There have been growing calls in recent times for NASCAR to reinstate the old championship format that was in use before 2004. Titles were decided based on the total points that drivers secured through all 36 races in the season. The release of Prime Video’s new documentary, Earnhardt, has brought this discussion forth once again.
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William Richard, a fan and track announcer at South Carolina’s Anderson Motor Speedway, wrote on X about how fans still cared about and respected those who won championships in the days when Dale Earnhardt Sr. clinched his seventh Cup Series title in 1994. ‘The Intimidator’ had done so with two races left in the season.
His post drew a flurry of responses from stock car racing fans from different walks of life. While many were proponents of the idea, others made strong arguments against it.
One fan from the latter group said, “I lived through the 90s and 2000s before the chase and you know what I learned? Unless you were Dale Earnhardt people didn’t give a damn about the last few races if the championship was already determined lol.”
One of the biggest reasons for NASCAR introducing the Chase and later the elimination-style format was to keep seasons interesting till the very last race. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to turn the wheels back to a time and system that failed to entertain fans holistically. And the casual fan simply won’t watch races once the champion is determined.
A comment put this forward, “I support a full-season format. But the biggest fear is casual fans might tune out if it becomes a runaway points lead. Us diehards will tune in to the very end. But the casuals might not be tuning in when there are no implications besides 2nd and so on in the points.” This, for sure, goes against what NASCAR wants.
I support a full season format. But biggest fear is causal fans might tune out if it becomes a run away points lead. Us diehards will tune in to the very end. But the casuals might not be tuning in when there are no implications besides 2nd and so on in the points
— Kevin Pearman (@kev24eva) May 29, 2025
One more fan added, “To be fair it was 94. What the hell else were they going to do? It’s not the same in so many ways.” With shrinking attention spans and younger audiences in the picture, the sport faces greater pressure to adapt. A 36-race season decided solely on points accumulated might cause today’s fans to lose interest pretty early on.
What the current playoff format does is create moments and storylines to follow. Things aren’t linear any longer. Everything could go right or wrong for any driver at the very last moment. For instance, Kyle Larson won six races in 2024 and still failed to make the Championship 4. Being a champion now requires more than just a strong stretch of races.
The system forces drivers to make desperate moves — like Ross Chastain’s ‘Hail Melon’ pass at Martinsville. Such thrills are what fans watch motorsports for. The hope going forward is that the promotion builds on the existing format instead of simply reverting to the 1990s.
