Jeff Gordon has lived through every major competitive format modern-day NASCAR has put on the table. He raced in the era of full-season points accumulation, endured the original Chase format, and even competed during the brief window of the elimination-style Playoffs. Beyond his driving career, his continued role with Hendrick Motorsports has kept him embedded in the sport, giving him a clear view of how formats shape outcomes.
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Along with several drivers, including current Hendrick Motorsports stars such as Kyle Larson, who have long voiced interest in a return to points racing, Gordon also carries the same view. However, at various moments in his career, Gordon found himself on the wrong end of the Chase despite season-long excellence. Those scars have shaped his viewpoint today.
Yet, following NASCAR’s latest revision, Gordon described the 2026 change as a momentous recalibration. He framed it as a compromise that balances consistency with excitement, one that better reflects the grind of a 36-race season without reducing the championship to a single roll of the dice.
“I think that when I look through the history, and I look at what’s the biggest, best compromise to 36 races with points accumulation versus a one-race championship win in Phoenix to decide the championship, 10 races, I think, is the right way to go,” Gordon said.
He acknowledged that the format punished him harshly at times, admitting he “got his butt kicked” by it. Still, from an HMS standpoint, consistency has always been the organization’s strength, and a longer playoff window plays directly into that identity.
“I think our drivers and teams are going to thrive in that, but I also think it legitimizes it a little bit more. I mean, I don’t want to take away from anybody that’s won a championship under this most recent format, but to come down to one race, you can have what we just had happen, right? It can go one way or another for you, and I think to be able to do that over 10 races, I think it’s going to really show who the best team is for the season.”
NASCAR’s first move to a postseason came in 2004, when the sport introduced a 10-race Chase featuring the top 10 drivers in the Cup Series standings. That system marked a fundamental shift in how champions were decided. Despite his dominance in that era, Gordon never won a title under the format.
For instance, in 2007, Gordon finished P2 in the championship despite posting the best average finish across the entire season. In fact, he was the only driver that year to maintain a single-digit average finish, even better than the title winner, Jimmie Johnson, yet the title eluded him.
Besides that season, the former HMS driver also placed third under the Chase in both 2004 and 2009, further highlighting how consistency alone did not always translate into championships.
Even so, Gordon does not dismiss the value of drama, acknowledging that knockout formats and single-race finales generate tension and excitement, but he remains unconvinced that one event should outweigh others. Motorsport works differently from stick-and-ball sports. Cars, tracks, weather conditions, and mechanical variables introduce unpredictability, which demands a larger sample size.
Looking back on his time competing under the Chase, Gordon noted that his primary frustration was never the concept of a postseason itself. Instead, he consistently called for variation within it. He wanted the tracks rotated, the finale reshuffled, or at least the closing stretch diversified.
With the new championship format set to debut this season, starting with the Daytona 500, it remains to be seen if the positive chatter converts into thrilling racing on track, one that the drivers feel comfortable with as well.
