NASCAR announced on Monday that the Cup Series will be returning to a modified version of the previously used Chase format (2004-2013) for the 2026 season. The long-awaited move has drawn a range of responses from drivers, and while he is largely pleased with the change, 2020 champion Chase Elliott has just one complaint about it all.
Advertisement
In an interview following NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell’s announcement, he detailed his happiness that NASCAR is no longer trying to emulate other sports and is instead playing to its strengths. He also thinks that the playoff format was just too confusing and hard to explain to people, and that the Chase format isn’t.
Nitpicking hard, he laid out the one drawback he sees in the path ahead, “If I had one complaint of any of it, I think 16 is just too many. You know, I thought the 10-race Chase, the 10-driver piece of that, was really hard to get into. I still think 16 will be a challenge.”
Chase Elliott likes the fact that NASCAR isn’t trying to be like other sports as much with going back to the Chase format. He thinks 16 drivers is too many but he’s god with the new system. @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/rgE8853mav
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 12, 2026
It used to be that only 10 drivers from the field would qualify for the final 10-race Chase. But now, the top sixteen drivers in regular-season points will get to race for the title. While it is not something that will cause many to lose sleep, Elliott still thinks that it would have been more of a challenge had the postseason field been limited further.
Ryan Blaney doesn’t agree with Elliott
Asked if having 16 drivers in the Chase was the right decision, Blaney answered that it was and backed his choice with solid reasoning. He said, “In this day and age in the sport, there are sixteen teams that can win every week, just the way cars are.”
.@Blaney says respect was lost under the Playoffs era and hopes The Chase brings legitimacy back to racing. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/PTIjhgm2nN
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) January 12, 2026
“10, 15 years ago, about 12 was a good number. But now, I think it has just gotten, you know. More teams can go to the track and unload faster, and then win races. So yeah, I like that number.”
Neither Elliott nor Blaney was a part of the field when the Cup Series previously used the Chase format. The newness might be a challenge for them to get used to.
