NASCAR’s John Probst Insists the 2026 Playoffs Format Change Was a Collective Decision

John Probst has shared his thoughts on how the playoffs format change was made taking into account the feedback from the whole community.

NASCAR’s John Probst Insists the 2026 Playoffs Format Change Was a Collective Decision

John Probst (Via nascar.com)

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One of the major changes coming into NASCAR that was not forced on them over the charter lawsuit settlement, going into the 2026 season, is the new playoffs format. The fans and the majority of the grid have been demanding for the end of the winner takes all season finale format and according to all the reports that came out Kyle Larson will be the last champion to be crowned with the format.

On his latest media appearance NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst explained how the sport leadership takes huge decisions. He asserted that from the championship format to the car horsepower change, every decisions were made after collecting feedback from the industry.

Yeah, you know, Brad, not dissimilar to any big decision that we make, if it’s, you know, in this case around the playoffs or in a more, you know, car-oriented sense, you know, rules change around horsepower, you name it. It generally starts with collecting feedback from all of our stakeholders. The most important of which, you know, are our fans.

John Probst said via EPARTRADE on YouTube.

Shifting his focus to the playoffs format change, he pointed out that, the teams, the OEMs, broadcasters and the opinions of the fans were considered before making the final call on the playoffs. It shows the genuine comments and frustrating with the format shared online by some fans made an impact.

We have broadcast in there. We have our OEMs. We have our team partners. And as I’d mentioned earlier, our fans and the playoff discussion is no different. We hear and pay attention to a lot of the feedback that we get through social media in various directions that come our way.

John Probst added.

John Probst explains the founding principles of the Next-Gen cars

In a separate conversation on the same media session, John Probst talked about why NASCAR introduced the Next-Gen car. He pointed out that the design change was necessary to make the racing more appealing foe new OEMs, the fans and the businesses involved in the industry.

NASCAR VP John Probst (via NASCAR), Next-Gen Cars (Screenshot via NASCAR)
NASCAR VP John Probst (via NASCAR), Next-Gen Cars (Screenshot via NASCAR)

You know, what were some of the founding principles on it…we needed we needed to create a modern racing platform for us to attract new OEMs, to engage our existing fans, attract new fans, but you know, more importantly, we needed to make sure that we were getting the business model right for the race teams that were with us now and the race teams that we wanted to attract.

John Probst said.

Then the veteran NASCAR officials pointed out that after four years, he feels the Next-Gen cars has so far been an overwhelming success. In the same conversation, he also highlighted the contributions of the likes of Trackhouse Racing in making it a success.

And I think that when you when you step back and say, okay, you know, four years into this, how are we doing? I would say that, you know, we’d say it’s an overwhelming success.

John Probst added.

The comments from Probst seems rational with regards to competition and the drama the car has brought in to the sport. But at the same time, they have a lot of work left regarding making passing on the track easier and make short track racing better.

Also Read: William Byron Brands 2025 His “Best Year Ever” in NASCAR