I said it several times before last year. I said it when Joey Logano won last year's NASCAR Cup Series championship after a 15th place finish in points. And I'll say it again after Shane van Gisbergen's second win of the season: two things can be true at the same time. Race wins and championships are earned, not "deserved", and the playoff format is flawed.
Trackhouse Racing hired van Gisbergen for one reason: to win on road (and street) courses. Nobody really cares about how good he is on the ovals. Ever since NASCAR ditched the clause in the "win and in" rule about drivers needing to be in the top 30 in the point standings to qualify for the playoffs, nothing really matters if you win.
Van Gisbergen got his first win of the year at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and sat in 31st place in the standings even after taking the checkered flag. After winning Sunday's race on the streets of Chicago, he is still only 27th.
The season's other three multi-race winners are all in the top six.
Van Gisbergen is now officially locked into the postseason, something that could not be said after his Mexico win. The playoff spots go to the regular season champion and the multi-race winners. Ties (if needed) among single-race winners are broken by points, which could have hurt van Gisbergen had he stayed at just one win. Remaining spots (if applicable) are filled by non winners (based on points).
The best thing to happen to NASCAR now would be Shane van Gisbergen being crowned champion.
The fact that this is even a discussion is a complete indictment of the modern playoff format.
If the playoffs started today, van Gisbergen would be a distant last among the 16 playoff drivers in terms of total points scored.
Yet he would have a legitimate chance to make waves in the postseason.
He has scored 11 playoff points this season thanks to his two wins and one stage win. Only four drivers have scored more, and lest we forget there are still two more road course races remaining on the regular season schedule. He could very well finish the regular season outside of the top 25 in points yet be a top four seed entering the playoffs.
Merely remaining ahead of four other drivers after the opening round of the playoff races at Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and Bristol Motor Speedway is completely possible for the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet, especially with a top seed.
One of his best oval results of the season came at Darlington in the spring, Gateway is at least somewhat similar, and he suffered a DNF at Bristol.
If he gets to the round of 12, does the inclusion of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval make him a shoo-in to the round of 8?
As for the round of 8 itself, I'm not saying he'll win at Talladega Superspeedway (even though we all know it's a crapshoot that literally anyone can win). But Talladega has proven in the past to be the undoing of several would-be contenders, and now it's a round later than it's ever been before.
If he enters the round of 8 with a playoff point buffer, keeps it clean there, and doesn't completely flop at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, we are potentially talking about a Championship 4 berth earned exclusively on the strength of road course wins.
And when it comes to the Championship 4, it really is anybody's game in this format.
If NASCAR fans want the playoff format to change, they should be cheering hard for van Gisbergen to win this year's championship. There would be no better way to illustrate once and for all that something needs to be done.
The question, however, is what needs to be done.
Should NASCAR reinstate the top 30 rule, requiring all race winners to be in the top 30 in points in order for their wins to count toward playoff eligibility? Should the rule be stricter, like top 20 or top 25? Should there be additional leeway for drivers such as van Gisbergen who win more than once (i.e. top 20 if you only win once, top 25 allowance if you win more than once)?
That's all up for debate, and given the propensity of the NASCAR fanbase to complain about literally everything, there is no perfect solution, and any changes would inevitably result in a boatload of complaints down the road.
But if van Gisbergen somewhat manages to win the 2025 championship, perhaps that would actually get the message across that the modern format, after 12 years, is not that solution.