NASCAR Cup Series: How the playoffs have altered history

The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs were introduced ahead of the 2004 season, and they have changed the sport’s history in their 16 years of existence.

This past Sunday afternoon’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway capped off another NASCAR Cup Series season, and it ended with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch winning the championship, the second championship of his Cup Series career.

Under the current playoff format, four drivers entered this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead-Miami Speedway oval in Homestead, Florida with a chance to win the championship, and the highest finishing driver was crowned champion.

Aside of Busch, the three drivers eligible to win this championship were Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin along with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick. Busch won the championship by winning the season finale in his #18 Toyota ahead of Truex in second place in his #19 Toyota, Harvick in fourth in his #4 Ford and Hamlin in 10th in his #11 Toyota.

Throughout the entire season, Busch was, in fact, the driver who scored the most points. But this is not always the case, which is one of the gripes that many fans have with the modern playoff format, and really any of the playoff formats that have existed over the course of the last 16 seasons.

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And over the course of these 16 seasons, it is not uncommon for the points “champions” to be different from the official champions.

In fact, only seven of the last 16 official champions have been the “points champions”. Tony Stewart was both in the 2005 season, Jimmie Johnson was both in the 2006, 2009 and 2013 seasons, Brad Keselowski was both in the 2012 season and Martin Truex Jr. was both in the 2017 season. Now Busch was both in the 2019 season. But there have been nine instances of the Cup Series champion not scoring the most points throughout the season.

So just how different would the history of the sport be without playoffs?

Of course, the playoffs, as well as the addition of stage points ahead of the 2017 season, have altered strategies for different drivers in different positions as they pertain to doing what they need to do to keep their championship hopes alive, be it by scoring points in stages or via race results or even by winning stages and races to collect playoff points, so it is unfair to say that the last 16 seasons would have panned out the exact same way had utilized a simple 36-race season format.

But if we were to take a look at the last 16 seasons and base the champions off points alone, so much would be different.

Jeff Gordon won the points championship in the 2004 season, which would have been his fifth career title. But instead, it was Kurt Busch who won his first title ahead of Gordon in third place in the championship standings.

In the 2007 season, Gordon won his sixth points championship. But he remained a four-time champion, as it was Johnson who won his second championship ahead of Gordon in second place in the standings.

The following year, Carl Edwards won his first points championship. Unfortunately for him, he really finished in second place in the standings, as it was Johnson who locked up his third career title.

Kevin Harvick won his first points championship in the 2010 season, but it was Johnson who won the official championship, securing his fifth career — and consecutive — title. Harvick finished in third place in the standings.

Edwards got the short end of the stick again in the 2011 season, this time winning the points championship for the second time but watching as Stewart secured his third title. Again, Edwards finished in second place in the standings.

Gordon also found himself on the wrong end of the playoff format in 2014, finishing in sixth place in the standings despite the fact that he won the points championship. This time, it was Harvick who made out, as he won his first official championship.

But in each of the next two seasons, which would have resulted in him becoming a two-time and then a three-time champion points-wise, Harvick came up short, finishing in second and eighth place in the standings, respectively. Kyle Busch won the 2015 championship and Johnson won his record-tying seventh title in the 2016 season.

Kyle Busch, despite the fact that he was already a champion, won his first points title in the 2018 season, but it was Joey Logano who won the official championship. Busch ended up finishing in fourth place in the standings.

Here’s a quick rundown of what the last 16 years would look like without playoffs.

Four-time champion Gordon, not Johnson, would be one of the sport’s three seven-time champions alongside Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Johnson would be a three-time champion, as would Harvick, who remains a one-time champion.

Three-time champion Stewart would be a two-time champion, as would Edwards, who retired after having never won a title. Kurt Busch would still be seeking his first title. His brother Kyle would be a two-time champion either way, although he would have won his first title in 2018 as opposed to 2015. He would currently be the two-time reigning champion.

At the end of the day, this means nothing. The NASCAR Cup Series champions are the official NASCAR Cup Series champions, and there is nothing illegitimate about what they have been able to accomplish.

They did what they needed to do to beat who they needed to beat and win when they needed to win. The modern-day playoffs reward that clutch factor, and it can’t be understated.

But it can be quite interesting to look at what might have been had the playoffs never been implemented. So many aspects of so many champions and championships would not look anything like they do today.