NASCAR
NASCAR Unveils ‘The Chase’ Championship for 2026 Season
CONCORD, N.C. – “The Chase is back” NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell said Monday afternoon, ushering in a new era for racing. The traditional format used to crown Cup Series champions for a decade from 2004-2013 returns in full force to all three National Series, with some tweaks. Ending a year-and-a-half long ongoing conversation that spanned all corners of the NASCAR industry, here’s a look at how champions will be decided in the foreseeable future.
Across Cup, O’Reilly, and Truck Series competition, the driver with the most points at the end of each Chase will be champion. Cup will see its final 10 weeks reset the top 16 drivers in points. The regular season champion will start out with 2,100 points, and a 25-point gap over second. Third will be 35 points back, and ongoing by five-point increments all the way back to 16th with 2,000 points. O’Reilly will likewise see the same format with 12 drivers over nine weeks. Trucks will lastly see 10 drivers duke it out over their last seven races.
‘Win and you’re in’ is no longer the mantra used for each National Series. Year-long consistency is now used to determine each Chase grid. O’Donnell referenced this wide-sweeping change from NASCAR’s past decade-plus. “One of the challenges around there, we’re going to the Daytona 500, biggest race of the year. Mark Martin wins the Daytona 500, and what’s the first thing the announcer is going to say? He’s in the Playoffs. What are we doing? When you look at that, it doesn’t happen in any other sport, and it really became something that was taking away from the entirety of the season.”
“So it was important to us to still have winning matter but every race matter. Even when you got to the old Playoffs, you could win in the first round, and you could test for two races if you wanted to. The sponsors probably wouldn’t allow that, and you’re going after it, but there were some unique situations we learned along the way that allowed for some things that we didn’t love. This was important for us to have winning still matter, adjust the points, and make it as simple as possible going in.”
O’Donnell also touched on the decision to keep the Chase at 16 instead of reverting back to 12 contenders. “We wanted to make sure that we limited the disruption as much as possible in the industry to make this happen. 16, when you look at it in totality, it still felt like it was a fair number. If we could keep it the same, we felt like that would be important. We recognize there will have to be some tweaks with drivers and owners and how those things were structured in the past, but we wanted to keep the number the same if at all possible.”
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell says O’Reilly and Trucks will both shift to Chase formats as well.
Details here: #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/M9doPgP4Jk
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) January 12, 2026
Past NASCAR legends Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin were both also on hand at the announcement. Martin, 67, a five-time Cup championship runner-up, had become the poster child for NASCAR returning to a full-season 36-race points format.
“The fans were yelling at me we want full season points,” Martin said. “So I yelled even louder and almost got thrown out, as Steve said. I think that this is the most perfect compromise that you could ever ask for. It’s going to require our 2026 champion to be lightning fast and incredibly consistent. That’s what we can all get behind. So I’m really excited. I think it’s fantastic. I would just appeal to the race fans, all the race fans. But especially the classic fans who say to me, ‘I don’t watch anymore.’ I say we need you. Come on back. We’re headed in the right direction. Come back and join with us, and we’ll keep making progress.”
.@markmartin gives his input on #NASCAR bringing back The Chase: pic.twitter.com/khYjLkaE5r
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) January 12, 2026
Retired driver and current Prime Sports commentator Dale Earnhardt Jr. echoed Martin’s sentiments. “I think there’s a lot to say. I was really excited to hear the news that we were getting a little closer to a full 36-race format. This is as close in my opinion that you can get without going all the way. What I believe it does is it makes it simpler for our fans to follow. I’m a fan of the sport. Now I’m compelled to plug in every single week because I know there’s a long form objective for my driver to accomplish to be able to give himself the opportunity to win the championship.”
“So even though my driver may have success early on in the season, it does not assure him success in the postseason. So with the way that they’re going to stack the bonus points and everything else, it’s critical that these drivers have success every single week. Every single race, every single lap will have more importance. I think it’s fun for the drivers to have a more clear objective for how to get to the championship and easier for our fans to follow.”
.@DaleJr says he wants to get @markmartin on his podcast at some point and calls The Chase the best possible compromise back towards a full-season format. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/3hOzCroIOS
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) January 12, 2026
Current star drivers Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Briscoe were all in attendance too, representing the three powerhouse teams. Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Team Penske have all combined for 18 of the last 21 Cup titles. These include both Elliott (2020) and Blaney (2023).
The revised Chase for the Championship will kick off for all three series at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway over Labor Day Weekend 2026. In years to come, each respective postseason will try and mirror the Cup schedule as closely as possible.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo Credits to David Jensen/Getty Images
