After following NASCAR’s lead by adopting a playoff-style championship, the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series committed to that format for three seasons. Now, before NASCAR itself has taken a definitive step toward easing or reworking its own playoff structure, the Dirt Late Model tour has chosen to reverse course.
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The series will return to a traditional points-based championship, a move that Kenny Wallace views as an uncomfortable signal for the sport’s top tier. In his eyes, a smaller touring series acting first exposes how stalled NASCAR’s internal progress has become.
The Dirt Late Model Series rolled out its initial playoff experiment in 2023. That version mirrored NASCAR’s finale, ending in a single, winner-take-all championship race featuring four drivers, a format NASCAR has used to decide its titles since 2014.
Over the following two seasons, the structure evolved slightly, retaining a four-driver showdown but spreading the finale across multiple races rather than settling everything in one event.
But that chapter is now closing as Tour director Rick Schwallie confirmed during Saturday’s season-ending banquet, where officials formally declared the return to a full-season points format next year and eventually abandoned the Chase-style system. Schwallie explained that the series experimented with the playoffs in an effort to elevate its profile.
And while he believes that the format did not fail, he concluded that the traditional approach better suits the identity and competitive rhythm of the tour. Wallace, reacting to the decision, framed it as a notable shift in the usual power dynamic between NASCAR and grassroots racing.
He said, “It’s always been monkey see monkey do business. NASCAR comes up with these ideas and then a lot of the short tracks copy what NASCAR does… The first time I’ve seen it be the opposite. This is the first time where I’ve seen a short track series say, ‘Nope, we’re making the move before NASCAR does. We’re going back to normal format next year.'”
He expanded on that thought by praising the Dirt Late Model Series for charting its own path rather than following NASCAR’s blueprint.
“So, a shout out to the Lucas Oil Dirt late Mile series doing something on their own instead of following what NASCAR does… That’s how far NASCAR has fallen. That’s how wounded NASCAR is. the short tracks. They’re like, ‘Man, NASCAR’s in trouble. We’re gonna we’re gonna do our own deal now,” Wallace added.
Even Kyle Larson recently voiced similar opposition while discussing the High Limit Sprint Car Racing series. Larson rejected the idea of implementing a playoff system, arguing that it does not represent the fairest way to crown a champion.
From his perspective, the format fails to add meaningful excitement to a dirt racing season and risks undermining consistency across a full campaign.
Taken together, these developments place NASCAR in an increasingly awkward position. The sanctioning body has indicated interest in adjusting aspects of its playoff model rather than discarding it altogether.
However, as lower-tier and dirt series actively move away from postseason formats, pressure could build from fans who may interpret those decisions as evidence that smaller tours are reading the room more effectively.
