How NASCAR Playoffs format guarantees championship manipulation

Ryan Blaney took victory at the NASCAR Cup Series’ penultimate race on Sunday, securing his slot in the Championship Four ahead of the finale next weekend — but if you look at social media, you may not have noticed.

Instead, fans have been enthralled in discussions about race — and therefore championship — manipulation, and what should be grounds for disqualification. Should a last-ditch effort from a driver be penalized if seemingly blatant manufacturer interference is allowed? The discussion rages on, but one thing is certain: NASCAR’s Playoffs format effectively guarantees bad behavior.

NASCAR Playoffs guarantee bad behavior

While many sports — and even certain forms of motorsport — benefit from an elimination-style Playoffs format, NASCAR has been trying hard to make this system work for years despite ample pushback.

An elimination-style championship system was first implemented by NASCAR back in 2014. In effect, one season of NASCAR Cup Series racing is divided into two parts: the regular season, and the postseason. In the regular season, drivers fight for victories and hope to amass enough points to make it to the postseason, where they can fight for a championship.

The post-season — now known as the Playoffs — kicks off with 16 championship-eligible drivers all working to stay in the championship fight up until the final race. Every three weeks, four drivers are dropped from the overall pool of eligible championship contenders, until we reach the season finale. In that last race, the final four drivers remaining in the Playoffs all fight to finish highest on track; the best-placing driver is the NASCAR Champion.

NASCAR introduced this format in order to generate more interest in its races, and to add a bit of unpredictability to the title fight. However, plenty of critics dislike the fact that the most consistent driver in any season won’t necessarily win the title fight. If that driver has a three-week stretch of illness and/or bad luck in the post-season, his title fight is over.

But this past weekend in Martinsville, the ultimate fatal flaw of the Playoffs system was revealed: It incentives and rewards manipulation and bad behavior in the name of the championship.

More on the NASCAR Playoffs:

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Now, we’ve seen bad behavior take place in the name of the Playoffs before in NASCAR, so this is nothing new. In 2022, for example, driver Ross Chastain drove into the wall and accelerated, using the wall as leverage to help him finish higher up the order and secure a slot in the next round of the Playoffs. And earlier this year, driver Austin Dillon attempted to make the Playoffs by wrecking the competition for a victory.

Chastain’s move — nicknamed the Hail Melon — was deemed legal at the time but was banned in the aftermath. Further, NASCAR allowed Dillon to keep his win, but it ultimately decided that such a win shouldn’t earn him Playoff eligibility.

Neither of those high-risk moves would have even been necessary had the Playoffs not incentivized that behavior.

This weekend at Martinsville, though, saw several separate instances of risky moves and bad behavior, all in the name of the championship.

We’ll start with Christopher Bell. The Playoff-eligible driver knew that his chances of making finale were fading before his eyes in the final moments of the race, prompting him to attempt a Hail Melon-like wall-ride to try to knock William Byron out of the Final Four instead. The move earned him track position, yes, but NASCAR deemed it did not earn Byron a slot in the Playoffs.

But there was another, even bigger, instance of alleged race manipulation that should serve as the final nail in the Playoffs coffin.

In NASCAR, three different manufacturers field cars: Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet. While one manufacturer may provide components to different teams, and while those teams technically compete against one another for the overall title, that manufacturer may also expect teams to work together for the greater good of the manufacturer.

But where does “working together” become outright race manipulation?

That’s the question after Martinsville.

See, Bell was disqualified from the season finale for his wall ride move, meaning William Byron instead earned that fourth slot to compete for a championship next weekend in Phoenix. But allegations have surfaced that claim Byron’s Chevy stablemates intentionally tried to block other competitors in order to help Byron’s progress.

Further allegations were made about Bubba Wallace, a Toyota driver attempting to block other drivers in favor of his stablemate Christopher Bell.

Radio communications between Austin Dillon and his spotter emerged discussing “the plan,” while Bubba Wallace claimed to have a tire losing air and causing him to drive slowly. A pack of Chevy drivers built up behind Byron, and Bell bounced against the wall to pass a suddenly slowing Wallace.

NASCAR’s Vice President of competition, Elton Sawyer, has stated that the series will be looking more deeply into the allegations of race manipulation.

While it is not illegal for the cars of any one manufacturer to work together — something that can often be seen when, say, a pack of Chevys will draft together during superspeedway events — intentionally driving slowly in order to prevent a competitor from making ground, or having a “plan” in place to help a stablemate enter the championship four, would constitute race manipulation.

Further, NASCAR rules state that drivers and teams must attempt to get their best possible finish in any event. If you have a faster car than your manufacturer stablemate fighting for the final four, then that rule means you’d have to pass him.

On Sunday, many people feel that there were drivers and teams that did not follow that rule.

None of that behavior would have been present without the Playoff format.

In motorsport disciplines where the championship is decided based on a driver’s cumulative performance throughout an entire season, it would be extremely rare to come to the penultimate race of the season and have eight drivers fighting for an equal shot at the championship. One driver would have earned the lead of the title, and while others may be able to challenge him for that title, his consistency would be paying off as the season draws to a close.

In NASCAR, though, the fate of the championship is upended every weekend. Coming into Martinsville, eight drivers were fighting for four opportunities to compete for the championship — and those dramatic odds can easily make a person (or a team, or a manufacturer) desperate.

NASCAR introduced the Playoffs to manufacture drama. That drama is now getting out of hand. If the series wants to reign it in, then it’s beyond time to consider scrapping the Playoff format altogether.

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