The Chase for the Cup is back in NASCAR.
The sanctioning body announced Monday that it was returning to its original postseason roots and getting rid of the multi-round format it had used since 2014. In 2026, the top 16 drivers through the first 26 races of the season will compete in the 10-race postseason. The driver with the most points over the final 10 races of the season will win the championship.
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NASCAR first implemented the Chase in 2004. Before 2004, NASCAR’s Cup Series had been decided by whoever earned more points over the entirety of the season.
The format from 2014 through 2025 eliminated four drivers in each of the first three three-race rounds. The final four drivers would then race heads-up for the championship in the final race of the season.
In 2025, Kyle Larson used a two-tire pit stop during the last caution to get off pit road first among the championship contenders and win his second Cup Series title. Larson did not lead a single lap during the final race as Denny Hamlin dominated but found himself behind Larson thanks to a four-tire pit stop ahead of the two-lap sprint to the finish.
How the Chase will work
In the previous format, drivers who won a race during the regular season were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. Now, the top 16 drivers in the points standings after the first 26 races of the season will make the playoff field, regardless of how many wins each has and playoff points no longer exist.
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Drivers will receive a base level of 55 points for winning a race instead of 40 before stage points are added in and the driver who finishes first in standings over the first 26 races of the season will start the playoffs with 25 more points than the driver who finished second.
The No. 1 seed will start the postseason with 2,100 points and the scale will slide down to 2,000 for the last driver in the playoff field.
If two drivers are tied at the end of the playoffs, their number of wins and, if necessary, second-place finishes, will serve as the primary tiebreakers.
The format will also be implemented in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly the Xfinity Series) and the Truck Series. The O’Reilly postseason will be nine races and include 12 drivers while the Truck Series playoffs will be seven races and 10 drivers.
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Homestead will host the finale again
The original site of the playoff finale will be the site of the 2026 final race. Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted the finale in 2004 and will again be the last race of the season. The nine Cup Series playoff races before Homestead will be at Darlington, Gateway, Bristol, Kansas, Las Vegas, the Charlotte Roval, Phoenix, Talladega and Martinsville.
Homestead is considered one of the best tracks in NASCAR thanks to its aged pavement and progressive banking. The track put on one of the most thrilling races in modern NASCAR history when Tony Stewart won his fifth race of the playoffs to tie Carl Edwards on points in 2011. Edwards, who finished second to Stewart in that race, lost the title to Stewart because he had fewer wins.
That race, ironically enough, seemed to heavily influence NASCAR’s move to a multi-round playoff format in 2014 as it attempted to create more season finales with the drama that unfolded in 2011.
