Ever since before the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series playoff format even debuted, fans had called for the end of "win and in". After 12 years, they finally got their wish, as NASCAR opted to revert to an iteration of the "Chase" playoff format that had been utilized from 2004 to 2013.
All things considered, it was a welcome change, after years and years of criticism of the knockout format seemingly fell on deaf ears.
But no format was going to be perfect, and Shane van Gisbergen might have just exposed it.
NASCAR fans could be in for a rude playoff awakening
Van Gisbergen finished 25th in the regular season standings a year ago, even with a series-best four victories. But under the new points format, which is only "new" in that winners are awarded 15 more points, he would have been 16th and qualified for the playoffs even without "win and in".
Skip ahead to 2026. SVG has made indisputable progress on ovals, even if he's still a touch below average on tracks with exclusively left turns. He owns five top 11 oval finishes, including two in the top six, after recording just two top 11 efforts in all of 2025, with nothing higher than 10th.
Of course, he also owns two road course victories, which is actually fewer than a lot of folks expected he'd have following the season's fourth and final non-oval even this past weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
He's 14th in the point standings, 36 points above the cut line. But he needs to stay there with the eight more oval races between now and the start of the 10-race postseason.
It won't be easy. But let's be realistic. Even without "win and in", SVG deserves a playoff spot a heck of a lot more than the guys around him do.
RFK Racing's Ryan Preece has a top finish of eighth all year, and he has just two other top 10 results. He's 15th in points but would actually be 14th if not for his post-Texas Motor Speedway penalty for wrecking Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs. He's there because he's simply made a habit of running top 20 on a weekly basis.
Is that the kind of "consistency" that should really matter more than doing what SVG, who has as many top two finishes as Preece has top 10s, does?
Team Penske's Austin Cindric, with his one top five and three other top 10 finishes, is 16th in points. Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones, who's placed higher than 10th just twice, is 17th. RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski, who hasn't finished higher than 13th in two and a half months, is 18th. Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger, who also has just three top 10 finishes, is 19th. Team Penske's Joey Logano, who can no longer rely on a fundamentally flawed format to rack up championships, is 20th.
Those are the drivers who could potentially deny SVG a playoff spot, simply by running 15th to 20th every week.
Sure, the elephant in the room is obvious; SVG needs to be better on the ovals, and quite frankly, if he runs 15th to 20th on them every week, he should be safe himself. That is indeed the kind of "consistency" that NASCAR rewards.
But even if he doesn't, can we really argue that any of these other drivers, drivers who haven't won (much less won twice) this year, have been more deserving of being in that 16-driver playoff field, simply by making a habit of running mid-pack?
If you really want the best 16 drivers, SVG absolutely qualifies.
No, "win and in" doesn't need to return. But perhaps additional tweaks to the playoff format won't be out of the question if a driver who has been nothing better than mediocre at any point in 2026 manages to get into the postseason instead of one who possesses multiple victories for the second consecutive season.
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