After 12 years, the "win and in" nature of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs has officially been abolished by NASCAR, as has the four-round, 10-race knockout postseason format. Like it was from 2004 to 2013, the postseason is once again set to consist only of a single 10-race round.
While the playoff, or "Chase", field is still set to consist of 16 drivers in 2026, those 16 drivers are set to be determined by points alone. To make up for the elimination of "win and in", wins have been boosted to 55 points each from 40, which was more than a fair compromise.
Looking back at the 2025 Cup Series season, three drivers who finished the regular season in the top 16 in the point standings failed to qualify for the playoffs, though only two of them would have actually gotten in under the new format.
Who would have gotten into the NASCAR playoffs?
RFK Racing's Chris Buescher finished 11th in the regular season standings and would have been in comfortably, and teammate Ryan Preece was 14th in his first year with the team. He too would have qualified, had the 2026 rules been in place for 2025.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs was 16th and didn't get in, but he ironically wouldn't have gotten in under the new format either.
He finished the regular season with 543 points, but Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen, who finished 25th with 485, would have actually finished 16th using the new rules, since he would have gained 60 extra points from his four regular season wins to bring him to 545.
But while Van Gisbergen still would have made it in, Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry and Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon would not have. They finished 21st and 26th in the regular season standings and only would have been 20th and 25th had their wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway, respectively, each counted for 15 points extra.
Fox's live coverage of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15.