Improbable, But Dale Jr. Feels Season-Long Championship Possible

On this week's edition of the Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. dove into potential changes for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff format in the coming seasons. The debate about championship formats has waged on amongst fans and the industry alike since the original Chase for the Cup format was created in 2004, and continued when the modern NASCAR Playoff Format was installed ahead of the 2014 season.

The debate intensified following the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which saw Joey Logano collect his third career NASCAR Cup Series championship despite having an underwhelming season overall, where he had an average finish of 17.1 (worst of any NASCAR Cup Series champion in history).

"There's a conversation going on in the sport, and a real possible change in the Playoff format coming," Earnhardt said. "And that was kind of a conversation that was rumbling there throughout the offseason after we had the Playoffs last year. A lot of people kind of [were] frustrated or not in favor of the way that the Playoff played out with Logano. And so, there's a real healthy conversation and debate going on in the industry about what the Playoffs should look like if they were to change."

Earnhardt, who competed under the season-long championship format, which utilized the latford point system, for 14 seasons of his 18 full-time NASCAR Cup Series campaigns, knows within the debate there are many that want the NASCAR Cup Series championship to again be decided by a season-long championship format.

"We can all sit here and kind of debate on what we think the best format might be. And there are people that want to go back to the original format, where there is no Playoffs," Earnhardt stated.

Immediately, Earnhardt's co-host and NASCAR Cup Series spotter TJ Majors fired back, "I don't think you want to do that."

Without skipping a beat, Earnhardt explains that from what he's heard, the season-long points format isn't off the table by any means as the powers at be in NASCAR continue to come up with a solution following last year's unfavorable Playoffs finish.

"Well, it's not off the table, entirely," Earnhardt explained. "I would give it, I want to make sure I'm clear on this, TJ, it has a very tiny percent chance of actually happening, near zero. But it is in the conversation, and I like that."

Earnhardt says the debates, which have waged on, have allowed people, such as himself, to explain what it was that they initially loved about the championship format, which was used to crown the NASCAR Cup Series champion from 1975 to 2003.

The thing that Earnhardt, and many who prefer the season-long championship format, really appreciated about the old-style championship format was that there was no arguments to be had about whether the driver, who hoisted the cup at season's end was deserving or not. In order to be the NASCAR Cup Series champion, you had to minimize mistakes throughout the gauntlet of races and out-score the entire field of NASCAR Cup Series drivers on points to take home the title.

"There was no arguing on who the champion was. He was the person who got the most points throughout the year, and there was no fluke. Right? Or no sort of gaming the system, and that's what people loved about that," Earnhardt concluded.

While Earnhardt concedes there will likely never be a championship format where everyone agrees that it is perfect. However, the NASCAR Hall of Famer feels like he has come up with the best championship format, which would appeal to the season-long championship proponents and Playoff format truthers alike.

"What if we got rid of the regular season, and starting in Daytona with the Daytona 500, the Playoffs began," Earnhardt explained. "The Playoffs are the whole season, ending with a final three or four-race championship round."

Earnhardt clarified, "Like one round instead of this 'four rounds and eliminate a few guys', and all of that. Make the regular-season feel like the Playoffs."

Honestly, the more I think about it, Earnhardt's proposition is a solid one. It would truly make it where it would be impossible to game your way into the Playoffs, like we've seen happen under the current format, and more importantly it would bring back something that has felt like has been missing in NASCAR since the Playoff format was installed in 2014 -- stakes.

"The problem with what we have right now is that when the season begins, there is not a whole lot of urgency. And in the old system, a bad race was damning on your championship hopes," Earnhardt said. "So, week two, week four, a bad run, a broken engine, whatever, you f-cking felt that sh-t. We don't feel that anymore, right? We have bad races, guys get out, they don't give a f-ck. They're going to come back next week with a chance to make the Playoffs. Every week is another chance to punch your ticket and go on into the Playoffs, regardless of what kind of season you had.

"What we have lost as a sport is the agony of defeat. The highs and the lows, the peaks and the valleys have kind of been neutralized, and so we don't have those heart-f-cking-breakers. And the highs aren't as high anymore."

Earnhardt then was pressed on whether he truly felt like a few bad luck instances should ruin someone's chance to win a championship.

"I'm f-cking sorry, this is big boy sh-t, yes," Earnhardt pointed. "I'm sorry man, this is at the top level of this game. You can't be coddled, and hand-held, and ushered through the season to your little Playoff seat. Like, this is what we have lost."

Majors then questioned whether it should be six to eight drivers, who make the championship round under Earnhardt's proposed format. Earnhardt made it clear, that in order for everything to matter throughout the course of the season in a Playoff format, the field of drivers battling for a championship at the end of the year needs to be an exclusive bunch of drivers.

"No. I'm sorry," Earnhardt said to Majors' proposed six-to-eight-driver championship field. "You f-cking didn't have a good enough season. That puts the pressure on the teams. The fans will feel that intensity and urgency from the moment we drop the green flag in Daytona. We talk about how every spot matters, every lap matters. It truly will bring all of that back because you'll be watching knowing that your guy needs f-cking good day today, and that all of that is going to add up and produce this opportunity for him to race for the championship or not."

The debate of what to do with the NASCAR Playoff format will likely continue to wage on throughout this season, but at the end of the day, NASCAR has the final say in how the championship will be decided each season.

The entire episode of this week's Dale Jr. Download podcast can be listened to via the embedded player below:

Recommended Articles