammate Chase Elliott claims new format making the sport less chaotic

One of the major advantage Kyle Larson’s Hedrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott sees with the change is the potential drop in chaos. He recalled the iconic 2022 wall-ride of Ross Chastain at Martinsville and highlighted how the new format will stop rewarding such chaotic moments. It brings back integrity and purity back to the sport.

I’m just like, ‘man, we’re talking about the wrong thing here,’ because you don’t know how hard it is to do what Denny did to get himself in that position. Instead, we’re promoting the craziness because it got us on SportsCenter that night and I just thought it was all wrong. So, my point in all of that is this is a great step to not have as many of these chaotic moments and all of us (drivers) realizing there’s enough time for this to come out with the wash.

Chase Elliott said.

The comments from the 2020 champion seems rational and on point rewarding the format making the racing cleaner. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the coming years and if Chase Elliott can use his consistency to his advantage to triumph in the championship battle.

Also Read: Chase Elliott Urges NASCAR Fans to “Stop Complaining” and Enjoy the New Playoffs Format

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